Russia is getting a new presidential award for human rights advocates. The newspapers Vedomosti and Kommersant both report that Vladimir Putin is poised to issue a new executive decree to establish such a decoration.
According to Mikhail Fedotov, the Chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Council, Putin tasked the Human Rights Council with setting up this kind of award at least two years ago. The first recipient was to be named by 2015, but plan hasn’t come together in time. Sources close to the process told Kommersant that it took a long time to find funding for the award and to coordinate all the necessary official documents between several state agencies.
A source in the Kremlin told Vedomosti that the award will be given from a fund of 5.996 million rubles ($92,700), and this money will be distributed among the winners.
Kommersant says the Kremlin will nominate members to a public committee, which will then be tasked with selecting candidates for the prize. The committee will include two representatives of the Russian human rights commissioner’s office, two members of the Public Chamber, two representatives from Russia’s Human Rights Council, and three representatives from regional Public Chambers.
Mikhail Fedotov did not disclose who could be nominated for this award, but noted that such a high award would likely be given to the winner personally by the Russian president.
“There are state awards in culture and the arts, in science and technology. But we never had an award like this in the sphere of human rights. We need to establish one in order for the prestige of this kind of activity to grow, and in order to dispense the doubts some people have towards human rights advocates,” said Mikhail Fedotov.
A series of laws have recently been passed in Russia which have made human rights advocacy more difficult. Such laws include the 2012 law on “foreign agents” and the 2015 law on “undesirable organizations.”
The government has branded several human rights organizations operating in Russia have been branded “foreign agents” for allegedly participating in “political activity” and receiving foreign funding. The list of “foreign agents” currently includes organizations such as Transparency International, as well as several women’s rights organizations and youth groups.
The list of “undesirable organizations,” which is currently being drawn up by the government, targets foreign foundations that have helped to fund human rights activities in Russia. If an organization is included in the “undesirable” list, it must halt all activity and grant-making initiatives in Russia.
The Federation Council has drawn up a “patriotic stop list,” which functions as a preliminary recommendation list of organizations which to be considered for the “undesirable organizations” registry. The MacArthur Foundation, which has supported human rights initiatives in Russia in the past, was included in the patriotic stop list. The MacArthur Foundation announced in July that it is closing its Moscow branch office and withdrawing from Russia.
In late July, Russia’s Attorney General declared the activities of the National Endowment for Democracy to be undesirable inside Russia, making it the first organization to join the “undesirable” list formally.
For more on the most harassed human rights group in Russia, see Russia’s most foreign agent: How one human rights group became the country’s most harassed organization