[142857] 142857 The Magic Number

Sat Oct 21 01:19:00 EDT 2006

October 20, 2006

Kremlin Puts Foreign NGO’s on Notice 
By _C.  J. CHIVERS_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/c_j_chivers/index.html?inline=nyt-per) 

MOSCOW, Oct. 19 — Scores of foreign private organizations were forced to  
cease their operations in _Russia_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/russiaandtheformersovietunion/index.html?inline=nyt
-geo)   on Thursday while the government considered whether to register them 
under a new  law that has received sharp international criticism. 
Among the suspended organizations are some of those most critical of the  
Kremlin, including _Human  Rights Watch_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/human_rights_watch/index.html?inline=nyt-org)  
and _Amnesty  International_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/amnesty_international/index.html?inline=nyt-org) , and 
others, like the National Democratic Institute and the  International Republican 
Institute, that have been accused by Russian officials  of instigating or 
assisting revolutions against other former Soviet  republics. 
The Justice Ministry, which is responsible for registering foreign private  
organizations, insisted that the suspensions were neither retaliatory nor  
permanent.  
It issued a statement saying the suspended organizations had not properly  
filed new registration materials or had submitted the required materials on the  
last day before the registration deadline, which was midnight Wednesday. It 
said  it was rushing to review the applications it had received. 
“It is important to note that lack of reregistration does not entail the  
liquidation of the organization,” the statement said. “The talk here is only  
that these organizations cannot carry out the activity envisaged by their  
charters before they are brought into the register.” 
The number of suspended organizations is not entirely clear. The statement  
said the ministry had received applications from 185 organizations, approved 
108  of them and continued to review the 77 others.  
But the suspensions were the latest chapter in Russia’s pressure on foreign  
organizations that have offices on its soil. They occurred in a climate of  
deepening worry about the Kremlin’s crackdown on civil society and just days  
before a planned visit by Secretary of State _Condoleezza  Rice_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/condoleezza_rice/index.html?inli
ne=nyt-per) . 
Ms. Rice has expressed concern about the law regulating foreign private  
organizations, known as nongovernmental organizations, or NGO’s, which was  passed 
earlier this year. 
Some Russian officials, including Nikolai P. Patrushev, the chief of the  
domestic intelligence service, have accused the groups of interfering with state  
affairs or even harboring spies. 
The new law, strongly backed by President _Vladimir  V. Putin_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/vladimir_v_putin/index.html?inl
ine=nyt-per) , created extensive new filing requirements, which in some cases 
the  organizations said had been so tedious and lengthy as to be almost 
impossible to  fulfill. The groups have also expressed apprehension over the rules’ 
vagueness,  which could allow any group to be audited, and perhaps closed, on 
a pretext.  
They and their supporters have said that how the law is enforced will be a  
test of whether Russia will allow foreign organizations that it dislikes to  
continue to work in the country. The first deadline, and its effects on  
Thursday, were accompanied by a strong sense of concern, even fear. 
“My fear is that their intention is to shut us down,” Josh Rubenstein, a  
director at Amnesty International, said by telephone. Amnesty International has  
had an office in Russia since the days of the last Soviet leader, _Mikhail  
S. Gorbachev_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/mikhail_s_gorbachev/index.html?inline=nyt-per) , he said. 
The Justice Ministry posted a list of 73 organizations that were not yet  
approved, and thus were suspended. At least 38 of those were listed by the  
ministry as American or had a clear American affiliation, including the _American  
Bar Association_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_bar_association/index.html?inline=nyt-org) , the 
American-Russian Business Council, the American Trade  Chamber and _Johns  Hopkins 
University_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/j/johns_hopkins_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org) .  
The suspended Western organizations also included the Danish Refugee Council  
and the French and Belgian offices of _Doctors  Without Borders_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/doctors_without_border
s/index.html?inline=nyt-org) . 
Other news organizations reported that nearly 100 groups had been suspended,  
but did not provide a list. The Associated Press quoted one Justice Ministry  
official as saying that 96 groups had been suspended, while the Itar-Tass 
news  agency later quoted the same official as saying the number was 93. 
While the ministry said it had approved 108 organizations for registration,  
it provided a list of only 80.  
Forty-one of those were American, including the _Ford  Foundation_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/ford_foundation/inde
x.html?inline=nyt-org) , the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Moscow office 
of the  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Of the 41, 33 appeared to 
be child  adoption agencies. 
As the day passed with offices idled, some of the affected groups declined to 
 comment, saying they worried about antagonizing Russia while their 
registration  documents were under review.  
Others described a new posture their offices had assumed on Thursday: they  
abruptly stopped their work and programs but left their lights on and offices  
staffed.  
Carroll Bogert, an associate director at Human Rights Watch, said by  
telephone from New York that its employees in Russia were still being paid, “but  
otherwise we are not operating in Russia.” She said she expected that the office  
would be registered once its documents were reviewed, and that the 
organization  did not feel that it was a specific target. 
The cessation of some organizations’ activities was denounced by their  
partners in the country.  
Elena Panfilova, director of the Russian chapter of Transparency  
International, an anticorruption organization, said her office was registered as  a 
domestic, not foreign, organization and so was not directly affected by the  new 
procedures. 
But she said she had work planned with other groups, which now were unable to 
 meet with her. “It is appalling,” she said. “It is a total disgrace.” 
The Justice Ministry said it was working to expedite the registrations and  
blamed the organizations for not providing required  documentation.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

September 17, 2005

PUTINES  CUBANOS EN EL HORIZONTE 
por  Miguel Uría 
Putines  cubanos en el horizonte.  Ditto marxismo en alguna medida. 
Financiado con  dólares.  Putín Raúl, Putines Generales de División. Putín Colomé, 
Putines  et al. Otro churro o ajiaco a la Rusia o Nicaragua donde la  misma 
nomenclatura en gran medida no cambió y aun sostiene el poder. (1) Un  verdadero 
crimen y jamás justificable después de 41 años de sangre y  sufrimientos y tantos 
valores humanos perdidos.  Mas seis. 
¿Quién  emerge al desplomarse económicamente la Unión Soviética? Uno que no 
había que  buscar.  Estaba allí.  Nadie se fué.  Nadie tuvo que irse.  ¿Quién? 
El Putín Putín, Coronel de la  "KGB  Vladimir V. Putín, el ahora Presidente 
Ruso.  Este señor, "a nombre de la política de  "Democracia Dirigida" ya le 
devolvió el poder al Kremlin.  Destruyó toda  autonomía regional, marginó la 
oposición democrática y convirtió la televisión  en instrumento de propaganda". (2) 
Mas aun y de otra  fuente: "Putín describe el final de la Unión Soviética que 
liberó a Europa  Oriental y a miles de personas como <<la catástrofe mas 
grande del  siglo>>. "El derrumbamiento de la Cortina de Hierro fue uno de los  
capítulos mas gloriosos del siglo 20 y la inhabilidad de Putin de manifestarlo  
así, dice volúmenes sobre su hostilidad a la libertad y  democracia" 
En  cantidades enormes dinero y otros recursos entraron en la ahora Rusia 
para  ayudar al cambio.  Y ¿qué ha hecho y  tiene para enseñar el Putín Putín de 
esos recursos regalados?  Lo mismo que Castro en Cuba con los  billones 
soviéticos, los billones del contrabando, los billones del lavado de  dinero, los 
billones del tráfico de drogas, los billones de la venta del  patrimonio 
nacional, los billones en remesas del exilio que no perdona, los  billones 
venezolanos.  Los billones  de…….. la próxima víctima idiota que tengan en la mirilla.  
Mientras dure, y por ahora,  Venezuela. 
FIN 
(1)  Peter Baker y Susan Glasser "Kremlin Rising". 
Nota:  Tres  artículos del mismo autor Miguel Uria que reflejan mas 
ampliamente los conceptos  aquí barajados: 
_http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagmu002.php_ 
(http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagmu002.php)  
_http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagmu001.php_ 
(http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagmu001.php)  
_http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagja012.php_ 
(http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagja012.php)  

Este  y otros excelentes artículos del mismo AUTOR aparecen en la 
REVISTA  GUARACABUYA con dirección electrónica de:

_www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org_ 
(mad://6358626E-9D59-48D5-B7B8-7E799D3CA678/www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org) 

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