Russian environmental organisation forced to choose between 'foreign agent' label and shutdown

September 11, 2015

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia - Sakhalin Environment Watch (SEW), Bankwatch member group in Russia's far east, has been ordered by the Russian authorities to register itself as a 'foreign agent'. The group rejects claims it is engaged in any political activity, and intends to contest the decision. If the decision is not repealed, the group will consider shutting down.

Introduced in 2012, the restrictive ‘foreign agent’ law has been roundly criticised for the way in which it intrudes on and hinders the activities of independent civil society organisations. In the case of Sakhalin Environmental Watch, the classification would tarnish its impeccable reputation of two decades and limit its ability to engage with decision-makers, the media and the general public.

The decision comes as a result of an unscheduled two weeks long inspection in late August by officers from the Ministry of Justice of the Sakhalin Province, the fourth such inspection in two years.

The inspection report received by SEW on Wednesday (September 9) says it found no indications of extremism in the group's activities, the decisions of its governing bodies are competent, and the organisation's operations are in line with its statutory objectives.

Yet, the Ministry of Justice report says the inspection found “a focus on the formation of public opinion in order to influence the decisions of government authorities, an intention directed at a public reaction and attracting the attention of the government authorities of the Sakhalin Province.”

As evidence the report cites a link to a WWF Russia statement on the need to protect the Arctic posted to SEW's unofficial account on Russian social media website Vkontakte, a signature of SEW's director on a letter of support from Russian environmentalists to their Ukrainian peers sent during the Euromaidan protests, as well as a May 2015 article by the organisation's director on the need for parks and for stopping the construction of new buildings at the expense of greenery in the crowded city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

These findings, the inspectors opined, indicate SEW's engagement in political activity, and since the organisation is partially funded by international charities, it should have applied to register itself in the “registry of noncommercial organisations performing the functions of a foreign agent”.

According to 2012 amendments to the federal law on non-commercial organisations, local nonprofits that engage in so-called political activity and receive funding from abroad are to be classified as 'foreign agents'. In fact, while the term “political activity” is defined rather vaguely in the law, the protection of flora and fauna has been explicitly excluded from this definition by an April 2014 ruling of Russia's Constitutional Court. So far, 91 non-governmental organisations have been put on this list, most of them are now trying to legally challenge this status.

“SEW cannot operate under the label of ‘foreign agent, because it never was a foreign agent, and cannot accept being labeled as something it is not,” says Dmitry Lisitsyn, the director of Sakhalin Environment Watch and a 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize laureate. “SEW has protected the environment of Sakhalin and its citizens’ environmental rights for 20 years. We have much to be proud of. We have never engaged in politics. We do not support any political party and do not participate in the elections ourselves, nor do we engage in any political struggle. Appeals to the authorities and publications on environmental topics— this is our constitutional right and one method of protecting the environment.”

A longtime member of CEE Bankwatch Network and an environmental champion, SEW is intent to have this decision reversed and will legally challenge it. However, if these efforts are unsuccessful the organisation will convene a general assembly to consider its dissolution.