– 20 June 2004 (St Petersburg, Russia) : Nikolay Girenko, 64, spokesman for one of the principal anti-racist organisations in St Petersburg (The Ethnical Minority Rights), is shot through the door of his home. His murderer has to this day still not been identified.
With the strengthening of Vladimir Putin’s power (control of the media, constitutional changes,...), principally in the context of the priority given to the fight against terrorism, control over civil society is increasing. At the same time, the Duma is reduced to a chamber for rubber-stamping presidential decisions, and human rights defenders are gradually losing what little support they could still count upon.
Alerted by their partner organisations in Russia, the FIDH and the OMCT, within their joint programme, the Observatory for the protection of Human Rights Defenders, have conducted several international missions of investigation, in September and December 2003 and in May 2004. During these, they conducted interviews with the representatives of associations of human rights defenders, in Moscow and St Petersburg, which confirmed for them the increasing difficulties confronting them, in order to be able to complete their missions. After studying the text of the laws relating to associations, the FIDH and the OMCT can confirm these fears, and today are publishing a report by the mission of investigation entitled : "Russia : Human Rights Defenders faced with the "Dictatorship of the Law".
– "The Dictatorship of the Law" : with this expression; Vladimir Putin denotes his concept of "controlled democracy" which he wishes to set up. Referring to the conflict in Chechnya, which still remains unsolved, he justifies the existence of a strong State, and the strengthening of the "vertical of power".
One of the methods used by the Russian authorities for the effective control of associations, is to strengthen the legislative arsenal. In July 2003, a new law was passed by the Duma, which severely restrains the freedom to demonstrate. This law creates significant obstacles for planning and holding legal and peaceful demonstrations. Any request for a gathering must be submitted for prior authorisation at least 10 days in advance and some meetings, « in the vicinity of » administrative buildings, schools, embassies and the offices of international organisations are prohibited, without specifying the « safety » zone which is left to the discretion of the authorities.
Another bill relating to tax collection was passed at a first reading by the Duma on August 5, 2004, and should come up for a second reading on October 15, 2004. This is a further attempt by the Russian State to control the activities of the NGOs, by drawing up - according to purely arbitrary criteria - a list of national sponsors, whose grants will not be submitted to tax (which implies de facto that those excluded of the list will be taxed). The registration procedure is also an additional instrument of control, the registration of an NGO being subjected to the approval of the Minister of Justice.
Finally, a decree has just been signed by President Putin at the end of September, regarding « additional state measures for supporting the Human Rights movement in Russia ». This decree provides principally for the creation of an International Centre for the Protection of Human Rights in Russia and the integration of human rights NGOs into the work of consultative bodies created by representatives acting for the President at regional level. Although the outward aim of this new piece of legislation is to consolidate civil society and the respect of human rights, there is a fear that it is in fact just another way of controlling more effectively the movement of NGOs.
What’s more, the Russian government uses the financial support given by wealthy Russian entrepreneurs to certain associations of human rights defenders as a pretext for discrediting these associations. By casting doubt on their actions or their "real" motivation, the Russian authorities mean to marginalize these organisations as far as possible, and divide the human rights movement by making a distinction between good and bad NGOs.
– Verbatim : "Thousands of civil organisations and unions exist and work constructively in our country. But they are far from all being devoted to defending the real interests of the people. The main aim of some of these organisations is to receive payments from influential foreign institutes, others serve dubious commercial or individual interests." (President Vladimir Putin)
Finally, the pressure and direct attacks against human rights defenders are many, especially in Chechnya, where the local NGOs, working behind closed doors, are confronted with a situation of extreme danger (attempts to life, ill-treatments, threats, harassment, NGO searches...).
– 9 January 2004 : Aslan Davletukaev, a voluntary worker for the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship (SRCF) was taken from his home by armed men. His body, bearing traces of torture and mutilation, was to be found a week later by a reconnaissance unit of the Russian army.
– 14 September 2004: Mrs Fatima Gazieva, a co-founder of the NGO « Echo of War » was arrested by armed men and brought to the military base of the Russian federal Army in Hancala. She was released the day after, after having been questioned on her activities.
This pressure and violence against activists has also been recorded in the rest of the country, particularly in St Petersburg (Organisation of the mothers of soldiers, Memorial), in Krasnodar - where several proceedings have been instituted by the authorities of the region against the local NGOs, with a view to closing down these associations - and also in Tatarstan.
In conclusion, the Observatory notes that the situation of human rights defenders in Russia is deteriorating whilst the political domination of the party in power and the mobilisation of the administration into its service increases. A deterioration seems all the more noticeable - compared with the situation existing under Perestroïka and in the 1990’s. These threats - direct and indirect - hanging over the very existence of the associations, in a context characterised by the takeover of the media by the authorities, are evidence of a clear degradation in the situation of human rights in Russia.
The Observatory requests the Russian authorities: to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of human rights defenders, to stop any kind of harassment against them and to conduct impartial and exhaustive inquiries to identify and punish their attackers.
The Observatory also requests the guarantee of free access for human rights defenders activists and independent journalists into Chechen territory.
Finally, the Observatory requests that the Russian authorities reform the registration methods and the taxation of organisations, and, more generally, abide by the provisions of the Declaration concerning Human Rights activists adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998 and the international and regional instruments relating to human rights to which Russia is a party.
The report is available in English and French on the websites
of the FIDH (http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/Ru401a.pdf) and the OMCT (http://www.omct.org).
For more information, please contact :
FIDH: 00 33 1 43 55 25 18 - OMCT: 00 41 22 809 49 24