The director of the Russian NGO Committee against Torture announced Sunday the dissolution of his organization, considering as
"an insult and a slander"
his designation Friday as
a "foreign agent"
by the authorities.
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“
We don't want to continue working being branded as 'foreign agents'.
We consider this term an insult and a slander
,” Sergei Babinets announced on Telegram, adding that the dissolution of the NGO had been decided on Saturday by its members.
“Despite the obvious usefulness of (our) mission, the authorities have tried for many years to make it appear foreign and harmful”
, he adds, believing that
“the authorities send the signal that torture is becoming ( or has already become) part of government policy”.
A stigmatizing label
The Committee Against Torture, founded in 2000, campaigns to compel authorities to investigate mistreatment by security forces and take action to end it.
She notably worked on the situation in Chechnya.
Already recognized as a "foreign agent" in 2015, then in 2016, the organization had decided to self-dissolve before reforming to try to escape this infamous denomination.
The label "foreign agent", which recalls that of "enemy of the people" in the Soviet era, is used massively against organizations, opponents and journalists accused of carrying out political activities financed abroad.
“Foreign agents” are subject to numerous constraints and tedious procedures, under threat of heavy penalties.
In particular, they must indicate this status in all their publications.
The classification of the Committee against Torture as a "foreign agent" comes in a context of merciless repression against any critical voice in Russia, in particular since the launch of the military intervention in Ukraine at the end of February.
Since then, many NGOs have been banned.
In April, the Russian authorities closed the offices of