A/S LOWENKRON'S MEETING WITH NGO REPRESENTATIVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 000504 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EAID KDEM RS SUBJECT: A/S LOWENKRON'S MEETING WITH NGO REPRESENTATIVES REF: A. MOSCOW 00306 ¶B. MOSCOW 03447 ¶C. MOSCOW 10863 Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons: 1.4 (B/D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On January 17, the same day as the announcement that President Putin had signed the controversial NGO legislation, NGO leaders told A/S Lowenkron and the Ambassador that the legislation was flawed and ambiguous. Although the new legislation will come into force around mid-April, they expressed doubt that the government would apply it forcefully before the G-8 summit so as not to undermine President Putin's goal of presenting himself as chairman of the G-8 on a world stage. Rather, they saw the period between the summit and the 2008 elections as critical for civil society in Russia. Most of the participants believed that in the short-term NGOs needed to focus on limiting the damage from the legislation, while positioning themselves to take advantage of long-term democratic trends in Russia. Some of the NGO representatives also expressed concern about government control or co-optation of civil society through the Public Chamber, government-oriented NGOs, and increased state funding of NGOs. A/S Lowenkron and the Ambassador emphasized continued U.S. support for Russian NGOs and on-going U.S. engagement with the GOR on the implementation of NGO legislation. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) A/S Lowenkron and the Ambassador met with nine prominent Russian NGO leaders January 17 to discuss the new Russian legislation on NGOs and to express continued U.S. support for their work. Participants included: U.S. --- A/S Lowenkron AMB Burns EUR DAS Kramer AID Country Director Myers Notetaker Russian NGOs -------------- Lyudmila Alekseyeva, Moscow Helsinki Group Andrey Kortunov, New Eurasia Foundation Yuriy Dzhibladze, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights Tatyana Lokshina, Demos Center Grigoriy Shvedov, Memorial Yelena Topleva-Soldunova, Agency for Social Information Marina Liborakina, Institute for Urban Economics Sergey Litovchenko, Russian Managers Association Yelena Gerasimova, Center for Social and Labor Rights . REACTION TO THE NEW NGO LAW -------------- ¶3. (C) A/S Lowenkron and the Ambassador thanked the participants for meeting at such an important time for the NGO community, given the announcement that President Putin had signed the controversial NGO law on January 10 (ref A). The NGO participants agreed the new legislation was flawed but said they were not surprised that it had been signed. Alekseyeva believed Putin had not publicized the signing since he knew the bill was flawed and feared that it would embarrass his G-8 colleagues. She noted that her organization planned to file a legal case to have it declared unconstitutional. Dzhibladze said the legislation was vague and ambiguous and gave the authorities a huge amount of leeway to implement it as they saw fit, potentially including denying registration and blocking foreign funding for NGOs. Many discussion participants agreed that even though the legislation would come into force around mid-April, the GOR was unlikely to apply it against organizations until after the G-8 summit to avoid undermining President Putin's goal of presenting himself as chairman of the G-8 on a world stage. Dzhibladze and Kortunov said the period between the summit and the elections in 2007 and 2008 would be critical for NGOs. ¶4. (C) Lokshina noted that the new legislation would immediately affect some NGOs. For example, since it forbade individuals convicted of extremism from founding or participating in NGOs, Sakharov Center Director Yuriy Samodurov would likely have to resign from his position by virtue of having been convicted of inciting religious hatred (ref B). NGOs such as the Russian Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) in Nizhniy Novgorod were already experiencing problems (ref C),Lokshina continued, arguing that the authorities may have picked that organization as a trial case on how to destroy an NGO. The RCFS was particularly vulnerable since it was a small regional organization and lacked local support, at least in part because of its pro-separatist views MOSCOW 00000504 002 OF 003 on the conflict in Chechnya. Shvedov said that under the new legislation regional organizations, especially those focused on human rights, were vulnerable. Gerasimova and Litovchenko believed the legislation would have little impact on labor and business NGOs such as theirs, which received little money from abroad. Liborakina argued that though many observers had initially believed that nothing could be done about the legislation, successful lobbying and public support had resulted in adoption of more than half of the amendments recommended by the NGO community. Others were less positive about their success in softening the legislation. . DAMAGE CONTROL AND LOOKING TO THE LONG-TERM -------------- ¶5. (C) Kortunov said the NGO community needed to do immediate damage control, but to also take advantage of long-term positive trends. The short-term damage control consisted of trying to avoid allowing the GOR to use the legislation to set bad precedents. Many noted that the NGO legislation has increased cooperation and mobilization within the NGO community. This experience combined with continued openings for grassroots movements - particularly in some regions - may help strengthen the cohesiveness and capacity of civil society. Over the long term, Kortunov believed that an emergent middle class in Russia would demand more liberal reforms and that the Kremlin could not reverse this trend. NGOs needed to develop the capacity to make the most of a second round of reforms that would take place sometime after the 2008 election. To position themselves for this "second coming of liberalism," NGOs should work on the regional and municipal level. Shvedov believed that in the short-term, NGOs should try to protect themselves by participating in more intergovernmental dialogues like the EU dialogue on human rights and welcomed opportunities for increased engagement with U.S. NGOs. Some of the long-term areas to work on might include using social marketing to build support for human rights and expanded use of the Internet to make information available to the public and to conduct regional campaigns focused on youth, Shvedov said. Lokshina agreed that part of the long-term effort should focus on exposing Russia's younger generation to liberal values through non-controversial mechanisms like exchanges with the West and courses taught by foreign professors. The Ambassador noted that it was important to invest in the next generation and that the U.S. would continue pursuing this effort. ¶6. (C) The participants agreed with the Ambassador that it was important for the U.S. to work with other Western countries in response to the legislation. Some participants urged the U.S. to speak out even more loudly against the legislation. Dzhibladze, by contrast, expressed uncertainty about such a strategy given both the Kremlin's preference to discuss such issues privately and a growing tendency in Russian politics to exploit anti-Americanism. As an example of anti-Americanism, Dzhibladze said the Kremlin-controlled media had devoted extensive coverage to the U.S. Congressional resolutions on the NGO legislation while virtually ignoring a similarly critical resolution passed by the European Parliament. He added that many Russians were cynical about USG efforts to promote democracy and viewed them as a cover for other U.S. foreign policy goals. . GOR INFLUENCE ON CIVIL SOCIETY -------------- ¶7. (C) Looking beyond the NGO legislation, some of the participants expressed concern about other GOR efforts to influence civil society. They portrayed the Public Chamber as a manifestation of this trend, with Topleva-Soldunova saying that the GOR could use the Chamber to control civil society and arguing that only about ten percent of its members were "real" representatives of civil society. Some nonetheless said the Chamber's statements on the NGO law were helpful and they would continue to try to cooperate with its members. ¶8. (C) Lokshina said that Government-Oriented Non-Governmental Organizations (the so-called "GONGOs") posed a threat, particularly to NGOs working in politically sensitive areas such as elections and human rights. By controlling the distribution of government funds, such as the money that the GOR had said it would dedicate to developing democracy in the CIS, the government could ensure that only pro-Kremlin organizations or those working in fields lacking political sensitivity would receive funding. Authorities could use the GONGOs to support Kremlin positions in the international arena. Litovchenko argued, however, that giving government funding to independent NGOs would be helpful since most of the business community feared contributing to them and lacked the tax incentives for doing so. Liborakina believed increased GOR funding for social MOSCOW 00000504 003 OF 003 services created new opportunities for cooperation between independent NGOs and the government. ¶9. (C) A/S Lowenkron noted that civil society could not be built from the top down in any country. NGOs had a lot of important work to do, and while governments could view them as advocates or opponents, NGOs should not be viewed as enemies. A/S Lowenkron said the USG had concerns about the NGO legislation, particularly its vagueness and possible implementation. He stressed that we will continue to follow its implementation closely in the coming months. He noted that the issue would receive attention before, during, and after the G-8 summit. A/S Lowenkron added that the G-8 summit is not only a place and an agenda, it is an opportunity for countries to support common values. In this spirit the USG would continue to talk with government officials so that the implementation of the NGO law reflects a common view of the importance of civil society to the fabric of democracy. ¶10. (U) A/S Lowenkron cleared this cable. BURNS