13 November 2015

Source: HRO.org (info)

• Моscow city & Moscow region  Human rights defenders  Right of association

On 9 November, the Interregional NGO Memorial Human Rights Centre received a document setting out the findings of the scheduled audit that had previously been carried out by the General Directorate of the Ministry of Justice in Moscow. This document contains the claim that, “through their actions, the members of the Interregional NGO Memorial Human Rights Centre have undermined the foundations of constitutional order in the Russian Federation.”

In reality, however, the document itself poses a clear threat to the foundations of constitutional order in the Russian Federation, which as a state guarantees each of its citizens the freedom to express their opinions and beliefs. The document issued by the Ministry of Justice is an explicit denial of Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which sets out fundamental safeguards for the human rights and civil liberties of the people of Russia.

The document accuses the members of the Memorial Human Rights Centre of having, “called for the overthrow of the current government and a change of political regime in the country.” The Ministry of Justice experts back up this absurd claim with a reference to two articles published on Memorial Human Rights Centre’s official website, one of which contains a negative assessment of Russia’s actions against Ukraine in 2014, and the other of which expresses disagreement with the ruling of Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky district court in the “Bolotnaya Square case”.

The members of the Free Historical Society and the Russian PEN Centre wish to remind the Ministry of Justice officials that the freedom to express one’s opinions and beliefs – which may involve criticising the decisions and actions of “senior state authorities” – is a constitutional right held by the citizens of Russia. Neither the Constitution of the Russian Federation nor the country’s laws grant officials the power to control the way in which citizens express their opinions on any grounds whatsoever, or the prerogative to take decisions based on the opinion these citizens hold of the ruling government.

The findings published by the Ministry of Justice officials in respect of the NGO represent political demands which are unlawful and cannot remain without consequence. It is particularly regrettable that the organisation which is facing the threat of political persecution was set up in order to help the citizens of Russia assert their constitutional rights and freedoms and gather and examine information on illegal political repression.

The members of the Free Historical Society and the Russian PEN centre wish to express their support for and solidarity with their colleagues from the Interregional NGO Memorial Human Rights Centre and their defence of our shared right to freedom of thought and speech.

The members of the Free Historical Society and the Russian PEN centre also wish to express their dismay at the increasing disregard for political freedom in our country, which gives rise to a situation in which phrases such as those cited above can be used in official documents issued by federal government bodies.

The members of the Free Historical Society and the Russian PEN Centre call for an immediate response by the heads of the Ministry of Justice and senior state officials repudiating the anti-constitutional charges set out in the findings of the General Directorate of the Ministry of Justice for Moscow.

12 November 2015