The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.
Description of the situation:
According to the information received, Ms. Uzunova was attacked on June 19, 2007 by a female assailant, dressed in camouflage and wearing a mask. She was on her way back from visiting the relatives of Mr. Nicolai Girenko, one of her former colleagues, a human rights defender and an expert on ethnic issues who was killed on the same day three years ago, on June 19, 2004. Her aggressor hit her several times on the head. Ms. Uzunova sustained a concussion and hematomas on her head.
Over the past months, Ms. Uzunova had received threats of violence from anonymous sources. In a recent anonymous call, the caller threatened to execute her and her family if she did not help to clear Mr. Vladislav Nikolsky, who is currently facing charges for incitement to overthrow the constitutional order of the Russian Federation and incitement to racial hatred. Accordingly, Ms. Uzunova appealed for police protection but her request was turned down by the police for "lack of evidence of a credible threat". The police established the location of the phone booth used to make the phone call but failed to identify the caller.
Ms. Uzunova had to give expert testimony before the Vyborski Federal Court on June 20, 2007 in the case of Mr. Vladislav Nikolsky, but the hearing was cancelled because of the attack.
The Observatory reiterates its deepest concern over the ongoing climate of hostility against human rights defenders involved in the defence of minority, characterised by the multiplication of physical attacks against them - including assassinations - and by numerous assaults on associations’ offices (see the Observatory international fact-finding mission report, issued in March 2005 and titled Russian Federation: Attacks on human rights defenders in Saint Petersburg, Russian authorities guilty of negligence) [1].
The Observatory recalls that the Russian Federation was elected to the Human Rights Council in June 2006 for three years. In April 2006, the Federation had submitted a document to support its candidacy [2] in which it « proceed[ed] from the assumption that States themselves should bear the main responsibility for the protection of human rights and freedoms ».
Actions requested:
The Observatory urges the authorities of the Russian Federation to:
i.guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Uzunova and more generally of human rights defenders;
ii.ensure the conduct of a full and impartial investigation into her attack, so as to identify the perpetrators of these offences, prosecute them and punish them according to the laws in force;
iii.ensure the protection of experts in cases related to minorities and to incitement to racial hatred in accordance with Article 9.3 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which provides that " everyone has the right to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice and assistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms";
iv.comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December, 9, 1998, in particular with the above-mentioned Article 9.3, with Article 1, which provides that « everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels », and with Article 12.2 which reads that « the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration »;
v.comply with the provisions of the Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the 2nd Conference on the Human Dimension of the Cooperation and Security Conference in Europe (CSCE) (1990), and uphold in all circumstances the principles and provisions enshrined in the international and regional human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation and which, in particular, guarantee freedoms of association, demonstration, expression and opinion, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Addresses:
– Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Faxes:+ 7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru;
– Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Ustinov, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, 103793 g. Moskva K-31, Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d 15a, Prokuratura Rossiyskoy Federatsii, Generalnomu prokuroru Ustinovu V., Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 095 292 88 48;
– Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya,103132 g. Moskva, Staraya ploshchad, d 8/5,pod 3,Predsedatele Komissii po pravam cheloveka pri Prezidente, Pamfilove, Elle., Russian Federation, Fax:+70952064855;
– Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Ministru vnutrennykh del, Fax: + 7 095 237 49 25;
– Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 121200 Moskva, Ministru inostrannykh del, Fax:+ 7 095 244 2203;
– Ambassador Leonid Skotnikov, Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland, e-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 734 40 44;
– Embassy of the Russian Federation in Brussels, 31-33 boulevard du Régent, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 513 76 49.
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of the Russian Federation in your respective country.
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Paris - Geneva, June 29, 2007
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29