Defending the Defenders

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week found herself acting as the last line of defense for Russian human rights activists, who are bracing themselves for a new law that threatens to stigmatize them as “foreign agents.” Secretary Clinton arrived in St. Petersburg on a working visit on Thursday, but took time off her tight schedule to meet with some of Russia’s leading human rights activists, local media reported. Most of the discussion centered on the latest proposals by ruling United Russia Party to considerably tighten official control over non-government organizations that receive funding from abroad.