The Council expresses deep dissatisfaction with the attempt to disrupt the ad hoc meeting «Checks in nonprofit organizations: spent resources, achieved results», held on April 15. One hour before the meeting was to start the Council Registry received a fax message singed by the Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin, informing that the main invited speaker for the discussion, the Acting Head of the Department for Supervision over Execution of Legislation on Federal Security, Interethnic Relations and Combating Extremism Alexey Zhafyarov, whose participation was agreed on in advance, “was engaged in supervision activity”.
We are grateful to the representatives of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia (M.G. Vanichkin), the Ministry of Justice (T.V. Vagina), the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare (O.I. Aksenova) for providing detailed information on the checks in nonprofit organizations being conducted at present, and for responding to numerous questions of the Council members and social activists, including from other regions. As we could see from their circumstantial explanations, these agencies conduct checks of nonprofits on a regular basis, in accordance with their consolidated plan, and their checks have revealed no infringements. Thus, only the Prosecutor General’s Office can answer to the question about the aim of this sudden “witch-hunt” that not only paralyzed work of many hundreds useful for society nonprofit organizations, but also distracted thousands of state employees from their work.
We regard the Prosecutor General’s Office representatives’ failing to attend the meeting as disrespect towards advisory body to the President of the Russian Federation, and as flagrant disregard for Head of State’s instructions about obligatory public reports of supervisory bodies.
We insist that the Prosecutor General’s Office deliver public report on the large number of checks being conducted in nonprofit organizations, the reason for them, their legal grounds, the spent resources and achieved results.
The Statement was issued unanimously at ad hoc meeting of the Council on 15 April 2013.
Source: HRC website