 Source: HRO.org (info) Original source: Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society & Human Rights A statement by the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights regarding the assault by hooligans (the phrase used in the text of the statement – HRO.org) on Igor Kalyapin. In Grozny Igor Kalyapin, a member of the President of the Russian Federation’s Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, has been attacked. The organizers and perpetrators of this ugly criminal offence clearly intended to demean and frighten all who participate in the activities of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture which Kalyapin heads. The same intent, clearly, lay behind the attack on the minibus, carrying journalists and members of the Committee, on the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya on 9th March, and also the wrecking of the Committee’s Grozny office on 3rd June last year. All these criminal actions share the same aim, which the law enforcement authorities have so far been unable, or do not wish, to bring out into the open. The harassment of human rights activists who, in different regions of the country, offer free legal aid to victims of torture – when torture, as stated in Russia’s Constitution, is forbidden and subject to the severest of criminal penalties – effectively means that the use of torture, condemned worldwide, is approved of and Russian laws are ignored. The Chechen authorities have, more than once, declared that Grozny is one of the safest cities in Russia. The attack on Igor Kalyapin calls that into question. Or it suggests that the authorities were involved in its organization. The unpunished public harassment of a member of the Presidential Human Rights Council insults not only Igor Kalyapin but each of us, the whole Presidential Council. We stand in solidarity with our colleague and express our full support. We demand not only a thorough investigation and the punishment of those found guilty, but also their public apology to Igor Kalyapin and to the Council. We are convinced that there should be no territories where Russian laws have no jurisdiction. Chair of the Human Rights Council, M. Fedotov 17 March 2016 The statement has also been signed by: Светлана Айвазова, Людмила Алексеева, Лев Амбиндер, Евгений Бобров, Александр Брод, Александр Верховский, Сергей Воробьёв, Елизавета Глинка, Павел Гусев, Даниил Дондурей, Наталия Евдокимова, Иван Засурский, Кирилл Кабанов, Ирина Киркора, Борис Кравченко, Сергей Кривенко, Станислав Кучер, Яна Лантратова, Раиса Лукутцова, Елена Масюк, Александр Мукомолов, Евгений Мысловский, Леонид Никитинский, Леонид Парфенов, Игорь Пастухов, Сергей Пашин, Мара Полякова, Элла Полякова, Владимир Ряховский, Николай Сванидзе, Анита Соболева, Ирина Хакамада, Сергей Цыпленков, Павел Чиков, Илья Шаблинский, Максим Шевченко, Лилия Шибанова, Андрей Юров Translated by Mary McAuley |
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