Russia's lower house of parliament on Wednesday took the first step toward approval of a bill that would prevent foreign-funded rights groups from operating in the country -- a move sure to heighten criticism of President Vladimir Putin's commitment to democracy.
"The express purpose of this law is to emasculate the NGO community," said Holly Carnter, regional director of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. It would "eviscerate" civil society in Russia.
The measure, which received 370-18 approval in the 450-seat State Duma on its first reading, has been widely criticized by non-governmental organizations.
The Kremlin has shown increasing signs of displeasure with organizations that criticize the government and promote expansion of democracy.
This summer, Putin told human rights experts at a Kremlin meeting that Russia would not allow foreign organizations to finance political activities. Non-governmental groups played a role in the mass demonstrations that brought opposition leaders to power in ex-Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.
Read the rest here.
I understand Putin's nervousness about the influence of foreign NGOs in the light of the color guard revolutions. I mean, after all, from one POV its easy to claim that it was really outside influences rather than actual internal movements that rallied the people in Ukraine or Georgia or you-name-it-xUSSR-republic. The NGOs did in fact have considerable participation in the Orange Revolution, frex.
On the other hand, it smacks so much of the insular attitudes of closed societies: No, it's not teh fault of us, it's them! it seems to me that if a society is robust enough to have a democracy, it should be able to withstand almost any of the NGOs short of an outright conspiracy to subvert the system with uber amounts of dinero...but then, taht makes it a little funny, if you think about it. Why have an NGO then? Why not just subvert it through the use of that money behind the scenes?
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