Russia loosens clasp on NGOs ahead of Obama visit

By Amie Ferris-Rotman

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin eased some restrictions on Russian NGOs on Friday ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, in the first major move to strengthen civil society since President Dmitry Medvedev took office. The move was applauded by human rights activists, who said that the reforms cover only a third of NGOs and a lot more remains to be done to improve Russia's human rights record.

Medvedev, who was elected just over a year ago, proposed in May relaxing restrictions on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) imposed during the presidency of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whom rights groups had accused of hindering their work.

Obama will meet human rights groups during his July 6-8 visit, which is expected to focus the spotlight on Russia's civil rights environment.

"These reforms are an important step as they address some issues, registration being one of the biggest roadblocks for NGOs, so this is a great step that he (Medvedev) has taken," said Matthew Schaaf, the NGO liaison of the Moscow branch of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"But it is limited, it remains to be seen how it will be implemented."

In 2006 Russia introduced some laws which it said were designed to stop terrorists, money launderers and foreign spy groups using NGOs as their cover. Rights groups criticized them for being laden with unnecessary paperwork and for enabling the authorities to close down the organizations.

The amendments to the laws were approved by a wide margin in the lower house of parliament, the Duma, on Friday. Most changes will come into force on August 1, with some on January 1, 2010.

The changes will restrict the bulk of paperwork state structures are allowed to demand from NGOs and will mean NGOs will be inspected once every three years instead of annually. Also the reasons behind rejecting registrations will now be explained instead of being turned down with no explanation.