RESULTS OF CIVIL SECTOR REGULATION IN RUSSIA: A VIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the views of the Russian human rights sector on the results and consequences of the state policy on NGOs implemented since the early 2010 till present. The methodology of the study is to survey 28 leaders of human rights NGOs and 5 informal human rights activists through an online questionnaire with informal questions. The results of the study make it possible to justify the thesis about the significant deterioration of the human rights NGOs situation in Russia since 2010-s. due to the policy of sanctions and restrictions applied to them (laws on foreign agents and undesirable organizations, tightening the requirements on administrative reporting). Under these conditions, respondents identify two areas of survival of human rights NGOs: self-declaration as a foreign agent or self-liquidation. All conclusions of this study are based on the opinions of respondents - objects of state policy - regarding the human rights sector. The results of the study may be in demand in assessing Russian state policy regarding human rights NGOs, and may also be used by researchers of the state of the non-profit sector in modern Russia.