Assaults against Ms. Carine Clément, Mr. Mikhail Beketov and Mr. Sergueï Fedotov, defenders of economic and social rights

November 21, 2008

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

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about recent assaults faced by several defenders of economic and social rights in Russia on the same day.

According to the information received, on November 13, 2008, at 11 am, Ms. Carine Clément, a sociologist committed to the struggle for housing rights, Director of the Independent Institute of Collective Action (IKD), and also a member of the Union of Coordinating Councils of Russia (SKS), was assaulted by two unknown young men who stuck a syringe in her thigh, when she was on her way to a public meeting. This is the third act of violence committed against Ms. Clément since October 24, 2008. These assaults seem to be related to the participation of Ms. Clement to a social rights day of solidarity on October 25, 2008 and to Ms. Clément’s active support to the development of independent social, civic and trade union initiatives in Russia.

Furthermore, on November 13, 2008 also, in the early morning, Mr. Mikhail Beketov, a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Kimkinskaïa Pravda newspaper, involved in the fight for the respect of environment rights, was found by a neighbor lying in the courtyard of his building in the Khimki district, after being assaulted and beaten. He was then brought to a local hospital. His condition remained extremely serious as of issuing this urgent appeal. He sustained injuries that doctors said could easily have been fatal. In February and May 2007, Mr. Beketov had already faced another assault and criminal proceedings for alleged libel in response to a complaint filed by Khimki Mayor following the publication of an article. The case is still pending. For the past two years, Mr. Beketov has been fighting against the destruction of forests and illegal building construction. He is also well known for his critical articles in which he denounced the corruption of local authorities in Khimki.

At 6.45 pm, Mr. Sergueï Fedotov, leader of a group supporting disenfranchised small landowners in the suburbs of Moscow, was attacked by two young men with baseball bats and pepper spray. He managed to escape in his car. Mr. Fedotov has been leading a fight to re-establish property rights on land plots that would have been stolen following fraudulent privatization.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about these assaults and attacks against Ms. Carine Clément and Messrs. Mikhail Beketov and Sergueï Fedotov, which seem to aim at sanctioning their human rights activities.

The Observatory 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”[1].

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 Ms. Carine Clément and Messrs. Mikhail Beketov and Sergueï Fedotov and more generally of all human rights defenders in the Russian Federation;
2. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;
3. 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;
4. 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;
5. 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;
6. 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;
• Mr. Yuriy Chaika, General Public Prosecutor of Russian Federation, 125993, Moscow, GSP-3, 15a B. Dimitrovka str. RUSSIA, Fax: +7 (495) 692-96-00
• Mr. Sergey Romanyuk, Public Prosecutor of Leningrad region, 194044, Saint Petersburg, av. Lesnoi, str. 20, kor. 12, RUSSIA. Fax: +7 812 542 00 15
• 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, November 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 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.