Russia: Indigenous hunters association pressured to register as "foreign agents"

Written on 11 December 2014. Posted in Russia

After anti-government protests in 2012, Russian lawmakers adopted a drastic revision of federal legislation on NGOs, forcing groups, who accept foreign funding and are engaged in political activism to register as "foreign agents". Now an association of sea mammal hunters, set up to protect the traditional crafts of the indigneous peoples of the North is the first indigenous organisation soon to be branded "foreign agent", as the independent daily "Novaya Gazeta" reports:

In Chukotka there are few civic initiatives – the climate is very cold, the population is small, and the main movement in the last 20 years has been outmigration from the end of the world towards warmer lands. Only the small indigenous peoples have nowhere to run.

Indigenous people living on the Arctic coast subsist on hunting marine mammals: seals, walruses, whales. This tradition is less important today for their physical survival than for the preservation of their national culture and for maintaining social bonds within the community. And so in order to facilitate the preservation of the skills inherited from their ancestors, the Chukotka Association of traditional hunters (ChAZTO) was created, the only non-profit organization of its kind.

On 4 December in an address to the Federal Assembly, the President Putin underlined the importance of such organizations: "We will continue to support socially oriented non-profit organizations. Such NGOs, as a rule, unite people with a keen sense of their civic duty... We need to rule out any discrimination of the non-governmental sector in the social sphere and remove all barriers..."

However, already in the morning of 5 December, the head of the Association, Eduard Zdor was summoned to the Department of Justice for a confidential conversation. Three were present in the room: The deputy head of the administration of justice for Magadan Region and Chukotka Autonomous District, the chief of the division on NGO affairs and an expert from the same department. They were incredibly polite and even a little flattering.

"We have no choice - given the command from above, we must identify some foreign agents, and we have no candidates except  you."

The conversation went approximately like this:

- Your organization has a great reputation! All checks show that there are virtually no violations and your activities are carried out strictly in accordance with your charter. Despite the difficulties associated with accepting international grants, which in Chukotka no one except for you has dared to take upon themselves!

- Thank you for your kind words, and what's really the matter? Do you want to hand out a diploma to us?

- No, well not quite, we have received orders. In each subject of Russia, foreign agents must be identified and registered. We invite you to register purely voluntarily... Because you are the only ones who somehow pass off as agents...

- But, sorry, we are not going to register as foreign agents, we are appalled, and besides, there is no reason why we should. All of our grants are for joint study of marine mammals together with our US colleagues – these are purely scientific activities in the field of fauna protection. We are not conducting any political activities.

- Well, of course you are! This summer you, Mr. Zdor have been running for the position of the head of administration of the Chukchi municipal district, this is a direct political activity!

- Yes, I was running as a citizen of Russia and what does the Association have to do with it? It was not involved in these elections in any way and did not receive any grants related to this. The last foreign research funds were spent in the beginning of the year.

- Well, who cares? Everybody will say that you and the association are one and the same. You are the head of the association, you receive American grants -- there’s your foreign agent! And keep in mind the burden of proof that you are not the agent is on you. So please kindly register as an agent and forget this unpleasant conversation....

- I am forced to officially disappoint you. ChAZTO will not register as a foreign agent.

Then it’s your own fault. We have no choice - given the command from above, foreign agents must be identified in all regions, but we here we have no candidates except ChAZTO. If we don’t, we will be in trouble.

"Well, when you begin the procedure?

- Consider it having started today. You will be tormented with checks by all supervisory bodies and in the end, you will be registered as agents anyway.

On this optimistic note, Eduard Zdor left the justice Department to consult with friends via Skype: how can an organisation committed to preserving aboriginal culture be represented as an agent of foreign influence?

This was not the first strange conversation Eduard has had. Exactly one year ago, "Novaya Gazeta" wrote about his interview with journalist Alexander Buzaladze ("the adventures of the mammoth breed on Chukotka"). This representative of the State broadcasting company VGTRK had flown in all the way from Moscow just to discuss with the leader of the hunters, why he is using American funds to protect walruses and how this threatens the greatness of Russia. This material has not been shown on state TV yet. Obviously, will be broadcast now, since new state orders have arrived, and over one year old footage will be used to justify the forced registration of ChAZTO as a foreign agent.

The President had clearly announced that "We are planning to hold a meeting with representatives of the non-governmental sector based on next year’s results. We will discuss what changes have achieved in recent years. We need to significantly expand the capabilities of those platforms, on which a dialogue between the state and society is taking place...".

Local state servants have heard the message and act according to their understanding: They have started the final purge of dissidents from these platforms for the planned dialogue to go ahead without a hitch.