“Foreign agents”: ECHR rules on Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), seized by 107 NGOs, m& media and members of society Russian civil society, on Tuesday issued a decision on the law on “foreign agents” enacted in Russia in 2012.

< p>Russia was excluded from the ECHR in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine, but the court's decisions continue to apply to the country for facts prior to that date.

Among the dozens of applicants are International Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Center, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, journalists, but also human rights defenders, environmental activists and election observers.

They are challenging this legislation which forces them to register as “foreign agents” with the consequences: inspections, fines, and restrictions on their activities.

Before the Court, which is responsible for applying the European Convention on Human Rights in the 46 signatory countries, the applicants denounce attacks on their freedom of expression and association, protected by Articles 10 and 11 of this convention.

They also complain that the “foreign agents” legislation has required them to publish their personal data on the Ministry of Justice website, to disclose personal financial information and to reveal their political opinions, and that it has prohibited them from certain jobs or professional activities, in violation of Article 8 of the Convention, concerning the right to respect for private and family life.

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– Systematic campaign –

They also point to the significant financial and administrative burden imposed by this legislation, which has led to the dissolution of certain NGOs, including International Memorial and the Memorial human rights centre.

These 107 applicants argue that this legislation is part of a systematic campaign against human rights organisations and media critical of the power.

View of the Duma building in Moscow on October 27, 2022 © AFP – Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

The ECHR had already examined the Russian law on “foreign agents”, seized by 73 Russian NGOs including Memorial, the main organization defending freedoms in Russia.

In a judgment handed down in June 2022, European judges unanimously ruled that the 2012 Russian law violated the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association.

The court stressed that this law imposed on NGOs “extraordinary auditing, reporting and posting requirements and the risk of heavy fines” and was not “necessary in a democratic society”.

The lower house of the Russian Parliament, the Duma, adopted several amendments in 2022 that lead Russia to no longer apply ECHR decisions made after its exclusion from the Council of Europe.

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