The Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, has drawn up a list of potential “undesirable” foreign and international organizations which “present a threat to the basic constitutional order of the Russian Federation.” The proposed list will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office for consideration.
Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Federation Council’s Committee on International Affairs, said that the proposed list includes, but is not limited to Open Society Foundations (George Soros’ philanthropic foundation), the MacArthur Foundation (one of the largest private philanthropies based in the USA), the National Endowment for Democracy (a private American nonprofit supported by the US Congress), and the National Democratic Institute (an American nonprofit working on five continents).
Kosachev stated that “we must effectively control outside players on the Russian social and political arena, just like these outside players do at home.” Speaking with news agency Interfax, Kosachev called for “additionally drawing up our own patriotic stop list.”
According to the senator [Kosachev], “foreign democratic missionaries are working to condition our ideals and our society” and are trying to “scorch Russia and establise external control over the situation in our country and over our people.”
According to a new law signed into effect by President Putin on May 23, foreign and international organizations can be declared “undesirable” or “presenting a threat to the basic constitutional order of the Russian Federation, its defense capability, or its state security.” The Attorney General has the power to declare an organization undesirable without court proceedings. If an organization falls under this category, it will be forced to shut down and will be forbidden from holding public events and from possessing or distributing promotional materials, including through the media. Employees of “undesirables” may face criminal proceedings if they fail to comply with orders, and heads of the organizations can face prison sentences of up to 6 years.
Earlier this month, the Prosecutor General’s Office reviewed a proposed list of five “undesirable organizations” and revoked the proposal. Thus, organizations which have so far avoided the list include the think tank Carnegie Moscow Center, the international history and human rights society Memorial, and the Moscow offices of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Transparency International.
Read Meduza’s interview with the author of the law here