"We Want to See Better Support for Human Rights Defenders in Russia"

Source: hro.org (Author), 18/03/10

· Human Rights Defenders

· Prisoners

· Racism and Xenophobia

“We want to see better support for human rights defenders; an end to the apparent impunity for those who attack them; and for all human rights violations against human rights defenders to be investigated fully, promptly and impartially. Those involved should be brought to justice in trials which meet international standards.” - the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office.


A report by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) identified Russia as among those countries that arouse greatest concern regarding human rights violations.

The FCO report dedicated a separate chapter to Russia. Separate sections such as this were not written on all countries, but only on 22 that were referred to as of “major concern.” Among those are, for example, Iran, Belarus and Uzbekistan – the BBC reports.

British diplomats have welcomed “the positive agenda set out by President Medvedev and the limited reforms achieved so far.” However, they consider the situation in the country to be serious.

The report paid particular attention to the problem of cooperation with the security services of countries where torture is used. The report pointed out that such cooperation is necessary to protect the country from terrorism, even if it is not always possible to “reduce the risk of torture to zero”.

As indicated in the report, the annual bilateral talks on human rights issues between Russia and Britain took place in Moscow on 16 January 2009.

Three days later, well-known human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and the Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova were shot dead in the Russian capital.

On 15 July 2009, prominent human rights defender and staff member of the Memorial Human Rights Centre, Natalia Estemirova, was kidnapped and murdered in Chechnya.

The report also includes the murder in Chechnya of two staff members of the humanitarian organisation Save the Generation, Zarema Saidulaeva and Alik Dzhabrailov in August last year. The report refers to the fact that Saidulaeva was a partner of the British Embassy in a project focusing on disability rights.

The report of the British FCO states: “We want to see better support for human rights defenders; an end to the apparent impunity for those who attack them; and for all human rights violations against human rights defenders to be investigated fully, promptly and impartially. Those involved should be brought to justice in trials which meet international standards”

The report frequently quoted President Medvedev, citing, for example, that he demanded an investigation of the high-profile murders and that he gave an interview to Novaya Gazeta.

Furthermore, the UK’s FCO welcomed the fact that Medvedev somewhat lowered the requirements for NGOs as a step in the right direction, but pointed out that for foreign NGOs operating in Russia, as well as for those receiving foreign funding, the previous requirements remain in force.

References to publications critical of Russia by organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Reporters without Borders appear with some regularity in the FCO report.

A major focus of the report was a series of specific Russian problems such as instability in the North Caucasus, judicial reform, reform of the penitentiary system, racism and xenophobia.

The authors of the report write: “We regularly remind the Russian government that security measures which do not respect international human rights law are counter-productive, and that putting an end to human rights violations is a vital element in the achievement of a long-term solution to the region’s problems.”

The authors of the report welcomed the ratification by the State Duma of Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights, paving the way for a reform of the court in Strasbourg.

However Russia has yet to ratify Protocol 6 to the Convention that completely abolishes capital punishment, although the authors of the report note that the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation did make the moratorium on capital punishment indefinite last year.

The British diplomats write: “The death in custody of the leading Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitsky highlighted the appalling conditions in which prisoners are kept. Overcrowding, poor living conditions and poor treatment of detainees are widespread.” One of the objectives of the FCO’s Strategic Programme Fund is the prevention of torture within the Russian penitentiary system.

With regard to the high number of racist attacks, the diplomats urged the Russian government to address the question of amendments to the legislation on extremism with care. The report notes that these amendments “may provide an opportunity to restrict political dissent or be applied to protect public officials from criticism in a way that is contrary to international standards”.

The Foreign Office has supported the training of Russian lawmakers in how to identify loopholes in legislation that can be used, in particular, for corrupt practices. Owing in part to this, the report states, in 2009 Russia passed a law on a compulsory evaluation of draft legislation in terms of its impact on corruption.