Release environmental activists now!
Paris-Geneva,October 4, 2013. The Observatory forthe Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of theInternational Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), joins calls for the immediate release of 30 personsarrested by the Russian authorities on September 18 and 19, 2013 for theirparticipation in a Greenpeace peaceful protest against oil drilling in the Arctic onGazprom's Prirazlomnaya offshore platform.
On September 26 and 29, 2013, 28 Greenpeace activists fromthe Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise as well as a free-lance photographerand a cameraman were ordered two months of custody by a Court in Murmansk,facing investigation on a possible charge of “piracy” under Article 227 of theRussian Criminal Code, carrying up to 15 years in jail.
On October 2, 2013, the charges for “piracy” wereconfirmed by a court in Murmansk against crew member Ms. Ana Paula AlminhanaMaciel (Brazil), freelance videographer Mr. Kieron Bryan (UnitedKingdom - UK), Russian activist Roman Dolgov, Finnish activist SiniSaarela, Swedish/American activist Dima Litvinov, UK activist AnthonyPerrett, a Ukranian crew member, Argentinian activist Camila Speziale,Dutch activist Faiza Oulahsen, Dutch crew member Mannes Ubels,Polish activist Tomaz Dziemianczuk, a Russian crew member, as well as UKactivists Alexandra Harris and Philip Ball. On October 3, 2013,the hearings continued with charges for “piracy” confirmed against crew member AnneMie Roer Jensen from Denmark, crew member Jonathan Beauchamp fromNew Zealand, freelance photographer Denis Sinyakov from Russia, crewmembers Colin Russell from Australia and Andrey Allakhverdov fromRussia, as well as crew members Miguel Hernan Perez Orzi from Argentina,Francesco Pisanu from France, Alexandre Paul from Canada, DavidJohn Haussmann from New Zealand, and Cristian D'Alessandro fromItaly.
As of today, the 28 Greenpeace activists as well asthe free-lance photographer and the cameraman remain all detained in severaldetention facilities of the Murmansk region.
“Activists peacefully protesting for the protectionof the fragile environment of the Arctic threatened by oil drillings should beconsidered as human rights defenders, not as pirates” said FIDH PresidentKarim Lahidji.
“Wedenounce the ongoing detention of those activists who were arrested for raisingpublic awareness about potential environmental consequences of oil explorationin Arctic and remind the Russian authorities that the legitimate and peaceful activities of humanrightsdefenders should not be obstructed”, urged OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock. “Wefurther recall that pre-trial detention should be used in exceptional circumstances”,he added.
The Observatory recalls that the international agreeddefinition of “piracy” enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea refers to “illegal acts of violence or detention (…) committed forprivate ends”, which is obviously not relevant in the present case.
The Observatory recalls that the prosecution of theGreenpeace crew is taking place against the background of a wider crackdown onindependent civil society organisations in Russia, many of which are facingprosecution for their peaceful human rights activities.
The Observatory calls on the Russian authorities toimmediately release the activists and drop all criminal charges against them,and to ensure they have access to legal counsel.
TheObservatory more generally urges the Russian authorities to comply with theUnited Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders as well as internationaland regional human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation.