2015-07-23 18:41:00

American NGO leaving Russia amid crackdown


(Vatican Radio) A prominent American non-governmental organization that has operated in Russia for more than two decades says it is leaving Russia because of the government's crackdown on foreign groups. 

The MacArthur Foundation believes the new laws have far reaching implications for its staff in Russia.
The U.S.-based group, which has financed higher education, human rights and anti-nuclear proliferation campaigns – says Russia's new laws have made it "impossible to continue."

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos

Russian President Vladimir Putin in May signed a bill giving prosecutors the power to declare foreign and international groups "undesirable" in Russia and shut them down if they threaten the country's defense or constitutional order.

Critics say the legislation is open to wide interpretation.
The law was adopted after an existing 2012 law, already forced foreign-funded Russian Non Governmental Organization linked to politics to register as "foreign agents". That label has connotations of spying.

PROMINENT GROUPS

Russia's upper house of parliament this month urged authorities to investigate whether some prominent foreign organizations, including MacArthur, are a threat to Russia.

The foundation's decision to leave comes as suspicion and antipathy toward the West grows in Russia. Officials and state media allege other countries are trying to force President Putin from power and block Russia from re-establishing itself as a world power.

Russian state media has named the MacArthur Foundation as a front being used by the U.S. government to foster opposition in Russia and topple Putin's regime.

MacArthur claims it it "entirely independent of the United States government and receives no funding from it." The group, which has worked in Russia since 1992, says it has awarded more than $173 million in grants here.

Yet Russian anti-corruption campaigner and opposition blogger Alexei Navalny says the pressure on independent groups is part of a Kremlin-crackdown on dissent.

UPCOMING ELECTIONS

“I think this is very strongly connected to the 2015-1016 elections,” he told the Voice of America (VOA) network recently.  

"For the Kremlin it is extremely is important to eliminate any NGO's that could not only finance, but could also develop programs, gather people or be at the intellectual center. Putin wants to clear the field of any organized structures,” he said. 

President Putin has denied wrong doing. He says that by adopting legislation labeling foreign-funded nonprofits involved in politics as ‘foreign agents’, Russia, just like the US, wants to protect itself from external influence.

Campaigners worry however that Russia's actions are part of a global tightening of restrictions on charitable activity by what they view as authoritarian governments. 








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