Ongoing judicial proceedings and defamation campaign against members of the Voice of Beslan

Russian Federation

April 22, 2008

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

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) about ongoing judicial proceedings as well as about a defamation campaign against members of the Voice of Beslan, an non-governmental organisation that gathers relatives of victims of the 2004 Beslan school hostage-taking.

According to the information received, on March 31, 2008, the Pravoberezhnyy District Court held a hearing on the administrative case initiated against Ms. Ella Kesaeva, the Deputy Chair of the Voice of Beslan, as well as against Ms. Svetlana Margieva and Ms. Emilia Bzarova, two members of the Voice of Beslan, under Article 17.3 part 2 of the Administrative Code. The three women were accused of “obstructing the work of the Court” by shouting and refusing to obey orders from the Court Judges on February 7, 2008 (See background information). Yet, they only learned about the protocol of the administrative offence on February 21, 2008, when Ms. Kesaeva was summoned to appear in Court. Finally, the Judge found no corpus delicti in their actions and came to the conclusion that the protocol had been developed with a lot of breaches and contained information that was not confirmed by witnesses’ testimonies. The protocol was then declared to be “unacceptable evidence”. The administrative case was then closed down.

On April 10, 2008, the deputy prosecutor of North Ossetia appealed this ruling. The hearing will take place on April 24, 2008.

On the same day, the Voice of Beslan received the response to their inquiry about the reasons why members of the organisation were not “allowed to be present at court sessions involving their friends” although the court sessions are open to the public. The response, signed by the Judge Etdzaev A.G, stated that these measures might have been caused by the “grounded concerns for the physical integrity, life safety and public order during court sessions that Judges of Court have because of Ms. Ella Kesaeva and Ms. Svetlana Margieva”.

Besides, during the night April 16-17, 2008, flyers were distributed in Beslan in houses and flats of those who had been victim of the 2004 tragedy. It contained a press clip from the North Ossetia newspaper #13 with the article “Whose tune is Ella Kesaeva following?”. The article claims that Ms. Kesaeva is the richest woman in Beslan, and that her income amounted one million roubles in 2006 and that she can afford buying a flat in Moscow. The article also accused Ms. Marina Litvinovich, Director of the Foundation To Support Victims of Terror, victims and members of the Foundation of continuously attempting to defame the Russian authorities. The author further accused the Voice of Beslan and the Foundation of “serving anti-Russian forces” [Messrs. Garry Kasparov and Leonid Nevzlin].

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about these ongoing judicial proceedings against these members of the Voice of Beslan, and fears that such accusations aim at merely sanctioning the activities of the organisation in favour of justice for victims of the Beslan tragedy.

The Observatory further recalls that 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].

Background information:

On January 15, 2008, the Prosecutor’s office of Ingushetia has lodged a suit against the Voice of Beslan in the Nazran District Court for “extremist activities”. The charges fall under Russia’s 2007 amended Law on extremism, which broadens the definition of extremist activities to include “slander of public officials” and “humiliating national pride”. The legislation can be applied retroactively and, as a consequence, the operations of the organisation could be suspended.

These charges are linked with a statement made by the Voice of Beslan on November 30, 2005, accusing President Putin of refusing to launch an independent investigation into the assault ending the siege that killed many hostages in September 2004[2]. The address was beginning with “to all who feel for the victims of the act of terror perpetrated in Beslan” and stated that “we have to acknowledge that the acts of terror have become the most efficient political tool in Russia. We are guilty for electing the president who solves his problems with the help of tanks, flame-throwers and gas ... But we do not deserve that the world’s political elite should support our president who has become the guardian of criminals”. More than two years after the delivery of this statement, the Prosecutor’s office is now claiming that it constitutes deliberately false accusations against President Putin.

This is not the first time the authorities try to intimidate the organisation in order to put an end to its activities. In December 2007, after the authorities of the Republic of North Ossetia had made an attempt to re-register the group under a different leadership, a North Ossetian court ordered the organisation to close down, claiming that Ms. Ella Kesaeva was not its leader and that a former member of the group should replace her. That ruling was subsequently annulled by the Russian Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the Observatory has been informed with great concern that on January 20, 2008, a woman who gave testimony in Court to support the Voice of Beslan in the framework of these judicial proceedings was warned by the Federal Security Service (FSB) officers that she should “not even communicate with the Voice of Beslan”.

Besides, at the end of November 2007, an administrative case was opened against Ms. Kesaeva, after she participated in a rally held in Beslan on November 7, 2007, in which participants placed a signpost reading “Putin’s Course” - pointing in the direction of the destroyed school. Ms. Kasaeva was charged with “illegal mounting of a road signpost”.

According to the information received, on February 8, 2008, a group of people came to the permanent residence of Ms. Emma Tagaeva-Betrozova, chair of the organisation, where the office of the organisation is also located. One of the visitors introduced himself as an investigator with the Department of the Federal Service of judicial police officers (UFSSP). Without presenting any ID or any other documents, the investigator told that Ms. Ella Kesaeva would have to submit her written explanation in relation with an accusation pending against her and two other members of the Voice of Beslan, according to which they would have beaten up seven judicial police officers in the building of the Beslan Pravoberezhny district court.

The investigator refused to answer Ms. Ella Kesaeva, when she asked who had brought such an accusation, and added that he would recommend them to give explanations not only regarding their assault at seven judicial police officers but also at a judge. The investigator then warned Ms. Kesaeva and two other members of the organisation that they would be summoned to be interrogated in the UFSSP office if they refused to give their explanations.

An hour later, Ms. Kesaeva, Ms. Svetlana Margieva and Ms. Emilia Bzarova were delivered summons to be interrogated on February 11, 2008 at the UFSSP in North Ossetia-Alania. The summons stated that if they failed to appear there for the interrogation, they would be brought there by force.

A few days before, the chair of the Pravoberezhnyy district court of Beslan had warned Ms. Kesaeva to stop submitting appeals and complaints, otherwise a case would be opened against her.

On February 11, 2008, Ms. Kesaeva, Ms. Margieva and Ms. Bzarova went to the UFSSP in North Ossetia-Alania, where they drafted written statements, claiming that nothing like that had occurred and that there had been no scuffle between the officers and the three of them. They were then informed that the report on the “assault” had been submitted by the Judge Zaurbek Tavitov and one of the “new Voice of Beslan” members[3], a woman who is supposedly linked with the FSB.

Actions requested:

The Observatory urges the authorities of the Russian Federation to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Ella Kesaeva, Ms. Svetlana Margieva and Ms. Emilia Bzarova, as well as of all members of and supporters to the Voice of Beslan and all human rights defenders in the Russian Federation;
2. Put an end to the judicial harassment against the Voice of Beslan, as it seems to merely aim at sanctioning its human rights activities;
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”, Article 6.b, which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others [...] freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”, as well as with Article 12.2, which provides that “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”;
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:

• Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Faxes:+ 7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru / http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/articles/send_letter_Eng1a.shtml
• Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Yuri Chaika, General Procuracy of the Russian Federation, Bolshaia Dmitrovka 15d., Moscow, 125993,Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 095 292 88 48 / +7 495 692 17 25
• Ombudsman for Human Rights, Vladimir Lukin, 47 Ulitsa Miasnitskaia, 107084 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 495 207 7470, E-mail: press-sl@ropnet.ru
• 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
• 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 Justice, Vladimir Ustinov, Ul. Zhitnaia, 14, 119991 Moscow, GSP-1, Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 495 955 5779
• Ambassador Leonid Skotnikov, 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, April 22, 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.

[2] On September 3, 2004, 1,128 persons were taken in hostage at Middle School N° 1 in the town of Beslan, in North Ossetia. Subsequently, and following the storming of the school building by secret services, 186 children and 145 adults were killed. Since then, the Voice of Beslan has repeatedly been demanding fair investigation into these events. Indeed, more than three years after the siege, many questions remain unanswered. The exact number of hostage takers has not been established. According to the authorities, 32 hostage takers seized the school and only one of them, Mr. Nurpash Kulaev, survived the assault by the federal forces. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after a trial highly criticised as it did not bring answers to essential questions concerning the course of the assault. Furthermore, although it was proved that several policemen accompanied the group into Beslan, they were all acquitted in 2006. The Voice of Beslan continues to argue that the Russian government shares responsibility for the tragedy, as the use of flamethrowers by Russian security forces and shelling from Russian tanks contributed to the death toll. The Voice of Beslan has gone through three court proceedings in an attempt to have the chair of the investigatory team. The State Duma has yet to release its own final official report on the hostage-taking and the assault. But, in January 2008, Mr. Aleksandr Torshin, the vice-speaker of the Federal Assembly at the State Duma and chair of the parliamentary commission to investigate the case in Beslan, suggested that the hostage-takers were responsible for the explosion that killed many of the 1,000 hostages.

[3] In autumn 2007, the authorities of the Republic of North Ossetia made an attempt to re-register the group under a different leadership. The authorities claim that the “new Voice of Beslan” is the only legitimate organisation.