Rights defenders assess consequences of laws against NCOs

The bills on the work of non-commercial organizations (NCOs) will make it almost impossible to work in Southern Russia, human rights defenders believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that bills had been brought to the State Duma on toughening control over the NCOs financed from abroad; on the ban to be engaged in enlightenment activities without authorities' permission; and on new restrictions on protests.

In 2014, the Russian Constitutional Court (CC) ruled that the organizations recognized as "foreign agents" should not be discriminated as compared to other NCOs, Natalia Evdokimova, the head of the Saint Petersburg Human Rights Council, has recalled. However, as a result, they are prohibited from supporting political parties, delegating their representatives to public oversight commissions (POCs), and engaging in anti-corruption expertise.

Alexander Verkhovsky, Director of the "Sova" Information-Analytical Centre, has treated the bills as "an unprecedented attack on civil and political rights."

The main essence of these changes is the establishment of full state control over the educational sphere and a ban on the dissemination of "incorrect" information, Sergey Lukashevsky, Director of the Sakharov Centre, believes.

Irina Protasova, a co-chair of the organization "Person and Law" from the Republic of Mari El, has noted that severe restrictions against objectionable NCOs "will kill the activities of human rights organizations in the regions."