Re: Putin Warns Politically Active NGOs


"Captain!" <SpammersMustDie@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:NRKDe.165978$on1.47017@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Putin Warns Politically Active NGOs
> http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/07/21/001.html
>
> President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia would not tolerate
> foreign money being used to finance the political activities of
> nongovernmental organizations.
>

That's very wise, since the US uses NGOs for achieving self-advantageous
goals. Canada should refuse fundings from US religious-right groups as well.
And any other foreign organizations.


> Putin's remarks made it clear that the Kremlin is worried about upcoming
> parliamentary and presidential elections and the possibility of a popular
> uprising such as the ones that toppled the governments of Ukraine, Georgia
> and Kyrgyzstan over the past two years. Government officials have accused
> Western countries of helping bankroll the uprisings through NGOs.
>
> "We are against overseas funding for the political activities [of NGOs] in
> Russia. I categorically object," Putin said at a meeting with human rights
> activists in the Kremlin.
>
> "Not a single state that respects itself does that, and we won't allow it
> either," he said.
>
> Putin said he had been briefed that "money is being allocated for concrete
> political activity" in very sensitive areas. "We understand that he who
pays
> the piper calls the tune," he said.
>
> Putin did not identify which countries or organizations were providing
> money.
>
> A U.S. Senate committee on June 30 advised the Senate to pass a bill that
> allocates $85 million in assistance to Russia next year. Some of the money
> comes under the Freedom Support Act, which is aimed at nurturing democracy
> abroad. Izvestia reported on July 7 that $5 million of that money would
fund
> programs to develop political parties.
>
> The United States has been allocating FSA money for Russia and other
former
> Soviet republics since the early 1990s, and the amount earmarked for
Russia
> for 2005 also totaled $85 million. Russian government officials have
> suggested the money that went to Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan was used
to
> facilitate the uprisings, which in each case followed a controversial
> election.
>
> The funds for Russia are distributed to a wide variety of NGOs. Some of
the
> U.S. money is used to help NGOs and political parties create conditions
for
> free and fair elections. NGOs that work with the disabled, orphans and the
> environment also are recipients.
>
> Putin urged the activists to remain independent of foreign influences.
>
> "Let's solve our internal political issues ourselves," Putin told the
group,
> which included leading human rights campaigner Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the
head
> of the Moscow Helsinki Group.
>
> Putin also called for greater cooperation between human rights groups and
> the government in ensuring citizens' rights and promised that the
government
> would make more state grants available to NGOs.
>
> Putin spoke during his first meeting with the advisory Council for
Fostering
> the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, which was
> formed in November to replace the Human Rights Commission.
>
> Putin's comments reflect the Kremlin's efforts to contain a possible
Western
> attempt to spark an uprising in Russia, said Alexei Mukhin, director of
the
> Center for Political Information.
>
> "The money troubles the Russian government. The Kremlin is ready to track
it
> down," Mukhin said.
>
> The Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the Financial
> Monitoring Agency, which was set up to fight money laundering, are
probably
> at the forefront of any effort to follow the flow of cash, Mukhin said.
>
> Kremlin adviser and political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky said Putin was
> reacting to "the shadowy financing" of NGOs that had gotten into politics
in
> recent years. "He is against . a political group acting under the guise of
> an NGO," Pavlovsky said.
>
> He noted that the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees was set up to help
> draftees defend their rights but its founders last year formed a political
> party and called for Chechen peace talks.
>
> Putin's remarks Wednesday could also affect political parties. Legislation
> bans political parties from receiving foreign funding for campaigning but
> does not prohibit them from accepting the money for daily activities.
>
> Parties are required to publish their campaign budgets but are allowed to
> keep information about their other financial operations to themselves,
> Pavlovsky said.
>
> Mukhin said foreign money was increasingly going toward outspoken youth
> organizations such as the National Bolshevik Party, while support for
> liberal parties such as Yabloko had decreased.
>
> Mukhin said new legislation might soon be drafted that would force parties
> and NGOs to open their books and pay prohibitive taxes on any foreign
grants
> used for political activities.
>
> But Pavlovsky said, "This does not suggest that there will be any new laws
> or a repression of NGOs."
>
> Authorities, however, could charge parties and NGOs with tax evasion or
> money laundering if they use foreign grants for nondesignated activities,
> Pavlovsky said.
>
> "Western foundations act absolutely legally when they transfer money, but
> the next step may often be illegal, as the money is cashed and used for
> something other than what is written in the accounting books," Pavlovsky
> said.
>
> Yabloko deputy head Sergei Ivanenko cautioned that cutting foreign funding
> to politically active NGOs would restrict civil liberties. He said Putin
> appeared to be continuing down a course of getting rid of organizations
that
> do not pledge their loyalty to the Kremlin, Interfax reported.
>
>


.

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