On June 20th, 2024, the U.S. Helsinki Commission held a briefing to address the proliferation of Russian-style foreign agent laws, a concerning trend that has spread to several countries beyond Russia. Originally implemented by Russia in 2012, the foreign agents law has been utilized as a tool to suppress independent civil society and opposition voices, leading to the closure of organizations and the imprisonment of dissenters.
In recent years, similar laws have been adopted by various other nations under the guise of ensuring transparency for foreign funding and influence. However, these laws are frequently exploited to exert control over civil society, often in environments where repression is on the rise. This includes targeting non-governmental organizations (NGOs), human rights activists, independent media, and election observers, with a particular focus on groups that receive support from the U.S. and European countries.
Authoritarian regimes use the designation of “foreign agent” to stigmatize and discredit organizations and individuals, granting governments the authority to intrusively manage an organization’s finances and sometimes even its activities. These laws impose heavy reporting requirements, and noncompliance can result in severe penalties, including hefty fines, organizational closures, or imprisonment. Regimes often falsely claim that these laws are comparable to transparency or lobbying regulations in democratic nations, such as the United States, which are designed to expose hidden foreign influence and counter-propaganda.
The briefing highlighted how and why an increasing number of countries are adopting this authoritarian tool to repress civil society, with particular attention to the situations in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Slovakia, and Hungary. The panel included Jasmine D. Cameron, Esq., Senior Legal Advisor for Europe and Eurasia at the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights; Dr. Lincoln Mitchell of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs; and Martina Hrvolová, Chair of Friends of Slovakia.
You can watch the full video here.