KAZAKHSTAN: NGOs voice concern over new draft laws
Ukraine, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, to name a few countries, all have been victimized by NGOs with an American agenda of insurrection.
-Am
11 May 2005 15:36:27 GMT
Source: IRIN
ANKARA, 11 May (IRIN) - NGOs in Kazakhstan have expressed concern over a set of new draft laws they believe threaten the development of civil society and democracy in Central Asia's largest nation.
"This kind of law - if approved - will kill civil society in Kazakhstan, because they [the authorities] aim to put under very strict control the NGOs, not only international NGOs, but local ones as well," Antonio Stango, country director for Freedom House, a leading advocate of the world's young democracies, told IRIN from the Kazakh commercial capital of Almaty on Wednesday.
"If the draft law is adopted as it is now, it will bring administrative procedures, stipulating that every activity by the civic organisations would have to be coordinated with the authorities," Amangeldy Shormanbayev, a lawyer with the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (IBHRRL) NGO, told IRIN from the same city. "It has nothing to do with the freedom of assembly."
"We are very concerned about this," Oleg Katsiev, country director for Internews, an international non-profit group supporting open media worldwide, said from Almaty. "The government is going to control everything; every activity of any international NGO," he warned.
Their comments came two days after a group of leaders of human rights and pro-democracy organisations - including both Freedom House and Internews - issued a letter to the chairman of Kazakhstan's parliament, urging Astana to dismiss two draft laws that according to a statement, threatened democracy.
The draft laws, currently before the Kazakh parliament, or Majilis, would place significant restrictions on the activities of foreign and domestic NGOs, especially those supporting local human rights activists.
According to a group statement issued on Monday, the two laws - "On the Activities of Branches and Representative Offices of International or Foreign Non-commercial Organisations in the Republic of Kazakhstan" and "On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions into Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Matters Related to Non-Commercial Organisations" - would severely hinder international assistance to Kazakhstan. Kazakh citizens will therefore be deprived of the valuable services and experience of the international community, it added.
As part of the new law, every event, including a round-table or press conference, would need to be communicated to the authorities at least 10 days in advance, while all budgets would require the tacit approval, not only of the tax authorities, but by city and provincial officials as well, Stango said.
"We would waste all our time just dealing with bureaucracy," the Freedom House official explained. But even more disturbing, if an NGO was suspected of having some kind of political agenda, it could be closed down, he added.
"If somebody tomorrow in the government or even the city administration wakes up with bad humour, they can just close an NGO," the Italian activist warned, noting an additional clause called for the directors of international NGOs in country should be Kazakh citizens.
"This is a limitation put on international organisations without any serious justification," he said.
But it's also the timing of the proposed laws that are also of concern. "My impression is that this kind of draft law is motivated solely by the panic shown by some of the authorities after the events in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan," the activist maintained, noting that these events were uniquely different with different backgrounds and different actors.
"The main goal of some of the authorities in my opinion is just to do everything that is possible, hoping to avoid the collapse of the government," he added. Asked what he hoped would happened, Katsiev remarked: "We hope that this draft law will be removed from the schedule of the parliament," a sentiment shared by Stango.
"I do hope that the Kazakh authorities will understand that this kind of draft law does not help with the development of civil society," he explained. "Democratisation is a goal, an official goal of the government of Kazakhstan," he explained, reminding the Kazakh government they were there through an agreement between the US government and Kazakhstan.
According to Monday's eight-member group letter, the timing of the draft law submissions comes as Washington decides whether to certify that Astana had made significant improvements in the protection of human rights.
Czech NGO says Russia forces it to close Chechen ops
The PINF
Czech humanitarian aid agency People in Need is closing its operations in Russia's turbulent republic of Chechnya after the Russian authorities refused accreditation needed to work in the country, the agency said. People in Need is affiliated with US private and government donors. Bush is well acknowledged to use NGOs for ulterior motives. Sneaky way to get in the door. #msg-6343651
Russia's Federal Security Service has accused some NGOs of spying and even training Chechen fighters.
This is correct.
The US is involved with the Chechens not only through PINF, Russia has demanded that Chechen terrorists Akhmad Zakayew, now being given sanctuary in London and Ilyas Akhmadov now residing in the US, be turned over to Russia for planning and conducting the Beslan massacre. #msg-3959917 #msg-3953878 #msg-4589620
-Am
Czech NGO says Russia forces it to close Chechen ops 14 Jul 2005 13:26:57 GMT
Source: Reuters
PRAGUE, July 14 (Reuters) - Czech humanitarian aid agency People in Need is closing its operations in Russia's turbulent republic of Chechnya after the Russian authorities refused accreditation needed to work in the country, the agency said.
People in Need describes itself as one of the biggest groups working in the North Caucasus region and most of its programmes focused on aid in Chechnya where Russian troops have been fighting separatist rebels for a decade.
Many aid workers in and around Chechnya say they are harassed by the authorities. They also face the threat of kidnapping and even murder, which has led some major aid agencies to stop work in Chechnya.
Russian officials say they support aid groups and give them all access that security allows. But Russia's Federal Security Service has accused some NGOs of spying and even training Chechen fighters.
"The organisation has been under systematic pressure from Russian authorities, who in April 2005 denied (its) request to renew its accreditation for work in the Russian Federation," the agency said in a statement on Thursday.
"People in Need views the Russian authorities' decision... as unfortunate, unfounded and unfair," the statement said.
Officials at the Russian Justice Ministry, which is responsible for registration of aid agencies, were not immediately available for comment.
People in Need is a leading Czech non-governmental aid organisation, and one of the first aid groups which started providing aid to Chechnya in 2000 after Russian troops stormed the capital Grozny.
The agency's director Simon Panek told Reuters the organisation had failed to overturn the April decision within a following three-month period given to wind down operations.
But he said he did not want to provoke conflict with the authorities, and was still hoping the Russian government would grant a new permit, perhaps later this year.
People in Need said it had delivered aid worth 20 million euros ($24 million) to Caucasus over the past five years. It had an operational centre in Ingushetia province neighbouring Chechnya.
Its programmes focused on deliveries of food and building materials to repair damaged homes, as well as reconstruction of schools and hospitals. It said it had also run psychological centres and clubs for children in Chechnya.
The agency said some programmes have been handed over to a local organisation while others have been terminated.
Reference: The People in Need Foundation (PINF) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization whose mission statement is "to inspire a largeness of spirit in Czech society by helping others in need, and to promote democratic freedoms for all." — Funded by WFP and UNHCR PINF continues its regular food and non-food deliveries to the Chechen capital Grozny (up to 50 000 persons assisted every month). — As the main UNHCR partner for Chechnya PINF runs its ongoing shelter activities in bombed-out Grozny (more than 2500 households in the city already assisted). — Reconstruction of the destroyed School No. 14 as the very first school to be fully reconstructed in the Chechen capital Grozny was finished in summer 2001. Four other Chechen schools are reconstructed by PINF local staff now. The programme is funded by US private and government donors. http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:qB-X2LpYaycJ:www.oneworld.cz/ow/en/organizers.html+People+in+Need....
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