In a June 15 op-ed in Al Jazeera America, history professor Kate Brown examined the impact of Russia’s foreign agents law on the country’s civil society and environmental activists. The law requires organizations that receive funding from abroad to register as foreign agents, and the law as it was originally written excluded environmental advocacy groups.
However, Brown wrote in her column that the law has recently been used with broad application to abolish NGO’s that prevent development in Russia. “The ease with which the law can be abused could spell disaster both for Russian civil society and environmental regulation.”
With the way the law is constructed, Brown wrote that it makes it difficult for outside groups to intervene: “The multi-faceted utility of the law makes it an enticing tool, one that is increasingly difficult for NGOs to surmount. In part because of the U.S. history of spying on enemies and allies alike, there appears to be little that can be done from outside Russia without exacerbating charges of foreign meddling. As during the Soviet period, those in the United States can only watch and report,” she wrote.
To read the full column titled “Russia Uses ‘Foreign Agents’ Law to Muzzle Dissent,” click here.
