Ongoing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Mr. Oyub Titiev

Newinformation

RUS 001 /0118 / OBS 004.3

Judicialharassment /

Arbitrarydetention

RussianFederation

March 20,2018

The Observatory for the Protectionof Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.

Newinformation:

The Observatory has been informed byreliable sources about the ongoing judicial harassment and arbitrary detentionof Mr. Oyub Titiev, Head of theHuman Rights Center (HRC) "Memorial" office in Chechnya.

According to the informationreceived, on March 19, 2018, Chechnya’s Supreme Court confirmed Mr. OyubTitiev’s pre-trial detention until May 9, 2018, despite arguments from hislawyers that the extension of his pre-trial detention is baseless. During thehearing, Mr. Oyub Titiev appeared in cage.

Mr. Oyub Titiev is being prosecuted underArticle 228 of the Criminal Code for allegedly possessing drugs in largeamounts and is being detained at the pre-trial detention center in Grozny. Ifconvicted, Mr. Oyub Titiev faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence (seebackground information).

The Observatory recalls that Mr.Oyub Titiev was stopped in his car by police on January 9, 2018, and heldincommunicado for several hours. The Chechen authorities later stated thatdrugs had been “discovered” in his car. Mr. Oyub Titiev denied the allegationsand insisted the bag had been planted by police.

The Observatory expresses its utmostconcern over the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. OyubTitiev. The harassment of his relatives and lawyers as well as the arson of HRC"Memorial" premises in North Caucasus clearly suggest that Mr. OyubTitiev is being prosecuted under trumped-up charges in a wider context ofharassment against HRC “Memorial” and its members linked to their work in NorthCaucasus and aimed at intimidating and silencing them.

The Observatory urges the Russianauthorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Oyub Titiev and toput an end to all acts of harassment against him, all HRC “Memorial” membersand human rights defenders in the North Caucasus. In the meantime, theObservatory urges Russian authorities to uphold his right to a fair trial andto guarantee his physical and psychological integrity.

Backgroundinformation:

Inthe morning of January 9, 2018, Mr. Oyub Titiev left his home in the village of Kurchaloi,in the Chechen Republic, to head to a meeting with a friend scheduled at 9amand subsequently to the office of HRC "Memorial" in Grozny. Mr.Titiev being more than one hour late for the meeting with a friend whoseidentity is not being revealed on purpose, the latter spotted Mr. Titiev on aroad between the villages Kurchaloi and Mairtup, next to the bridge on theriver Khumyk. Next to Mr. Titiev were five-six traffic police officersinspecting his car. Mr. Titiev gave his friend a sign not to approach him, andafter the both cars left - that of Titiev and the second belonging to thetraffic police - he headed to the Kurchaloi District Department of InternalAffairs supposing Mr. Titiev would be taken there. Although he was not allowedto enter the District Department of Internal Affairs, Mr. Titiev's car presentoutside and unofficial sources allowed him to assume Mr. Titiev's detention.

Despite repeated calls, the DistrictDepartment officially kept denying Mr. Titiev's presence. If Mr. Titiev’sdetention was not officially confirmed by the authorities until seven hoursafter his detention when Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Interior of theChechen Republic Apti Alaudinov confirmed to the Russian Ombudsman TatianaMoskalkova that Mr. Titiev was being kept in Kurchaloi police station. Severalhours later, Mr. Titiev's lawyer confirmed that his client was charged underArticle 228 of the Criminal Code possessing drugs in large amounts.

On January 17, 2018, at 3.35 am, theCCTV camera of the HRC “Memorial” office recorded two young men, wearing masksand gloves, one of whom was carrying a canister. The arsonists put a ladder tothe roof of the building and climbed to the second floor of the office. Theattackers also attempted to break one of the CCTV video cameras installed onthe building on their way to the window of HRC “Memorial”’s office. The cameraalso recorded the rapid departure of the two arsonists. Fortunately, the twoattackers could only access three of the six rooms. The fire brigade arrivedquickly at the scene and extinguished the fire but not before three of theoffice’s six rooms were burnt, destroying electronic equipment and documents.The remains of a melted plastic bottle with the smell of kerosene were found inthe office of HRC “Memorial” Ingushetia office’s Head Mr. Timur Akiev.

Furthermore, on January 15 and 16,2018, Mr. Oleg Orlov, Chairman of HRC “Memorial” Council, lawyer PetrZaikin and journalists who were in Chechnya to investigate the case of Mr.Titiev were subjected to constant surveillance of local law-enforcement bodies.For two days, the group was detained five times allegedly for verification oftheir involvement with illegal armed groups.

Mr. Titiev’s family members werethreatened by law enforcement authorities and consequently left Chechnya inlate January 2018. Likewise, one of Mr. Titiev’s lawyers, Mr. Aslan Telkhigov, was allegedly forcedto resign from Mr. Titiev’s defence team and to leave Chechnya in late January2018.

On January 22, 2018, HRC Memorial’scar, used by one of Mr. Titiev’s lawyers, Mr. Petr Zaikin, was set on fire in neighbouring Dagestan. In addition,on February 5, 2018, Chechen authorities ordered residents of several privatehouses, including Mr. Titiev’s, to leave their house within a week. Houses willbe demolished to build a shopping center.

On March 6, 2018, theStaropromyslovsky District Court in Grozny rejected an appeal filed against thepre-trial detention order and extended Mr. Oyub Titiev’s pre-trial detentionfor another two months, until May 9, 2018, despite the fact that two guarantorspledged for a “personal vouch”[1].

Actionsrequested:

Please write to the authorities of Russia, urgingthem to:

i. Take all necessarymeasures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security ofMr. Oyub Titiev, the staff of HRC “Memorial” in Ingushetia and all human rightsdefender in the Russian Federation;

ii.Release Mr. Oyub Titiev immediately and unconditionally, as his detention isarbitrary since it merely aims at sanctioning his legitimate human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to all actsof harassment, including at the judicial level, against him as well as allhuman rights defenders in the Russian Federation, including by putting an endto all forms of surveillance of their activities by local enforcementofficials, and ensure in all circumstances thatthey are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any hindrance orfear of reprisals;

iv. Carry out animmediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the arson attack onthe office of HRC “Memorial” in Ingushetia and on HRC"Memorial's" car in Dagestan with a view to publishing the resultsand bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with internationalstandards;

v. Publicly recognise at the level of the President of the RussianFederation the crucial role of humanrights defenders as pillars of democracy and watchdogs of the rule oflaw and publicly condemn all attacks against human rights defenders,particularly in the Chechen Republic;

vi.Comply with all the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, in particular with Articles 1, 12.1 and 12.2;

vii.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedomsin accordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by the Russian Federation.

Addresses:

· Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of theRussian Federation, Fax: + 7 495 606 3602; + 7 495 625 3581

· Mr. Dimitri Medvedev, Prime Ministerof the Russian Federation, Twitter: @MedvedevRussia

· Mr. Sergueï Lavrov, Minister ofForeign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 495 644 2203

· Permanent Mission of the RussianFederation to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 734 40 44,E-mail: mission.russian@vtxnet.ch

· Embassy of the Russian Federation inBrussels, Belgium. Fax: +32 2 374 26 13. E-mail: amrusbel@skynet.be

· Permanent Representation of theRussian Federation to the Council of Europe, France. Fax: (+33) (0) 3 88 24 1974. Email: russia.coe@orange.fr

Please alsowrite to the diplomatic representations of Russia in your respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva,March 20, 2018

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting thecode of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European UnionHuman Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel andfax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT: +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 80949 29

[1] Personal vouch is a provision in Russian legislation as an alternativeto pre-trial detention. 2018 Presidential candidate Grigorii Yavlinskii, waspersonally at the hearing to present his claim for personal vouch. @font-face { font-family: "Arial";}@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math";}@font-face { font-family: "OpenSymbol";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }h1 { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0cm; page-break-after: avoid; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-weight: normal; }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 16.95pt; text-indent: -16.95pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }span.MsoFootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText { margin: 0cm 0cm 7pt; line-height: 120%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }strong { font-weight: normal; }span.Titre1Car { }span.FootnoteCharacters { vertical-align: super; }span.CorpsdetexteCar { }span.PieddepageCar { }span.En-tteCar { }span.NotedebasdepageCar { }p.Corpsdetexte23, li.Corpsdetexte23, div.Corpsdetexte23 { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; }