Russia Suspends Nearly 100 Foreign Organizations: Amnesty, Human Rts Watch

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Russia Suspends Nearly 100 Foreign Organizations
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 19, 2006

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia brushed aside U.S. objections Thursday and forced nearly 100 foreign non-governmental organizations, including leading human rights groups, to suspend operations for missing a deadline for re-registration under a tough, new law.

Those who had to stop work included Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have been persistent critics of President Vladimir Putin, and some accused the authorities of deliberately keeping them in legal limbo.

Kim Reed, an NGO lawyer who is advising several foreign groups, told The Associated Press that the Federal Registration Service was creating constant delays by insisting on minor changes to documents that the head offices had to prepare from scratch.

''It appears that if you are an organization involved in human rights or democracy activities, then your application gets much harsher scrutiny. Even if you are not sending police and court bailiffs to shut down their office, by not registering them, you are effectively doing that,'' she said.

Alexander Petrov, deputy head of the Moscow office of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said the group had to stop its research work Thursday, including interviewing rights victims, as well as participation in public events....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Russia-NGOs.html?hp&ex=1161316800&en=85959c45e6c769c7&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[RubyDuby in GA]

1. Like the US has anything to complain about.

Torture much????

[acmejack]

2. It's easy to brush aside the objections of Nation like the US!

How seriously could you take the objections of a Country that has legalized and practices torture, has no Habeas Corpus, has a buffoon as Dictator who ignores it's own laws and routinely violates the civil liberties of it's citizens? A Country run by War Criminals and corrupt toadies objects?

So what?

edit: tense, dammit!

[stillcool]

3. kind of hard to tell who's who...

in those foreign NGO roles...especially those ones involved in 'democracy activities'.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

4. We used to occupy the moral high ground.

So sad.

[izzie]

5. Hope Bush does not hear about this.

--

[TheLastMohican]

6. Way to go Russia!

Can you imagine 100 Russian NGO's in the States organising "orange revolutions" on the outskirts of US bringing in Russia's poodles as presidents in say Mexico and Canada?

I thought so.

Since the NGO's like "Freedom House" are controlled by the likes of Woolsey (former CIA chief) and Soros, Russia has every right to think those NGO's undermine the national security of Russia and should be shut down. Americans have to start thinking outside their little shoebox.