Russian Federation

The Russian authorities’ threat to bring criminal charges against Eva Merkacheva and Andrei Babushkin, two human rights activists who published torture allegations from two men accused of the assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, raises alarming questions over the fairness of the investigation, said Amnesty International.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation suggested that raising allegations that Zaur Dadaev was tortured into confessing and that Shaghid Gubashev was also ill-treated may amount to “interference with the work of investigator with the purpose of preventing a comprehensive, full and objective investigation of the case”.

“Threatening legal action against those who report a crime as serious as torture is ludicrous. To ignore serious allegations that torture was used to force confessions would make a complete mockery of Russia’s judicial system. They must be taken seriously, and fully, promptly, independently and effectively investigated,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Director at Amnesty International.

A draft Russian law banning “undesirable foreign organizations” is another troubling sign of the authorities’ vigorous measures to restrict any public space for criticism, Amnesty International said today after the Duma (Parliament) passed it on a first reading.

The bill will go through two more readings before being sent to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law, which may be only a formality.

“This law is another sobering sign of how the Russian authorities are quickly closing in on fundamental freedoms and the work of independent civil society groups in the country,” said Sergei Nikitin, Amnesty International’s Moscow Office Director.

“We’ve seen time and again how ideas which threaten fundamental freedoms get railroaded through the Duma and make their way into draconian laws that snatch away the space for dissenting views and independent civil society activism. Sadly, these freedoms can no longer be taken for granted in Russia.”

Posted at 0001hrs GMT 15 December 2104

Russian authorities should act to end a campaign of intimidation and harassment against human rights defenders in Chechnya, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today after the office of a local human rights group was burned down. They should also offer genuine protection to all activists threatened for doing their work.

In the evening of December 13 the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) ,a human rights organization that works with non-governmental organizations from other Russian regions, was destroyed in a fire in the Chechen capital, Grozny, in a suspected arson attack.

“These acts of intimidation are part of an ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression in the region. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov appears to bewaging a personal campaign against the Joint Mobile Group and its leader Igor Kalyapin,” said Anna Neistat, senior director ofresearch at Amnesty International.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the world are joining together to call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to repeal the “foreign agents” law and to guarantee that NGOs in Russia are able to work without hindrance, harassment, stigmatization or reprisals.

Under the “foreign agents” law NGOs and their leaders are effectively labelled spies. After lengthy court hearings some have been forced to close, with prohibitive fines imposed on both the organizations and their leaders.

“NGOs are essential to a healthy functioning society. They provide much needed services to the public and help keep officials accountable. NGOs are instrumental in lobbying and campaigning to improve government policies in the interests of the people. They are anything but ‘foreign agents’, said Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International’s Moscow Office.

More than a dozen leading Russian rights groups have already been branded by the Ministry of Justice as “foreign agents”. Many more face the same fate. 

Amnesty International is launching a Week of Action, from 6 to 12 October 2014, to show solidarity with independent voices in Russia who speak out against the pernicious creep of repression in the country.

Under slogans of “Speak out for freedom!” and “Speak out for Russia!”, activists in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, UK, Ukraine and Russia itself will demonstrate through actions, flash mobs, letters and petitions against the ongoing clampdown on basic freedoms of people in Russia.

“The right to protest peacefully; the right to speak freely on the Internet or in public; the right to disagree; the right to express who you are, all these are being smothered by the Russian authorities with the introduction of repressive legislation, smear campaigns and harassment,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.

To mark the start of the Week of Action Amnesty International is publishing a new briefing, Violation of the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly in Russia, which focuses on four main areas of concern:

The Russian Ministry of Justice today registered four more Russian human rights organizations and one environmental group as “foreign agents”, a further sign of the authorities’ growing stranglehold on freedom of expression, said Amnesty International.

“The Russian authorities’ determination to decimate independent civil society organizations remains steadfast,” said John Dalhuisen, Director for the Europe and Central Asia Program at Amnesty International.

“This blow has been a long-time coming – but it still hits hard. The five NGOs now being branded as foreign agents include some of the biggest and most influential in the country. The question Russians should be asking themselves is: who will protect their rights when they are gone?”

Human rights groups Public Verdict, Memorial, Lawyers for Constitutional Rights and Freedoms (Jurix) and Agora, and environmental group Women’s Council (Ekozazchita! – Zhensovet) have been registered as “foreign NGOs” by the Ministry of Justice for supposedly conducting “political activities” while receiving some foreign funding.

By upholding a draconian requirement for three more independent organizations to register as “foreign agents”, a Moscow court is rubber stamping the authorities’ witch hunt against peaceful human rights defenders, said Amnesty International.

“The Russian authorities’ determination to silence any form of dissent or criticism is astonishing. This week’s decision will further cripple civil society in Russia and have a disastrous impact on thousands of Russians who will see their chances of having their human rights protected greatly diminished,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Program Director at Amnesty International.  

On 24, 26 and 27 June, the Zamoskvoretskiy district court in Moscow ruled against appeals by the NGOs Golos, Yurix and Public Verdict not to have to register as “foreign agents”. The registration is required under the repressive “Foreign Agents Law” enacted by the Russian authorities on 21 November 2012.