Russia moved towards curbing the activities of foreign-funded pro-democracy bodies and charities yesterday when parliament backed a draft law that will assert tight state supervision over non-governmental organisations.
The expected move by the State Duma (lower house), which is packed with deputies loyal to President Vladimir Putin, drew expressions of alarm from leaders of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in Moscow.
"This is extremely dangerous for the whole non-governmental sector in Russia and for civil society," said Alexander Petrov, deputy director of the Moscow office of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
NGO officials say their groups promote basic democratic values in post-Soviet Russia. The bill, they say, reflects unfounded Russian suspicions that they could be used by foreign intelligence agencies to foment unrest like that in ex-Soviet Ukraine a year ago.
Critics of Mr Putin's record in power are certain to see the Duma move as part of a general roll-back in democratic freedoms in Russia under his rule.
Mr Putin's five and 1/2 years in the Kremlin have been marked by greater centralisation of power, in which the security and military establishment has grown in influence, and tighter control of mass media.
The proposed law has already sparked concern abroad, and White House officials said President George W. Bush raised it during a meeting with Mr Putin in South Korea last week.
The Duma voted by 370 for, with 18 deputies against, in the first reading of a bill that would make NGOs - from human rights and green groups to medical charities and sports clubs - re-register, while increasing state supervision of them.
The bill would also bar foreign NGOs from working in Russia directly - representative offices would be banned - and restrict Russian organisations' ability to accept foreign cash or employ non-Russian workers.
Many of the organisations - that could include bodies such as the Greenpeace environmental group and the human rights group Amnesty - have been active in Moscow since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
NGO leaders, who had appealed to parliament to reject the bill, say the law will allow the Kremlin to seize control of the last area of public life outside its reach.
"We see (the draft law) as a serious attack on freedom of association that opens the door to arbitrary and unjust interference by the authorities in the work of NGOs and this applies to all types of NGOs, not just human rights NGOs," said Victoria Webb, a Russia researcher with Amnesty International's London office.
Mr Putin pointed the way last July when he attacked the political activities of foreign-funded NGOs, saying: "He who pays the piper, plays the tune."
State security chief Nikolai Patrushev has also said that foreign intelligence services used western-funded civil organisations to foment the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine.
Nationalist deputy Alexei Ostrovsky, supporting the Bill, accused NGOs of involvement in unrest in the former Soviet Union.