Two groups bearing Sakharov’s name banned in Russia On July 22 the Russian Ministry of Justice added the Andrei Sakharov Institute (France) and the civil network movement “Peace. Progress. Human Rights” (the title of Andrei Sakharov’s 1975 Nobel Prize lecture) to its list of “undesirable” organisations. Both the institute and the movement were founded by Lev Ponomarev, an 83-year old human rights advocate, who left Russia in 2022. The institute set its ambitious goal as “creating a platform for expert discussion on ending the war, reducing the nuclear threat, uniting the forces of Russian civil society and building the foundations of a strong democracy in Russia.” Under President Putin repressive legislation has gradually circumscribed the activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). As part of a more general drive to exclude external influences after a wave of post-election protests in 2011, in 2012 Russia adopted a Foreign Agent Law, whose scope since then has been progressively expanded to include media and individual activists as well as NGOs. A second Undesirable Organisations Law from 2015 excludes numerous international NGOs from the country. While the Foreign Agent Law does not actually ban Russian NGOs from receiving foreign support, it makes it much harder for them to operate and has forced many to close down. Receiving an extrajudicial label of "undesirable organization" carries much more serious repercussions: it is a foreign or international NGO that the Russian government has deemed a threat to the country's security, public order, or constitutional order. These organizations are banned from operating within Russia, and their activities are prohibited. Russian citizens and organizations are prohibited from cooperating with undesirable organizations, and individuals who do so can face penalties, including fines and even criminal charges. The Andrei Sakharov Foundation was declared “undesirable” in January 2023, under the number 74 on the list. The reason for this label was never communicated or understood. Ponomarev’s organizations were added to the list under the numbers 244 and 245, joining a peculiar assembly, which includes Yale University, Crimean Tatars Resources, Fullbright scholars, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Norwegian Barents Observer, and many others. #Sakharov #Russia #repressions (fb)

ARA highlighting Sakharov’s warnings on infiltration The American Russian-speaking Association for Civil and Human Rights (ARA) is an organization that aims to amplify the voices of Russian-speaking exiles from authoritarian regimes in the USA, with a particular focus on foreign policy and international civil society work in support of democracy. It endeavors to ensure that the experiences of these exiles, who have witnessed the impact of undemocratic regimes firsthand, are considered in US institutions and foreign policy decisions. Founded over twelve years ago, ARA incorporates some aspects of Andrei Sakharov’s legacy in its work, highlighting Sakharov’s ideas and analysis. It also gives a platform for recollections by those who were personally involved in the human rights movement of his time and, last but not least, using these lenses for commentary and analysis of current developments. Dedicated to Sakharov’s birthday in May, ARA held online hearings “The West is swamped with promoters of Soviet expansion: Sakharov’s warnings and Post-Soviet experience.” As the title suggests, the focus was on Sakharov's warnings about Soviet agents’ infiltration of Western societies and politics. Sakharov brought up this topic a number of times, particularly, in his article, 'A Letter from Exile,’ published in 1980 by the New York Times Magazine. He stated, "The West and developing countries are filled with citizens who by reason of their positions are able to promote Soviet influence and expansionist goals. Some of them are motivated by ideas that at least merit discussion […] (but the largest group are) people who have been 'bought' in the most direct sense of the word, not always with money. These include some political figures, businessmen, a great many writers and journalists, government advisers, and heads of the press and television." Sakharov’s warnings are as relevant today; certainly in the US, given the murky history of the Trump-Russia’s relationship going back to the 1980s, but also in Europe. Dmitry Glinsky opened and moderated the hearings, which featured prominent experts, including Mario Corti, a journalist and organizer of the Sakharov hearings in Rome in 1977; Alexandra Chalupa, a lawyer and former U.S. Democratic Party strategist; Massimiliano Di Pasquale, a journalist and research associate at the Gino Germani Institute of Social Sciences and Strategic Studies (Rome). Tatiana Yankelevich offered closing remarks to the event. #Sakharov #Russia (fb)