Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2007 - Russian Federation

Political context

In the Russian Federation, 2007 was marked by the perpetuation of apolitical system dominated by President Vladimir Putin and the ruling party, United Russia, which won the regional elections on March 11 and the general elections on December 2, 2007. The latter turned into a plebiscite, especially after the State Duma adopted an electoral system jeopardising the opposition's chances of being elected to Parliament (general application of the list system and an increase of 7% of the threshold percentage for representation), while the opposition parties and the NGOs were subjected to harassment. While no proper OSCE observation mission was able to follow the electoral campaign, and both the European Union¹ and OSCE criticised the way the elections were held, in particular because of the acts of harassment against members of the opposition and NGOs, the Russian authorities responded in a particularly aggressive manner to repeated criticism by the West, making no effort to avoid confrontation.

Furthermore, the deterioration of the human rights situation continued relentlessly all along 2007: the obstacles to freedom of the press carried on, the problem of the independence of justice did not diminish, demonstrations by the opposition were systematically put down and attacks against NGOs by the authorities multiplied. The level of violence remained very high, and the number of racist crimes continued to increase.² Torture and ill-treatment in police stations and detention centres as well as in the army were still routine practice, and the impunity of the authors remained flagrant. The situation in Chechnya remained very worrying, mainly because of total impunity for past crimes, the rule of arbitrariness, and the economic and social situation. Chechnya continued to witness massive, repeated and extremely serious human rights violations, with very little recourse possible. These trends spread to the North Caucasus, in particular Ingushetia and Dagestan.

In 2007, Russia was the country with the second largest number of judgments issued against her by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Russian authorities however persist in considering that the Court's decisions are primarily "political",³ and their implementation has never gone beyond compensation for the victims. Furthermore, the decisions have had no effect on national case law, and the Russian authorities have never genuinely accepted the consequences of the rulings issued. In addition, Russia persists in refusing to ratify Protocol 14 of the ECHR, which would accelerate the treatment of claims.

Stigmatisation of NGOs by the authorities and harassment by the State administrative services

In 2007 the authorities maintained their hostile attitude towards NGOs, whose activities were presented as being primarily political, mainly financed by the West, thereby serving foreign interests, and consequently constituting a threat to the State. In November 2007, President Putin went so far as to declare that those opposing the regime (in a context in which human rights defenders are often assimilated to political opponents) were "jackals" prowling "around foreign embassies".⁴

Such hostile rhetoric was accompanied by practical measures designed to marginalise NGOs and to multiply obstacles against the creation of new associations. In December 2007, the Russian Civic Chamber initiated the creation of the Movement for the Defence of Human Rights "Man and the Law", whose ambition is to replace independent human rights NGOs, whose "dissident methods and appeals to the West" are considered to be out of date.

In addition, in 2007 the Federal Registration Service (FRS) waged a full-scale offensive against human rights organisations, by multiplying the obstacles to the registration of new associations and by carrying repeated inspections of existing organisations. Such inspections have on several occasions paralysed the NGOs, obliging them to provide innumerable documents relating to all aspects of their activity. Some FRS inspections included a financial audit, a tax inspection or an inspection by Labour ministry officials, etc. Minor procedural violations were used by the FRS to issue "warnings", to initiate administrative proceedings or to suspend the activities of the organisation. For instance, in June 2007, the Regional Court of Nizhny-Novgorod called for the removal from the official FRS register of the International Youth Human Rights Movement (YHRM) for "absence of activities". Following inspections which were carried out in August and September 2007, the FRS accused the human rights organisation Citizen's Watch and the environmental organisation "Bellona" of signing "false" commercial contracts and of evading taxes. The FRS considers that the mention of a donor's name is advertising, and therefore accused the NGOs of developing a commercial strategy, which is forbidden.

Using the Law on the fight against extremism to silence NGOs

The restrictive application of the Law on NGOs and the multiplication of inspections were accompanied in 2007 by the selective application of anti-extremist legislation. The charge of engaging in extremist activities continued to serve as a legal facade for repressing organisations whose activities disturbed the authorities, while at the same time numerous extremist groups were able to preach violence and racial hatred without hindrance. In January 2007, for instance, the Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Regional Court of Nizhny-Novgorod to close down the Russian Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS). Also, on December 24, 2007 the General Prosecutor of the capital of Ingushetia lodged a complaint for "extremism" against the Voice of Beslan association, formed by the mothers of the children killed during the assault following the hostage-taking in the Beslan school (North Ossetia), in September 2004.⁵

In 2007 the anti-extremist legislation was further strengthened with the adoption on July 6, 2007, by the State Duma, of amendments to the Federal Act "on Countering Extremist Activities", which in particular facilitate wire-tapping, broaden the definition of extremist crimes and ban the media from issuing any information on organisations considered to be "extremist".

Legal proceedings against the NGOs that observed the elections

As the OSCE had not been able to carry out an election observation mission, the local NGOs were the only independent observers able to follow the electoral campaign and denounce irregularities during the December 2, 2007 general elections. The day before the elections, the members of The Voice, an association comprising 281 NGOs with sections in 40 Russian regions for observing the elections, were subjected to unprecedented pressure on the part of the authorities. In Krasnoyarsk, the members of The Voice were summoned individually to the Interior Ministry Department. In Orel, Mr. Dmitri Kraïukhin, a member of The Voice, was arrested and accused of "hooliganism" and sentenced to a fine. On December 5, he was further charged for having disturbed the work of a polling station, where he had noted several procedural violations. In Irkutsk, the media engaged in a smear campaign against members of The Voice. In Samara, legal proceedings were initiated in May 2007 against Ms. Ludmila Kuzmina, President of the regional section of The Voice, who was accused of having used pirated computer programmes. The association offices remained closed for three months.

Violent repression against defenders denouncing human rights violations in the North Caucasus

Persons daring to denounce enforced disappearances, abductions, acts of torture, extrajudicial executions and the impunity of their authors in the North Caucasus are exposed to extremely violent reprisals. For instance, in November 2007, Mr. Farid Babaev, a human rights defender in Dagestan and head of the regional list of the opposition party Yabloko, was shot dead. Also, in Ingushetia, during the night of November 23 to 24, 2007, Mr. Oleg Orlov, Chairman of the "Memorial" Human Rights Centre, and three journalists covering an opposition demonstration were abducted, beaten and threatened with death by armed men wearing masks.

Aggressions against defenders fighting racism and xenophobia

In 2007, Russia continued to face serious problems of racism, for which the authorities bear some degree of responsibility. As Mr. Doudou Diène, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, pointed out, racist and xenophobic discourse is not only used by extremist parties but also by mainstream parties.⁶ The way in which racist and xenophobic language has become part of everyday life has contributed to the increase in the number of racist crimes and aggressions. Human rights defenders denouncing racism are also subjected to physical attack on the part of extremist groups, who enjoy total impunity. In June 2007 for instance, Mrs. Valentina Uzunova, a lawyer, member of the "Russia Without Racism" NGO and an expert on racial issues and hate crimes, was attacked in St. Petersburg by an unknown woman dressed in camouflage. The assault took place on eve of a hearing in which Mrs. Uzunova was to appear as an expert witness against Mr. Vladislav Nikolsky, charged with "incitement to change the constitutional order" and racial hatred.

Police repression against demonstrators

In 2007, there continued to be serious obstacles to the freedom of peaceful assembly, with frequent arbitrary arrests and use of force against demonstrators. Numerous demonstrations were dispersed by the police in all regions of the Russian Federation. Police repression mainly targeted political demonstrations, like when force was used against participants in the "Marches of Dissent",⁷ which took place in several cities. On April 14, 2007, police special intervention forces violently repressed the March in Moscow, and several demonstrators were severely beaten up or arbitrarily sentenced to administrative detention. Likewise, during the March organised on November 25, 2007 in St. Petersburg, which had not been authorised by the authorities, Ms. Elia Polyskova, President of the Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg, was detained for 11 hours and accused of "participation in an unauthorised demonstration" and "rebellion against the police". In December 2007, she was sentenced to a fine of 500 roubles for "participation in an unauthorised demonstration".

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH).

1 See Statement by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union, Brussels, December 5, 2007.

2 According to the SOVA Centre, from January 1 to September 30, 2007, 230 racist attacks were registered (against 180 in 2006), concerning 409 persons, of whom 46 died as a result of the attacks.

3 See Statement by Mr. Vladimir Putin during the visit of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr. René van der Linden, in Moscow, January 11, 2007.

4 See President Putin's speech at the Forum of Supporters on November 21, 2007.

5 Early 2008 the association was closed down by a court decision.

6 See Comprehensive Study by Mr. Doudou Diène, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, presented at the 5th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, United Nations document A/HRC/5/10.

7 Name given to the demonstrations organised on December 16, 2006 and April 14, 2007 in Moscow, on March 3 and April 15, 2007 in St. Petersburg and on March 24 in Nizhny-Novgorod by the United civic front, a coalition of various opposition movements. Numerous human rights defenders took part in the marches.