Russia’s lower house of parliament has given final approval to a bill on so-called «undesirable organizations» that critics say will deal a fresh blow to a nongovernmental sector that already faces considerable pressure.

In a third and final reading on May 19, the heavily pro-Kremlin State Duma overwhelmingly approved the legislation, which would give Russian prosecutors the right to list as «undesirable» foreign organizations «posing a threat to Russia’s defense capabilities, security, public order, [or] public health.»

It must now be approved by the upper house in what precedent suggests will be little more than a formality, and then sent to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law.

Under the bill, which the Kremlin’s own human rights ombudsman has opposed, individuals who work for such organizations inside Russia could be slapped with hefty fines or handed prison sentences of up to six years.

Human rights watchdogs have denounced the legislation. In a joint statement last week, when the Duma passed the bill in a crucial second reading, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said it would «bolster an ongoing draconian crackdown which is squeezing the life out of civil society.»

In 2012, Russia passed legislation that grants broad leeway for authorities to define nongovernmental groups that receive foreign funding as «foreign agents.»

The law on «undesirable organizations «puts those who don’t fall under the ‘foreign agents’ law on a knife edge,» veteran Russian human rights activist Lyudmila Alekseyeva told the Russian website Snob.ru.

Putin, who is accused of clamping down on NGOs with restrictive laws during his third term, recently repeated his accusation that Western secret services use nongovernmental organizations to «destabilize Russia.»

«The attempts by the Western secret services to use public, nongovernmental organizations and nonpolitical bodies to discredit the authorities and destabilize Russia’s internal situation continue,» he said at a March 26 meeting with senior officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the domestic successor of the Soviet KGB.

Under the legislation passed by the Duma on May 19, the decision to deem a foreign organization undesirable must be coordinated with Russia’s Foreign Ministry on the basis of materials and documents obtained from the Interior Ministry and security agencies.

The Justice Ministry would be tasked with compiling the «blacklist.»

Aleksandr Cherkasov, the head of Russia’s Memorial human rights center, told Snob.ru that the bill was written in such a «blurry» fashion that foreign organizations, media outlets, and NGOs already deemed «foreign agents» could be impacted.

«This law allows you to declare McDonald’s an ‘undesirable organization’ and fine anyone who cooperates with it, anyone who eats hamburgers,» Cherkasov said.

With reporting by AFP, Meduza.io, and Snob.ru

http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-duma-passes-undesirable-ngo-bill/27025310.html

WASHINGTON – Did pro-Kremlin activists beam images of Russian tanks onto the facade of the White House to protest what they call Washington’s efforts to prevent foreign leaders from traveling to Moscow to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany? Читать далее ‘Russian Tanks In Washington’ Video Triggers U.S. Secret Service Probe →

On World Press Freedom Day, Article 19 and its regional partners, Adil Soz, NANSMIT and Media Policy Institute call on the governments of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to ensure respect for the right to freedom of expression and to ensure that journalists can carry out their professional activities in a free and safe environment. Читать далее Central Asia: World Press Freedom Day →

The United States has urged Uzbekistan to release opposition journalist Muhammad Bekjanov, who has been imprisoned since 1999, and ease restrictions on journalists in the authoritarian Central Asian state.

«We call on the government of Uzbekistan to release Mr. Bekjanov and to take the steps necessary to create space for independent journalists to work without fear of violence,» U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke told a May 1 briefing in Washington.

Rights activists call Bekjanov, former editor of the opposition newspaper Erk, one of the longest-imprisoned journalists in the world.

Human Rights Watch says he was jailed after being kidnapped in Kyiv by Uzbek security forces in 1999 and that he has been tortured while in custody.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has ruled Uzbekistan since 1989, two years before it gained independence in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

During that time, he has neutralized most of his political opposition, and his government has been accused of frequent human rights abuses.

The 77-year-old Karimov was reelected in a March 29 election with more than 90 percent of the vote, despite a constitutional restriction against any individual serving more than two terms in office.

Vote monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the poll lacked a genuine opposition to Karimov and was marred by legal and organizational shortcomings.

Rathke, whose comments came ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, noted that Bekjanov «is thought to have been arrested for his public criticism of President Karimov’s administration, and for his affiliation with a peaceful political opposition party.»

A report released by the U.S.-based watchdog Freedom House on April 29 cited Uzbekistan as among the world’s 10 worst countries and territories for press freedoms, alongside countries including Belarus, Russian-occupied Crimea, Iran, and Turkmenistan.

U.S.  President Barack Obama’s administration, which recently completed a review of its Central Asia policy, has insisted that it will continue to advocate for human rights, political reforms, and free media in the region.

Rights activists have accused Washington of turning a blind eye to abuses by authoritarian governments in Central Asia in order to secure cooperation on counterterrorism and other security matters.

Last month, Amnesty International called on the European Union to increase pressure on the Karimov’s government to stop torture in Uzbek jails and prisons.

Rathke added on May 1 that Washington also urges Tashkent «to allow international observers to visit prisons and to grant all citizens access to full due process in accordance with international commitments.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan-media-bekjanov/26989500.html

«The government of Turkmenistan has taken a decision to liquidate all privately owned TV and radio satellite dishes in the country» and «the main target of this campaign is Radio Azatlyk, the Turkmen-language service of Radio Liberty/Free Europe.»

That’s according to the Civic Solidarity Platform, an umbrella organization bringing together nearly 60 nongovernmental organizations from the United States and Eurasia.

Azatlyk knows about the campaign to demolish satellite dishes. It’s not the first time the Turkmen authorities have attempted to rid the country of satellite dishes, but this time the efforts seem more serious.

The Turkmen government has always preferred to have a monopoly on the dissemination of information inside Turkmenistan. Access to satellite dishes, which in some cases cost only some $100, has broken the grip Turkmen authorities have tried to keep on information, allowing citizens to watch or listen to programming from many sources, including Azatlyk.

But according to Civic Solidarity, this most recent decision by the authorities to rid the country of satellite dishes «is aimed at fully blocking access of the population of Turkmenistan to hundreds of independent international media outlets which are currently accessible in the country only though satellite dishes.»

In naming Azatlyk as the main target of the campaign, Civic Solidarity called the RFE/RL service «the only independent source of information about Turkmenistan and the world in the Turkmen language and is widely listened to in the country.»

Azatlyk has regularly reported on a wide variety of subjects affecting Turkmenistan today, from housing problems and long lines to purchase train tickets, to the problems of people being detained and imprisoned for demanding their basic rights be respected, or the deteriorating security situation along the country’s southern border with Afghanistan.

What these topics all have in common is that Turkmen state media will not report on them and the authorities would prefer these matters not be publicized.

Civic Solidarity noted Azatlyk’s broadcasts are «currently accessible to the Turkmen public through satellite dishes while other channels of information about Turkmenistan, including websites of human rights and dissident organizations as well as the website of Radio Azatlyk are blocked in Turkmenistan.»

Azatlyk is aware of the campaign and has learned the Turkmen government is offering options to satellite-dish owners.

The government will compensate the loss of satellite dishes with «cable TV packages» that would provide «entertainment channels produced by Russia, Turkey, and India,» none of which include news programs. The authorities have already said they reserve the right to cut off broadcasting at any time.

Another option for those losing their satellite dishes is to agree to have government-installed satellite dishes on their buildings, but that would leave subscribers with only state-approved channels.

It appears in some cases Azatlyk would still be accessible on some antennas but on others Azatlyk programing would not be available.

As has been true during previous campaigns to rid the country of satellite dishes, the official reason given is that the dishes are ugly blemishes on the grand architecture of Turkmenistan’s cities.

— Bruce Pannier

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international press rigths group, has included Azerbaijan and Iran on its list of the 10 most censored countries in the world.

The list is based on research into the government censorship tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to harassment of journalists and restrictions on Internet access.

Azerbaijan’s ranking as the fifth most repressive state for journalists, and Iran’s ranking as the seventh worst, were based on its record among the world’s worst jailers of journalists.

Eritrea and North Korea were named as the first and second most censored countries.

Other countries on the list include Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, China, Burma, and Cuba.

CPJ plans to release a full report on the listed countries on April 27.

http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-iran-censorship-cpj-report/26970633.html

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging the international community to press Azerbaijan to «release the critics it has thrown behind bars and end its crackdown» as it prepares to host a major sporting event.

HRW released a video on April 20 that shows prominent activists and journalists who have been detained in the months leading up to the first-ever European Games, which will bring more than 6,000 athletes to Baku from June 12-28.

«European leaders should make clear they will not be sending high-level delegations to the opening ceremonies unless people jailed for criticizing the government are freed and the government’s crackdown on independent groups and activists ends,» it said.

HRW said earlier in April that President Ilham Aliyev’s government had used a range of bogus criminal charges in the last year to arrest or imprison at least 35 human rights defenders, political and civil activists, journalists, and bloggers.

Among those rights groups say are jailed for political reasons are activist Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif; Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist and RFE/RL contributor; human rights lawyer Intiqam Aliyev; and youth activist Rasul Cafarov.

In a statement on April 20, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, said that the «case of Leyla and Arif Yunus illustrates the pattern of repression that has emerged in Azerbaijan.»

He said that «human rights defenders are harassed through restrictive NGO legislation and selectively targeted with criminal prosecutions on charges that defy credibility.»

«The situation of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan is of great concern,» Muiznieks added.

«Reprisals, including judicial harassment, against critical voices in general, and those denouncing human rights violations in the country in particular, is a widespread phenomenon in Azerbaijan,» he concluded.

Several Western countries and rights groups have called for the European Games as well as a Formula One auto race planned for next year not to be held in Azerbaijan because of its widely criticized human rights records,

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, however, said on April 19 that the Azerbaijani Grand Prix was on track to take place as scheduled.

He said that there «doesn’t seem to be any big problem» in Azerbaijan.

The United States said last month that releasing jailed activists and journalists would demonstrate adherence to Azerbaijan’s «commitments to uphold the fundamental freedoms of all its citizens.»

A report by HRW said that in 2014 the Azerbaijani government «escalated repression against its critics, marking a dramatic deterioration in its already poor rights record.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/hrw-calls-for-pressure-on-azerbaijan-to-release-critics/26967524.html

HOMEL, Belarus — A Belarusian journalist contributing as a freelancer to the Poland-based Belsat television channel is being tried on suspicion of working without accreditation.

Kastus Zhukouski was summoned to a hearing in southeastern city of Homel on April 20.

The legal pressure comes after Zhukouski interviewed a resident in a nearby village regarding financial hardships faced by elderly citizens on April 12.

Belsat aired the interview on April 13.

Belsat TV is a Polish state-run satellite television channel that broadcasts into Belarus in the Belarusian and Russian languages, irritating authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s government.

Zhukouski has been tried twice before over reports for Belsat TV.

On April 2, he was fined $375, and in December he was fined $65 for working without proper accreditation.

http://www.rferl.org/content/belarusian-journalist-faces-trial-for-working-with-no-accreditation/26967484.html

MOSCOW — The Russian Justice Ministry has added Transparency International Russia to its list of organizations designated as «foreign agents.»

The ministry’s announcement on April 7 brought the  number of nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations listed as foreign agents to 50.

President Vladimir Putin signed a law in 2012 that requires NGOs that receive foreign funding and are deemed to be engaged in political activities to register as organizations «performing the functions of a foreign agent.»

Rights activists, Kremlin critics, and Western governments say the designation deliberately and unfairly suggests the groups are involved in espionage.

They see it as part of a campaign to silence dissent and rein in civil society during Putin’s third presidential term.

Also on April 7, a court in the Volga region city of Samara ordered a local NGO, the Ecological Training Center, to pay a 150,000 rubles ($2,750) fine for refusal to register as a foreign agent.

http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-adds-transparency-internatuional-to-foreign-agents-list/26944865.html

DUSHANBE — Imams at several mosques across Tajikistan have urged Muslims to support the closure of the Islamic Renaissance Party, calling for a referendum to dissolve the only officially registered Islamic party in former Soviet Central Asia.

A letter distributed to imams before Friday Prayers on March 27 said that dissolving the party would help Tajikistan «avoid the fate of other nations where Islamic extremists are disrupting peace and order.»

The letter is believed to have been circulated by a state-backed Islamic center that often sends imams recommended texts for sermons.

It sharply increased the pressure from the government and mainstream Muslim authorities on the Islamic Renaissance Party, which failed to win even a single seat in parliament in the March 1 elections that were marred by fraud allegations.

The party said their image was blackened by state media reports ahead of the poll that linked them to extremist groups in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

At the central mosque in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s Deputy Mufti Domullo Saidakbar called on believers to dissolve the party through a referendum.

Saidakbar said that Tajiks are Muslims historically and culturally, not through membership in political groups.

The imams’ call comes a week after Tajik President Emomali Rahmon publicly urged the country’s intellectuals to outline the concept for the national development until 2050 that would establish a «democratic and secular country based on the rule of law.»

Speaking at the annual meeting with Tajikistan’s intellectuals on March 19, Rahmon stressed that the concept has «to be mainly focused on development of secularism and national and secular thinking.»

Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, Saidumar Husaini, told RFE/RL that the imams’ proposal is an «order.»

Husaini said that his party’s activities had been conducted in accordance with all international norms and Tajik laws and its closure must be justified by «concrete reasons.»

Husaini said that an open discussion of the party’s activities must be conducted via a roundtable discussion by his party members and those of the Islamic center «in order to find out if the Islamic Renaissance Party is, in fact, an obstacle for Tajik society’s further development and a threat to the country’s national security.»

«Let them prove that it’s the Islamic Renaissance Party’s fault that there are electricity shortages during cold seasons, that operations at the country’s most important industrial facilities have been suspended, that the state organs are corrupt. If they prove that all this is our party’s fault then, fine, let them close our party,» Husaini said.

The Islamic Renaissance Party is one of the oldest political parties in the former Soviet Union. It was founded in 1990 but banned by Tajik authorities during Tajikistan’s 1992-97 civil wars. The party played a major part in the conflict and the peace talks and was legalized again after a peace accord was signed in 1997.

Since 1999, the party has been the second-largest party in Tajikistan after the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan led by Rahmon.

In the 2005 and 2010 parliamentary elections, the Islamic Renaissance Party won two out of 63 seats in the parliament, but in recent parliamentary polls the party failed to clear the 5 percent threshold needed to win parliament seats.

The party leaders said the elections were not fair and alleged fraud in vote-counting.

Ahead of the March 1 parliamentary elections, the Islamic Renaissance Party’s Jamoliddin Mahmudov, who was a member of Tajikistan’s Central Election Commission, was detained on suspicion of illegal weapons possession.

The party condemned the arrest, saying it was politically motivated.

In July, the leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party’s local branch in the eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Province, Saodatsho Adolatov, was sentenced to five years in jail for inciting social hatred, a charge he claimed as politically motivated.

In April, Husaini and his son were beaten by a group of unknown assailants in Dushanbe. No arrests were made.

In January 2014, a member of the Islamic Renaissance Party, Umedjon Tojiev, died in a prison hospital in Tajikistan’s northern city of Khujand. Officials claimed the 34-year-old Tojiev died of a heart attack, but the Islamic Renaissance Party said Tojiev was tortured.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajikistan-imams-islamic-renaissance-party-closure/26924305.html