First steps to end civic groups’ repression

Dmitri A. Medvedev, president of Russia, has proposed legislation to loosen restrictions on civic organizations and charities, The New York Times reports.

Mr. Medvedev said last Wednesday June 17 that civic groups in Russia were “burdened by pounds of regulations” and said the new legislation would get rid of some of the bureaucracy involved in registering the organizations. He said it would also limit inspections by government agencies and reduce penalties imposed on the groups for mistakes in paperwork.

In recent years, the Russian government has deliberately sought to undercut the work of civic groups by subjecting them to intense bureaucratic oversight and harassment by law enforcement and tax agencies, as well as to a concerted public campaign meant to sow suspicions about their activities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday June 18.

Russian human-rights groups have long criticized the country’s government for impeding civic development but were cautiously welcoming of the news.

They warned, however, that the proposed measures would ease restrictions for only about 30 percent of Russia’s non profit groups and would not apply to any organization that received money from foreign donors.

“It seems that President Medvedev is prepared to work on strengthening civil society and guarantees of basic rights and freedoms in Russia,” said Matthew Schaaf, an author of the Human Rights Watch report. But, he said, “the legislation concerns only part of the problems that nongovernmental organizations face.”

Read recent Vita Europe article: Russia’s NGOs: “strangled by red tape”