AI: Laws to destroy ‘enemies within’ – Russian NGOs tagged as ‘foreign agents’ (McCarthyism

Russian-style)


The offices of the NGO HRC Memorial in Moscow was vandalized with graffiti "Foreign agent. Love USA".

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist. “Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. “Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. “Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”

A blue banner embossed with Protestant Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous World War II lament is among the numerous wall hangings in the offices of Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg.

The NGO’s founder Ella Polyakova, an experienced human rights defender and pacifist, sees it as a fitting parallel to the situation she currently faces. Polyakova’s offence? She dared to speak publicly about the alleged death of Russian soldiers in Ukraine – in a climate where the Russian authorities have repeatedly denied any involvement the armed conflict.


Ella Polyakova, founder of the NGO Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg,
which has been branded a "foreign agent".

Soldiers’ Mothers is among hundreds of Russian NGOs to be targeted by inspections and other forms of persecution by the authorities under a draconian “foreign agents law” passed in July 2012. Since 28 August this year, it is among those that have been effectively tarred as foreign spies: organizations and their directors have simultaneously been smeared by Russia’s state-run media.

Besides Soldiers’ Mothers – which defends the human rights of those serving in Russia’s armed forces – NGOs working on issues as disparate as election monitoring, the environment, homophobia and other discrimination are among those the Ministry of Justice accuses of “fulfilling the functions of a foreign agent”.

http://www.amnesty.org./en/news/lawfare-destroy-enemies-within-russian-ngos-tagged-foreign-agents-2014-10-09