New acts of harassment against Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky

Russian Federation

August 21, 2008

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) about new acts of harassment against Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky, the Executive Director of the Finland-registered RCFS and the referent of the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation for the Promotion of Tolerance.

According to the information received, on August 14, 2008, at 4.20 a.m., unidentified people assaulted the flat where Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky and his family live, on the first floor of a five-storied apartment building. Assaulters smashed the window pane of the living room with a silicate brick paint in red with swastikas and numerous threatening graffiti that fell down outside the flat, destroying only the outside pane. Insulting inscriptions and swastikas were also discovered on the entry door, on the kitchen window pane and on a wall of the house.

Mr. Dmitrievsky immediately called the police. The patrol police arrived in some forty minutes and the investigators came to the site of the accident only at around 7 a.m. They scraped off some paint to examine it and took the brick with them as evidence. In their words, the case will be investigated by a local policeman. The photo footage of all the inscriptions and the site was carried out by the Nizhny Novgorod Committee Against Torture.

During the night, Mr. Dmitrievsky’s neighbours spotted two suspicious people, and thought that those might be car thieves. As it was still very dark, they could discern only the silhouettes of the two people dressed in sport suit.

The Observatory recalls that RCFS, the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation for the Promotion of Tolerance and their members have been subjected to constant acts of harassment in the past, and indicates that it is not the first time that the flat where Mr. Dmitrievsky lives is assaulted[1]. The Observatory also fears that these new acts of intimidation could be linked with the coming publication of the research into the international criminal law that the staff of the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation for the Promotion of Tolerance has been working on for the last year and a half as well as the Open Letter that was recently sent to Mr. Vladimir Lukin, the Russian Ombudsman, with regard to the armed conflict with Georgia.

The Observatory reiterates its deepest concern about the ongoing harassment of human rights NGOs and their members in the Russian Federation, and recalls that according to Article 12.2 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, “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”.

The Observatory further recalls that the Russian Federation was elected to the Human Rights Council in June 2006 for three years and is committed, in this regard, to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”. In addition, as a participating State of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Russian Federation acknowledges that “the [1998] UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders [... places] a responsibility [...] on states to adopt and implement adequate legislation and administrative procedures that would provide for a conducive environment for human rights defenders to promote and strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and recognises “the need for particular attention, support and protection for human rights defenders by the OSCE, its Institutions and field operations, as well as by participating States”[2].

The Observatory also points out that under the terms of the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for enhanced protection of human rights defenders, adopted on February 6, 2008, member-States are required to “create an environment conductive to human rights defenders, to take effective measures to protect, promote, and respect them, to ensure their access to effective remedies, to take action to prevent attacks and harassment against them, and to ensure their effective access to the European Court of Human Rights”.

Actions requested:

The Observatory urges the authorities of the Russian Federation to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky, all members of the RCFS and the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation to Support Tolerance, and more generally of all human rights defenders in the Russian Federation;
2. Put an end to all acts of harassment against all human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, and ensure in all circumstances that they be able to carry out their work without unjustified hindrances;
3. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular 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”, as well as with the above-mentioned Article 12.2;
4. 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;
5. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation.

Addresses:

• Dmitri Medvedev, 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, 103793 g. Moskva K-31, Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d 15a, Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 095 292 88 48;
• Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, 103132 g. Moskva, Staraya ploshchad, d 8/5,pod 3, Russian Federation, Fax:+70952064855;
• Vladimir Lukin, Russian Federal Ombudsman for Human Rights, Fax: +7 495 207-53-37;
• Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Fax: + 7 095 237 49 25;
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Fax:+ 7 095 244 2203;
• 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.

Geneva-Paris, August 21, 2008

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

[1] See Urgent Appeal RUS 003 / 0408 / OBS 054, issued on April 11, 2008.

[2] See OP 6 & OP 8 of the Resolution on Strengthening OSCE Engagement with Human Rights Defenders and National Human Rights Institutions, adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on July 10, 2007.