SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Updated as of May 2011
In the context of the fight against terrorism and extremism, the authorities severely limited human rights defenders’ freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in 2010-2011. The legal and administrative framework for NGOs also remained unfavourable, and several defenders face criminal “defamation” charges as a result of their work. Impunity for the assassinations of prominent human rights defenders continued as the cases remained unresolved, while physical attacks and threats against human rights defenders continued.
Political context
While President Dmitry Medvedev continued throughout 2010 to express his commitment to improve human rights and the rule of law in the Russian Federation, 2010-2011 saw continuous restrictions on freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly. Dissenting voices were still considered as a threat and stifled. Peaceful demonstrations were dispersed with excessive force and accompanied by arbitrary arrests.
Responding to public outcry about police violence and corruption, on February 7, 2011, President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law a Bill on Police Reform, in order to restore the trust of the population in the law enforcement institutions. However, the reform did not contain the necessary safeguards to put an end to police abuses and corruption1. In addition, in prison, the condition of detention deteriorated, notably with an increase of allegations of torture and ill-treatment. Health, nutrition and sanitation quality remained low and overcrowding was also common, while the refusal of the prison administration to provide medical treatment resulted in at least one death in 2010.
While the year was marked by bomb attacks in March 2010 in the Moscow subway and in January 2011 at Domodedovo airport, reportedly caused by suicide bombers from the Caucasus region, the Law on Combating Extremism was frequently misused to restrict the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression. Some religious organisations and their followers, political parties or politicians, civil society groups and activists, as well as some media outlets and journalists, were particularly targeted. Various law enforcement agencies focused their investigations notably on libraries, schools, Internet service providers, publishers and random users of Internet forums, in search of alleged extremists, to improve their statistics in the declared “fight against extremism”2. In July 2010, the authorities also introduced new provisions providing for an increased punishment for “extremism” and an expanded mandate for the Federal Security Service (FSB), which may now order individuals, organisations and media outlet to stop activities deemed “extremist” by the FSB3. Furthermore, in the context of the fight against terrorism, cases of racially-motivated violence increased, while at the same time more people were convicted for inciting extremism4. The authorities failed to take adequate measures to effectively fight against racially-motivated violence5.
The security situation in the North Caucasus, where the Islamist insurgency still operated, remained volatile, with continuing acts of violence particularly in Chechnya and the neighbouring regions of Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia. The lack of accountability and conformity with the rule of law was particularly acute in these regions, where arbitrary detentions, torture, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances by law enforcement and security agencies continued in impunity.
Impunity for the killings of human rights defenders
In 2010-2011, the Russian authorities failed to solve a number of assassinations and violent attacks against human rights defenders that had occurred during the previous years. As a result, the civil society continued to operate in a climate of fear and impunity following the killings, notably, of Mr. Nikolai Girenko, a minority rights defender and anthropologist in Saint-Petersburg, in June 2003; Ms. Anna Politkovskaya, prominent Novaya Gazeta journalist, in October 2006; Ms. Natalia Estemirova, a member of the Human Rights Centre “Memorial” in Grozny, in July 2009; Mr. Stanislav Markelov, a human rights lawyer from Moscow, and Ms. Anastasia Baburova, Novaya Gazeta journalist who was accompanying him, in January 2009; Ms. Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband Mr. Alik (Umar) Dzhabrailov, in August 2009. As of April 2011, those responsible for these killings had not been brought to court with one exception, the assassination of Mr. Markelov and Ms. Baburova, who were murdered by right-wing extremists6.
Violent attacks and threats against human rights defenders combating discrimination, racism and right-wing extremist groups
The situation in the Russian Federation remained characterised by a total impunity with regard to violent attacks and threats against human rights defenders who struggle against discrimination, racism and activities of extreme right-wing movements. Once again, they were subjected to harassment by both governmental and non-State groups7.
In particular, human right defenders defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) were again victims of violence by neo-Nazi groups. For instance, on October 30, 2010, five LGBT human rights defenders8 in the city of Tomsk were attacked by eight masked individuals, while they were distributing leaflets in the streets calling for tolerance towards LGBT people. On November 9, 2010, a criminal case was opened by the District Department of Interior of Tomsk under Article 116 Part 2 (a) of the Criminal Code for “causing light damages to health on the basis of hooliganism”. On November 18, 2010, the five human rights defenders requested the Department of Interior and the District Prosecutor’s office to apply Article 116 Part 2 (b) “causing light damages to health on the basis of hate motives to a particular social group” but, on November 26, they received a negative response from the Prosecutor’s office as the investigation did not find evidence that the defenders belonged to a particular social group. The investigation was suspended on April 8, 2011 for lack of identification of an assailant9. In addition, during the interrogation of the human rights defenders in the course of the investigation, the police officer inquired primarily about how the information about the assault had reached international monitoring organisations.
Moreover, in the context of growing nationalism, antifascist activists were harassed by both law enforcement agencies and non-State actors. In 2010, Ms. Anastasia Denisova, President of “ETHnICS”, a Krasnodar-based youth group promoting tolerance, also a member of Memorial as well as of the Citizens’ Union for a Green Alternative (GROZA), and of the coordinating council of the International Youth Human Rights Movement, continued to be subjected to repeated acts of harassment. On January 11, 2010, her apartment was searched by police officers from the Krasnodar Crimes Department, who were allegedly looking for pirate software as part of an investigation on “terrorism”. They seized her laptop, external hard drive and flash memory. On January 12, Ms. Denisova was summoned for interrogation to the Krasnodar Police Department of Internal Affairs, where she was informed that she was suspected of “violation of copyright” as well as of “appropriation, storage, transportation of pirated copies for sale purposes”. The criminal case against her was terminated on April 19, as the investigation concluded that she had not committed any offence. Likewise, on November 3, 2010, the Department for the Fight Against Extremism conducted a search of the apartment of Mr. Philipp Kostenko, an employee of the Anti-Discrimination Centre “Memorial” (ADC Memorial) in Saint Petersburg. It took place on the eve of the action “Protect the city from fascism” that he organised on November 4. During the search, the officers confiscated materials and flyers related to the anti-fascist action. In 2010 and 2011, members of ADC Memorial were on several occasions threatened and stigmatised as “Russophobes” by neo-Nazi groups. Calls to send threatening text messages to ADC Memorial were displayed at the end of 2010 in the “life journal”10 of a person hiding his or her identity and in the life journal of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration11. They were accompanied by photos and phone numbers of several ADC Memorial members. For instance, in December 2010, Ms. Stefania Kulaeva, an employee of ADC Memorial working on a programme for the promotion and protection of the Roma population, was accused on these blogs of “aiding mass genocide of the Russian population, traffic drugs and providing protection to the criminal Roma ethnic community”. Similarly, at the same period, Ms. Olga Abramenko, Head of ADC Memorial, was accused on the same blogs of “aiding and providing legal support to Roma drug dealers in exchange for a small profit from the sale of heroin”. Both also received anonymous text messages during the night, containing death threats, threats of assault and insults, which were sent through the website of Megaphone, a Russian telecom operator that enables to send text messages to mobile phone without being identified. Furthermore, at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011, the blog on the website www.fontanka.ru displayed a lot of slandering materials and called for the physical elimination of several human rights defenders who were listed on the blog, among them Ms. Kulaeva, Ms. Abramenko, Ms. Galina Kozhevnikova from SOVA Centre, and Mr. N. Svanidze, a journalist. Following all those threats, ADC Memorial did not file a complaint because during the defamation campaign they were subjected to on various blogs in 2009, the Department for the Fight Against Extremism had failed to provide them any protection measures12.
Continued judicial harassment of, assault and threats against human rights defenders denouncing prison conditions or providing support to people denouncing police corruption
In 2010-2011, in the context of considerable debate on police reforms, those who denounced police abuses and prison conditions faced judicial harassment. On August 18, 2010, Mr. Aleksei Sokolov, President and Founder of the organisation “Pravovaja Osnova” (Legal Basis), former member of the Non-Governmental Commission of Observation of Places of Detention in the Sverdlovsk region and well-known for denouncing torture in Russian prisons, was sentenced in appeal by the Regional Court of Sverdlovsk to three years in prison in a high security colony13. Mr. Sokolov lodged a second appeal14. On August 26, 2010, Mr. Sokolov was transferred to the FGU IZ-54/1 Remand Centre in Novosibirsk, Western Siberia, where he was ill-treated by the administration of the prison. As a result, on the same day, Mr. Sokolov was ordered to serve his sentence further away, allegedly for security reasons, in a colony located in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, more than 2,000 kilometres from Yekaterineburg, where his family and lawyer live. Mr. Sokolov filed several parole applications, which were rejected on November 14, 2010 and April 13, 2011 by the Regional Court of Krasnoyarsk for allegedly having committed two violations of the internal order15. On December 28, 2010, the complaint against his transfer to Novosibirsk was rejected by the Leninskiy District Court of Yekaterinburg. Mr. Sokolov also challenged the decision of the court to transfer him to the colony in Krasnoyarsk, which was rejected on January 21, 2011. Mr. Sokolov filed an appeal, which had not been examined at the end of April 2011.
Human rights defenders defending people who denounced police corruption were also targeted. On February 27, 2010, Mr. Vadim Karastelev, a lawyer and Head of the Novorossiysk Human Rights Committee, was brutally beaten by two unidentified men in Novorossiysk and seriously injured. He was then transferred to a hospital, where he underwent surgery. Afterwards, he was not given neither information on his condition nor any treatment. Mr. Karastelev was then forcefully discharged from the hospital just five days after the assault and while his health condition was still very poor. During his stay at the hospital, Mr. Karastelev was provided police protection for only one day. An investigation was opened by the police for “minor bodily injuries”. On March 10, 2010, the arrested suspect was released from custody. Moreover, on February 19, the police had prevented Mr. Karastelev from distributing leaflets inviting the public to come to a meeting in support of his client former Major Alexei Dymovsky, who was sacked, harassed and arrested in 2010 after publicly denouncing corruption in law enforcement agencies in November 2009. The meeting, which was due to take place a few days later, had been officially sanctioned by local authorities. Mr. Karastelev was condemned the same day to seven days of imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 roubles (about 50 euros) for “organising a public meeting without informing the authorities” and for “refusing to follow police orders” under Article 19 Part 3 of the Administrative Code. He was released on February 26, the day before the assault. Several months prior to the attack, Mr. Karastelev had on many occasions received threats against himself and his family through the Internet and by phone, accompanied by demands to stop campaigning on behalf of the former Major. Despite his requests to the authorities to investigate the threats and to provide protection to himself and his family, no action was undertaken. By the end of March 2011, Mr. Karastelev and his family left the Krasnodar region. On April 23, 2011, when his wife Ms. Tamara Karasteleva, Director of the Novorossiysk Human Rights Committee, returned briefly to Novorossiysk, she received an invitation for a “talk” with the Criminal Investigation Department of Novorossiysk. The policemen who came to her apartment said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs was taking interest in an “extremist organisation” and that they were thinking Ms. Karasteleva was one of its members. Furthermore, the policemen asked for information about their children without providing any reason. Ms. Karasteleva decided not to go to the police and to leave the country. Several other members of the Novorossiysk Human Rights Committee also received similar invitations for a “talk”. Another member of the NGO, Mr. Yuriy Mosha, also left the country16.
Judicial harassment against human rights defenders on charges of defamation
In 2010-2011, several lawsuits for defamation were launched against human rights defenders, seemingly in an attempt to silence them. Thus, Mr. Oleg Orlov, Chairman of the Executive Board of Memorial and winner of the European Parliament’s 2009 Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought, was subjected to judicial harassment on charges of “libel”, both at the civil and criminal levels17. On January 21, 2010, Mr. Orlov was condemned by the Moscow City Civil Court to pay 20,000 roubles (about 460 euros) in damages to Chechen President Mr. Kadyrov. Mr. Kadyrov also initiated a lawsuit against Ms. Ludmila Alexeeva, Chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group and also winner of the Sakharov Prize, after she said during a press conference on May 23, 2009 that the Chechen President was to be blamed for the policy of abductions and murders in the Republic. Although on February 9, 2010, the Chechen President publicly announced that he would drop the criminal proceedings he initiated against Mr. Orlov and Ms. Alexeeva, on June 18 Mr. Orlov was informed that the charges against him were still pending and that the case had been transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Moscow region for further investigation. He was summoned to appear on July 6, 2010 before the same institution, which declared not to be aware of Mr. Kadyrov’s public statement. On September 13, 2010, the criminal trial opened before the Court No. 363 of Khamovniki District of Moscow. As of April 2011about ten hearings on the case had already taken place and proceedings were still ongoing, thus impeding Memorial to continue its human rights monitoring activities in a favourable climate18.
In addition, while Mr. Vadim Karastelev was in hospital following his assault on February 27, 2010, the Head of the police of the city of Novorossiysk filed a civil suit against him for “libel”, on the basis of critical statements Mr. Karastelev made against him in the media for not investigating mass human rights violations in the region, ordering the illegal telephone tapping of human rights defenders and lawyers, impeding peaceful demonstrations, etc. The Head of the police demanded that Mr. Karastelev withdraw his comments and asked him 100,000 roubles (about 2,500 euros) in damages. On April 13, 2010, Primorsky District Court of Novorossiysk ordered Mr. Karastelev to pay the Head of the police 50,000 roubles (about 1,250 euros) and a fine of 3,500 roubles (about 88 euros). He appealed but the Krasnodar Regional Court confirmed the verdict. Mr. Karastelev paid the fine on December 31, 201019.
Continued insecurity for defenders in the North Caucasus, particularly in Chechnya and Dagestan
Despite the insecurity they face in the region, human rights defenders in the North Caucasus continued to monitor and denounce grave human rights violations committed in the context of the fight against terrorism, particularly in Chechnya and Dagestan. Named “enemies of the people” by Chechen Government officials, including the Chechen President, human rights defenders in Chechnya faced continuing acts of intimidation. For example, on July 3, 2010, in an interview on the TV channel Grozny, Mr. Kadyrov declared that “(…) They are getting big salaries from the West and in order to report on their activities they write all kinds of nonsense and filth on Internet. (…) They are the enemies of the people, enemies of the law, enemies of the State’’. In this interview, Mr. Kadyrov specifically targeted Mr. Oleg Orlov as well as employees of Memorial office in Guedermes. On February 7, 2010, three human rights lawyers, Messrs. Dmitry Egoshin, Roman Veretennikov and Vladislav Sadikov, members of the Joint Mobile Group that investigates human rights violations in the Chechen Republic, were arbitrarily arrested by the police while they were conducting an investigation in Shali district. During the entire night they spent in the local police station, the activists were individually questioned about their activities, and more specifically about the conduct of their investigation in Shali. They were released the following day, without charge. During their detention, they did not have access to a lawyer and they could only contact by phone colleagues outside the Chechen Republic.
Human rights defenders in Dagestan also continued to work in a climate of severe insecurity. On June 17, 2010, lawyer Ms. Sapiyat Magomedova20 from “Omarov and Partners”, a law-firm known for taking on cases related to human rights violations, such as torture, summary executions and abductions, was physically attacked by four Interior Department (GOVD) special militia agents (OMON) in Khasavyurt Police Department, while she was attempting to meet her client who had been arrested earlier the same day21. On July 1, 2010, an investigation was opened against the four police officers for “abuse of power” (Sub-point (a), Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code). Yet, on July 2, 2010, a criminal case against Ms. Magomedova was initiated for “assault and battery of authority representative” (Article 319 of the Criminal Code). On November 29, 2010, she lodged a complaint for the failure by the Russian police to investigate the attack under Article 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The investigation periods for both cases were prolonged until March 2011. As of the end of April 2011, the investigation of the attack suffered by Ms. Magometova remained at standstill, and those responsible were yet to be brought before justice.
Obstacles to the right to freedoms of association and assembly
Freedom of association was constantly hindered in 2010-2011, particularly by the administrative authorities. In September 2010, the General Prosecutor’s office launched an unprecedented wave of inquiries into foreign-funded NGOs working in Moscow and several other cities. Moreover, examinations to check “the conformity of the activity of the NGOs” were conducted in violation of the legislation on NGOs. In all cases, NGOs had insufficient time to prepare the numerous required documents, in most cases only several hours. On September 13 to 16, forty NGOs, including the Moscow Helsinki group, Russian Transparency International and Memorial, received a visit from the Moscow Prosecutor’s office. As of April 2011, no action had been taken then by the authorities following this campaign, which the NGOs interpreted as an attempt to intimidate them22.
2010-2011 were also marked by obstacles to freedom of peaceful assembly. In support of Article 31 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly, Strategy-3123 organised a series of civic protest on the 31st of each month. Several human rights defenders, including Mr. Oleg Orlov, Mr. Lev Ponomarev, Director of the Public Movement “For Human Rights”, Mr. Yuri Dzhibladze, President of the Centre for Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Mr. Igor Kalyapin, Head of the Committee Against Torture in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Ms. Nadezhda Nizovkina and Ms. Tatiana Stetsura, participants of the Human Rights House Network project “Electronic Human Rights Education for Lawyers”, as well as Buryatian journalists and lawyers, who had joined the protest, were arrested on several occasions throughout 2010 on charges such as “disobeying orders” or “participating in a non-registered demonstration”. Some, as Mr. Dzhibladze, were fined from 1,000 to 2,000 roubles, others, as Mr. Ponomarev, Ms. Nizovkina and Ms. Stetsura, were condemned to between three and fifteen days in prison. As of the end of April 2011, all had been released but some remained judicially harassed, as Mr. Kalyapin. In 2010-2011, activists from the Campaign for the Defence of the Khimki Forest who have set up a camp to protest development projects were also denied their right to peaceful assembly and fined24. For instance, on July 23, 2010, 40 to 50 private security guards hired by the highway construction company and a gang of ultra-rightist hooligans assaulted a group of environmental activists. The police, called by Ms. Evgenia Chirikova, Coordinator of the Campaign for the Defence of the Khimki Forest, failed to intervene at first. Then, the special force OMON arrived on the spot and arrested seven activists instead of the attackers, as well as two journalists, Ms. Elena Kostyuchenko, from the Novaya Gazeta, and Mr. Yuri Timoveyev, a reporter from the Prague-based Radio Liberty, who were taken to a police station nearby. Ms. Kostyuchenko sustained a neck injury as a result of a violent blow at the time of the arrest. Mr. Timoveyev was subsequently released for lack of evidence, as well as Ms. Kostyuchenko, who was summarily tried on the same day and acquitted. On August 4, 2010, Ms. Evgenia Chirikova was convicted and fined for “holding an unauthorised rally” and “resisting the police”. On February 1, 2011, Ms. Alla Chernysheva, an active member of the same campaign, was detained in Khimki, for allegedly holding a fake bomb to a protest rally on the same day. This pretext legitimated the dispersion of the rally by the authorities. She was released six hours later, without charge.
1 According to the bill, which took effect on March 1, 2011, over one million police officers were to undergo re-certification, to eliminate poor performers and reward the best with higher salaries.
2 See Centre for Information and Analysis “SOVA” (SOVA) Analysis, Inappropriate enforcement of anti-extremist legislation in Russia in 2010, April 11, 2011.
3 As a response for the March bombing in the Moscow subway, a bill extending the powers of the FSB (formerly the KGB) was submitted to the State Duma by the Government in April 2010 and entered into force in October 2010. It granted the FSB with the right to give warnings to individuals related to public incitement to extremist activities. On April 2, 2011, the President also presented a bill under which penalties for extremism would be increased, including bans to occupy some positions within the administration under Article 280 “Calls for extreme activities”, 282.1 “Organisation of extremist society” and 282.2 “Organisation of activities of extremist organisation” of the Criminal Code. See SOVA Analysis, Inappropriate enforcement of anti-extremist legislation in Russia in 2010, April 11, 2011.
4 See SOVA Press Release, June 9, 2011.
5 See Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial (ADC).
6 On April 28, 2011, Mr. Nikita Tikhonov, a neo-Nazi and one of the founder of the nationalist magazine Russkiy Obraz (Russian image), and his girlfriend Ms. Evgenia Khasis, a member of “Russkiy Verdict” Project for the Defence of Neo-Nazis People, were convicted of “murder”. On May 6, 2011, the Moscow City Court sentenced Mr. Tikhonov to life imprisonment for the murders of Mr. Stanislav Markelov and Ms. Anastasia Baburova. Ms. Khasis, who acted as a lookout, was sentenced to 18 years in a penal colony for her role in the killing.
7 See ADC Memorial.
8 The names of the defenders are not disclosed for security reasons.
9 See International Youth Human Rights Movement.
10 The life journal is a virtual community where the users can keep a blog under the form of a journal or a diary.
11 The Movement Against Illegal Immigration is a Russian nationalist organisation fighting against illegal immigration. Since its creation in 2002, it organised a number of anti-immigrants rallies throughout Russia. On April 18, 2011, the Moscow City Court banned the movement accusing its leaders of extremist activities. The organisation appealed against the decision.
12 See ADC Memorial.
13 Mr. Sokolov is detained since May 13, 2009 for his alleged participation in a robbery in 2004 in Bogdanovich, after a suspect jailed for another crime confessed having committed this robbery with him, in exchange for a reduced term of imprisonment and conditional release. No further element beside this testimony was reportedly brought before the court as evidence and testimonies by other witnesses were rejected by the Judge.
14 On May 13, 2011, the Court of Sosnovoborski of Krasnoyarski confirmed the guilt sentence but reduced by two months the term of Mr. Sokolov.
15 Drinking tea and laying down to read a book during improper hours.
16 See Novorossiysk Human Rights Committee.
17 On August 13, 2009, Mr. Kadyrov had filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Orlov for defamation under Parts 2 and 3 of Article 129 of the Criminal Code after the publication of a statement by Mr. Orlov on July 15, 2009 in which he indicated he believed the Chechen President was responsible for the murder of Ms. Natalia Estemirova. A criminal investigation had been opened on October 20, 2009.
18 On June 14, 2011, the Moscow Khamovniki District Court acquitted Mr. Orlov, stating that his statement on Chechen President’s responsibility in the assassination of Ms. Estemirova did not constitute slander.
19 See Novorossiysk Human Rights Committee.
20 Ms. Magomedova sent four applications to the European Court of Human Rights related to the violations of her clients’ rights by detectives from the Prosecutor’s office of Khasavyurt.
21 Ms. Evtomirovoya had lodged a complaint in the past against a police officer for abuses sustained by the latter, and had been indirectly warned by the investigator in charge of the case not to be too vocal about that case otherwise she would be arrested.
22 See Russian NGOs’ Petition, September 21, 2010.
23 Strategy-31 is a series of civic protests in support of the right to peaceful assembly. Initiated by Mr. Eduard Limonov, one of the leaders of “The Other Russia” coalition, it was later supported by human rights organisations, including the Moscow Helsinki Group and the “Memorial” Human Rights Centre and others. The protests are held in large cities on the 31st of each month.
24 Since 2006, the Campaign for the Defence of the Khimki Forest is opposing plans to build a highway to connect Moscow to St. Petersburg that would pass through the Khimki forest. Local residents opposed the project arguing that it is a protected part of the Moscow’s “green belt” designed to counterbalance the city’s pollution and to protect wildlife. As plans have continued forward, environmental activists set up a camp in the forest, which suffered several attacks in 2010-2011.
Extracts from the Annual Report 2011 of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT)