First human rights organisation liquidated by court for "influencing public opinion"
Paris-Geneva, February 11, 2016 - On February 10, 2016, Russianhuman rights organisation "Agora", providing legal assistance to nongovernmentalorganisations and civic activists, was liquidated by a court decision. TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofFIDH and OMCT, strongly condemns the verdict of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan(Russian Federation) closing down one of the most visible and activeorganisations in Russia, and calls on the international community to publiclydenounce the mounting repression of civil society in Russia.
In a lawsuit filed bythe Ministry of Justice, "Agora" was charged with violating theinfamous NGO law on “foreign agents”. It is noteworthy that the verdictviolates the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which allows forliquidation in limited cases only, namely, if an organisation carries outactivities aimed at undermining the constitutional order, threatening nationalsecurity or putting citizens' lives and health in danger. In its lawsuit, theMinistry has not accused "Agora" of any of the above-mentionedactivities.
Marking yet anotherstep in the ongoing repression launched by the Russian State against humanrights defenders, the decision came on the day the Chairman of the Council onHuman Rights under the Presidential Administration submitted a proposal toclarify the term "political activity" in the law on "foreignagents". The proposal suggests to define "political activity"exclusively as "a struggle for political power" and thus repels theexisting vague wording allowing to qualify any civil society organisationactivity as political.
After endlesspersecutions and harassment that made the functioning of civil societyorganisations impossible, it is the first time that the Ministry of Justice hasdemanded the liquidation of a human rights organisation for "influencingpublic opinion". The dayafter the decision, on February 11, 2016, the election monitoring association"Golos" received a letterinforming them of a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice demanding theclosing down of the association.
Shortly before, on January 28, 2016,the department of the Ministry of Justice in the Orenburg region broughtadministrative charges against the Committeefor Prevention of Torture (CPT) and its Chairman Mr. Igor Kalyapin,in relation to alleged violations of the “foreign agents” law. The Observatorybelieves that this judicial harassment only aims at preventing their peacefulhuman rights activities, and reiterates its call on the Russian authorities toend their systematic repression of critical voices in the country.
"Agora, acourageous and notorious watchdog of Russian citizens' rights, was alreadyinspected by the Prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Interior, the Taxinspection, and after months of various judicial procedures, the court finallyclosed them down once and for all, clearly stating the main reason for thisdecision was their human rights activities",declared Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.
"Human rights are rightly enshrined in theRussian Constitution, yet seeking their implementation is perceived aspolitical activity. A State that cares about its constitution would invest itsenergy in preventing constitutional rights violations as opposed to preventinghuman rights work",OMCTSecretary General Gerald Staberock added.
"Agora",with its head office in Tatarstan and other 40 regional offices across thecountry, united 35 barristers and lawyers who provided free legal aid todefendants of the most notorious cases, such as the "Bolotnaya" andPussy Riot cases, defended Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov and artist andactivist Petr Pavlensky. They won several cases in front of the ConstitutionalCourt of the Russian Federation resulting in six federal laws declaredunconstitutional.
In summer 2014,"Agora" was included into the list of "foreign agents" - adecision that the organisation challenged in courts unsuccessfully. Lately, inaccordance with the law, "Agora" appealed to the Ministry of Justiceto exclude it from the list claiming it had not received foreign funding formore than a year. Not only was the appeal declined, but the Ministry filed alawsuit for the court to close the organisation. It has sued "Agora"without formerly sending any warnings or requests to the organisation. Theverdict was handed down during the very first hearing on the case.
According to thelawyer representing the organisation, the Ministry accused "Agora" of“influencing public opinion”, of being a "foreign agent", and ofundertaking efforts to be excluded from the registry of "foreignagents". It has now six months to close down. The organisation intends toappeal the decision before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (OBS) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene toprevent or remedy to situations of repression against human rights defenders.
For more information,please contact:
· FIDH: Audrey Couprie -Tel: +33 6 48 05 91 57 / Arthur Manet - Tel: +33 6 72 28 42 94 (Paris)
· OMCT: Delphine Reculeau - Tel:+41 22 809 49 39 (Geneva) / Miguel Martín Zumalacárregui - Tel: +32 2 218 37 19(Brussels)