![]() Source: HRO.org (info) On 17 June Interfax reported that the Federal Human Rights Ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, sent Russia’s political leaders proposals to improve the law on non-profit organizations. "These proposals have been sent to the President and the Presidential Administration," Lukin said. According Kasparov.ru, Lukin is proposing in particular that the notion of ‘political activity’ be more clearly defined. They also contain a proposal to set up a mechanism that would allow the process of funding NGOs to change, so that NGOs would receive funding from within the country and not from abroad. Earlier, President Vladimir Putin had spoken of the need to review and improve the law on the registration of NGOs as "foreign agents." The latest version of the law on NGOs became law in 2012. It requires any non-profit organization that receives financial assistance from abroad to register as a "foreign agent" and to refer to themselves as such in all their publications, during any speeches by the representatives, and in all other cases. A considerable number of human rights organizations consider these requirements to be illegal and have refused to abide by them. |