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US concerned over Russia's NGO law: Rice

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 December 2005, 06:07 CST

By Saul Hudson

KIEV (Reuters) - The United States is concerned about a proposed Russian law restricting foreign funding of pro-democracy bodies and charities, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday.

"There is a law that has gone, I think, through a first reading in the Duma (parliament) about which we do have concerns, about which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have concerns, about which I believe some Russians have concerns," Rice said.

"The United States government has expressed these concerns to the Russian Federation at all levels."

"We would certainly hope that the importance of non-governmental organizations to a stable democratic environment would be understood by the Russian government."

The draft law has troubled international rights groups and Western governments at a sensitive time when Russia prepares to take over for the first time the rotating presidency of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in 2006.

The law would force NGOs from human rights groups to sports clubs to re-register, subjecting them to tighter official scrutiny. It would also make it more difficult for them to receive foreign funding.

It also creates bureaucratic hurdles for foreign NGOs. Groups including Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch said if it passes in its current form them may have to close their Russian offices.

Rice's remark, during a visit to Russia's neighbor Ukraine, was the strongest public criticism to date from a U.S. official. U.S. President George W. Bush raised the issue at talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin last month.

The draft law was passed on first reading last month. A second reading was delayed after Putin asked for changes to soften parts of the law.

But he has defended the thrust of the law, saying it is needed to help Russia fight money laundering and terrorism.

Some of the law's supporters in parliament say the law is also necessary to prevent a repeat in Russia of the peaceful revolutions that brought pro-Western reformers to power in ex-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine.

Western governments who wanted to gain greater influence closer to Russia's borders were able to use NGOs in Georgia and Ukraine to help fan public unrest, say some of the law's backers.

Source: REUTERS

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