Court finds Russian ‘foreign agents’ law violates human rights convention

STRASBOURG, France (CN) — A Russian law requiring organizations to register as "foreign agents" if they get support from outside of the country is not “necessary in a democratic society,” Europe’s top rights court said Tuesday. 

The European Court of Human Rights sided with 73 Russian organizations impacted by the regulation, finding the law impedes the work of civil society groups and violates freedom of expression. 

The controversial bill, which passed the Russian Parliament in the summer of 2012 with overwhelming support, is widely seen as a response to protests following Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency the same year. Initially, the bill applied to nongovernmental organizations that engaged in political activity and received financial support from abroad. Its reach has since been expanded to media outlets as well. The law requires such groups to declare in all of their communications and publications that they are “foreign agents,” a Soviet-era term referring to Western spies. 

Dozens of groups – including environmental advocacy organization Ecodefence, press freedom organization Mass Media Defence Centre and LGBT group Coming Out – filed complaints with the Strasbourg-based human rights court, arguing the law violates their freedom of expression and association. Many of the organizations were fined and forced to shut down as a result of the new rules. 

The seven-judge panel concluded Tuesday the legislation made it difficult for groups to fundraise and hampered their work.

“The cumulative effect of these restrictions – whether by design or effect – is a legal regime that places a significant 'chilling effect' on the choice to seek or accept any amount of foreign funding, however insignificant, in a context where opportunities for domestic funding are rather limited,” the court’s Third Section wrote. 

According to the European Convention of Human Rights, which created the court in 1959, restrictions can be placed on freedom of expression if they are “prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society.” But Russia's Foreign Agents Act didn’t meet those criteria, the court found.

"The court fully agreed with the applicant organizations that the law on foreign agents is not only unpredictable but also hinders the legitimate work of civil society," lawyer Kirill Koroteyev told Reuters. Koroteyev represented Agora Human Rights Association, a legal organization that defends political activists. It was shut down in 2016 for failing to comply with the law. 

The rights court ordered Moscow to pay the groups more than a million euros ($1,190,000) in damages, but it’s unclear if they will ever see the money. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters "Russia no longer implements these decisions" when asked about the ruling. The Council of Europe, which oversees the court, expelled Russia in March following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Last week, Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to expand the Foreign Agents Act to include anyone who receives financial compensation from abroad, which could include everything from businesses with foreign customers to Russians who travel abroad for training programs. It also introduced a new designation of “persons affiliated with a foreign agent” that would include the friends or family of people who get money from outside of the country. 

On Monday, the prominent human rights group Committee Against Torture announced it was shutting down after being labeled a “foreign agent" by Russia.

"We do not want to continue to work while being labeled as foreign agents. We consider that term as an insult and slander," the group’s chairperson Sergei Babinets said in a statement. 

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