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Forum Post: Russia's Foreign Agent Law

Posted 10 years ago on Jan. 13, 2014, 5:27 p.m. EST by GirlFriday (17435)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

One of the issues that I have encountered is Russia's Foreign Agents Law and it is described as a great evil. If your (NGO) receives funding from outside sources AND it is used politically then you have to register. It is currently being treated as this big human rights issue.

The NGOs refused to register. There were raids. Most of those NGOs went to court and won.

Check out this article from Freedom House on their website: Kyrgyzstan: Don’t Copy Russia's Foreign Agents Law

It's Freedom House, so we know why they say what they say.

But, Russia's Law is listed on HRW http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/12/26/russia-foreign-agents-law-hits-hundreds-ngos-updated-december-26-2013

and Amnesty http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-year-putin-s-foreign-agents-law-choking-freedom-2013-11-20

And Frontline http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24317

But, um.......how is this different from FARA? Why is FARA not included? I'm not seeing a huge difference here. http://www.fara.gov/

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13 Comments


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[-] 2 points by shadz66 (19985) 10 years ago

'The Freedom House' - Board of Trustees is self-described as "composed of leading Democrats, Republicans, and independents; business and labor leaders; former senior government officials; scholars; writers; and journalists."

Diana Barahona's description of their board of trustees is : "a Who's Who of neoconservatives from government, business, academia, labor, and the press."

As an important aside : ''The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was enacted in 1938. FARA is a disclosure statute that requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities.'' - from the fara.gov link.

So, rhetorically .... 'AIPAC' anyone ?!

''This is the way asymmetric politics works for the Israel Lobby. It is the dynamic that puts our country in opposition to most of the world with respect to International Law and peace in the Middle East. And it may yet succeed in getting us into a war with Iran.''

cave - bellum se ipsum alet ...

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago

Per FARA:

12 Active Foreign Principals for SAUDI ARABIA as of 01/14/2014

1 Active Foreign Principals for PALESTINE as of 01/14/2014

4 Active Foreign Principals for PAKISTAN as of 01/14/2014

2 Active Foreign Principals for QATAR as of 01/14/2014

12 Active Foreign Principals for TURKEY as of 01/14/2014

10 Active Foreign Principals for UNITED ARAB EMIRATES as of 01/14/2014

3 Active Foreign Principals for SYRIA as of 01/14/2014

5 Active Foreign Principals for LIBYA as of 01/14/2014

11 Active Foreign Principals for IRAQ as of 01/14/2014

2 Active Foreign Principals for IRAN as of 01/14/2014

1 Active Foreign Principals for EGYPT as of 01/14/2014

2 Active Foreign Principals for BAHRAIN as of 01/14/2014

5 Active Foreign Principals for KUWAIT as of 01/14/2014

5 Active Foreign Principals for ISRAEL as of 01/14/2014

[-] 2 points by shadz66 (19985) 10 years ago

Re. Arch-US allies, the 'KSA', time to wake up & smell the coffee :

Thanx for the interesting but somewhat telling knee-jerk response.

Even more telling is the absence of a source link to the info. abv. !

multum in parvo ...

[-] -2 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago

Gosh, it is interesting when you look at all of the lobbyists. Now, are you able to answer the question asked in the OP?

[-] 1 points by shadz66 (19985) 10 years ago

Nope, not interested in that. I'm more interested in revealing your Neocon sources and proclivities.

I could have said MUCH more & provided many more links about that matter but chose to leave it.

e tenebris, lux ...

[-] -2 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago

If I have time later then I'll give you some busy work. I'm enjoying watching you flop around.

[-] 2 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago

Zambia NGOs should be transparent, accountable

The NGOs have been calling for accountability and transparency in the management of the country’s affairs. They have been receiving a lot of money from mostly foreign donors to fund programmes aimed at holding the government to account. Surprisingly when the same was demanded from them they raised a lot of dust, accusing the government of ill-will. Right now some of the NGOs have refused to register with the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health in accordance with the provisions of the Act. It is difficult to understand why the NGOs are not comfortable with the government knowing the sources of their funding.

[Removed]

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago

This one is is Bolivia but, it is from May 1, 2013. I am looking at some other articles that I will come back and add in.

Bolivia's Evo Morales says 'adiós' to USAID

Dec. 3, 2013: Morales threatens to expel NGOs from Bolivia who conspire against the Government

Close the NGOs: Asserting Sovereignty or Eroding Democracy?

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago

Algeria's churches fear impact of new law governing NGOs

This is something that I keep finding. The charter, mission or constitution stipulates what the goal is and in order for the NGOs to fulfill their aims it has no choice but to interfere in the politics.

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago