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Multiple news outlets have reported that Russia has passed a law allowing Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to be banned if undesirable.
According to the story on Euronews:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill which will allow foreign organisations to be banned from operating in the country.
The new law will give authorities the right to prosecute non-governmental organisations if considered "undesirable" or a threat to national security.
From the CNN story:
Tanya Lokshina, Russia program director for Human Rights Watch, said the new law had "the potential to severely damage our work in Russia," and was a cause for grave concern for all international groups operating in the country.
Nevertheless, she said she did not believe the law was aimed at international organizations like hers. Instead, she said, it was aimed at Russians who might cooperate with, or support, international organizations.
NGOs are not always beloved around the world and have been accused of doing more harm than good. What is the correct role for NGOs in the world?
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:03AM
If they are doing something illegal, then throw the book at them. If they are doing something legal that you don't like then you'll have to deal with it. Anything else is really open for abuse. It could be a huge loophole to shape the country. Maybe abortion is legal but undesirable so any organization that opens a clinic is banned from the country. I suppose locals could operate a clinic without international support though. Just another hurdle.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @01:27AM
that's the point. now they can say that the NGOs are doing something illegal.
that's actually the purpose of the legislature: make laws that can be used; in this case, they didn't like the NGOs, but they had no legal backing to mess with them, so they made a law to provide that.
please note that I'm not saying what they did is right or wrong.
we could argue it's right, since they are making their intentions clear with a law, and they have the courage to put their name to that law (even though a lot of people would say it's a bad law).
my opinion is that they're a bunch of mobsters and they're so confident in their hold on the country that they're no longer interested in keeping up with the image of "modern and open" society.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday May 26 2015, @02:44AM
How will an NGO know what is undesirable or not? Undesirable is not illegal. The NGOs aren't being banned for doing something illegal. They are being banned because the government doesn't like them.
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