On February 15, 2004, during the Russian Regions’ Parties Congress, Mr Dimitri Rogozin declared : « As far as I am concerned, I support the use of the death penalty in cases involving drug trafficking and terrorism ». He also explained his silence on this topic for four years because of his membership of the PACE delegation. Besides, explicitly dismissing the standards and principles of the Council of Europe, Mr Rogozin further added : « We have to determine our human rights standards by ourselves, and use them to restore order in the country».
The FIDH recalls that a moratorium on death penalty was adopted in Russia in 1996 in order to join the Council of Europe, and that it promised in the same time to abolish the death penalty in the country. Yet to date, this commitment has not been fulfilled. In view of this situation, Mr Walter Schwimmer, General Secretary of the Council of Europe, during a meeting with the ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation Mr Yury Chayka on December 18, 2003, urged the State Duma to ratify the Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention for the protection of human rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances.
The FIDH considers the declarations of Mr Rogozin, a high political representative, as extremely grave and contrary to the universal principles of human rights. This position is even more concerning since similar positions are becoming common on the Russian political scene. Indeed, after the State Duma voted on February 18 the increase of the punishments for people convicted of terrorist acts, the First Deputy speaker Lyubov Sliska, member of the party Unified Russia said she supports allowing death penalty for terrorist offences. Vladimir Katerenko, chairman of the Unified Russia Duma faction, had also previously said his faction’s presidium would probably soon raise the idea of reintroducing the death penalty for terrorist acts, precising that it would be imposed after a jury trial.
The FIDH calls upon the President of the Russian Federation, Mr Vladimir Putin, to clearly take position in favour of the abolition of the death penalty, to take the necessary measures to ensure the prompt ratification of the Protocol No. 13, and to conform to the commitments Russia undertook when it joined the Council of Europe.