Russia
23.02.05
Urgent Interventions
Russia: New attack against Memorial Saint Petersburg and its employees
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
RUS 001 / 0803 / OBS 042.1
Attack / Break in / Physical attack
The Russian Federation
February 23, 2005
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.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed of a new attack on the office of the human rights association Memorial Saint Petersburg.
According to the information received from Memorial Saint Petersburg, on February 18, 2005, at approximately 11 pm, unknown people rang at the door of the Research Center of Memorial, saying that they had an urgent message from Memorial Moscow. Mr. Emanuil Polyakov, a Memorial employee, opened the door and three men rushed in. They knocked him out with a heavy object and then continued to beat him as he laid unconscious. He sustained injuries to his head, his jawbone was broken and he lost one eye. He was found only in the late morning the next day in a critical condition, and taken to hospital.
The attackers destroyed a part of Memorial’s office equipment, searched and turned over the archives and forced the safes of the organisation. The fact that they went directly to the room of the Research Center’s director, Mrs. Irina Flige, and left later by the back door, could be an indication that the attackers knew the office plan.
A police investigation was open.
The Observatory is gravely concerned by this new attack against Memorial, and in particular by the fact that staff of Memorial were physically assaulted and threatened. Moreover, the Observatory fears that the aim of the attack was to obtain information on the activities of Memorial Saint Petersburg, its members and contacts.
The Observatory recalls that under article 12(2) of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, “ 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 also expects the Russian authorities to be highly vigilant and ensure that investigations into these events, as well as other acts of harassment against human rights defenders, are carried out effectively. Furthermore, the Observatory urges the authorities to put an end to the impunity of authors of human rights violations against defenders to avoid a repetition of such violations in the future.
Background information:
On August 14, 2003, a man came to the main office of the Memorial Saint Petersburg and asked to meet those in charge of the anti-fascist commission. The commission’s staff were not there at the time, so the young man returned later in the day with another individual. The two men threatened an employee, Mrs. Anna Chmygara, with hammers, then tied her up, gagged her, locked her in a closet and cut the telephone line. The two attackers then burst into the office of Mr. Vladimir Schnitke, Chairman of the organisation. Mr. Schnitke and another employee were also bound, gagged and locked in a closet, the attackers claiming that they had booby-trapped the door. They then stole Mr. Schnitke’s computer, his two mobile phones, his diary and address book. The staff of Memorial were released later on that day (see Urgent Appeal RUS 001/0803/OBS 042, as well as Annual Report 2003 of the Observatory).
Even though the assailants took no money and no computers except for Mr. Schnitke’s one, the press office of the Department of Internal Affairs (MVD) declared that the attack was an ordinary burglary, with no political motive. Memorial pressed charges and, faced with police inaction, employed private detectives who were able to identify one of the assailants, Mr. Vladimir Goliakov, and have him arrested on September 26, 2003.
Subsequently, a commander in the FSB (ex-KGB, Federal Security Service) was searched during an anonymous prison visit to Goliakov and found to be bringing him a list of names of people who could supply him with an alibi. There have been no repercussions in the wake of this incident. On June 22, 2004, Mr. Goliakov was sentenced to a 5 years suspended sentence by the Kuibyshevsky Federal Court of Saint-Petersburg, on charges of “physical attack and theft of equipment”, then released. The political motive of the attack was not acknowledged.
On December 11, 2004, Mr. Schnitke was subjected to a second attack. He was hit with a heavy object from behind at the entrance of his house, as a result of which Mr Shnitke suffered from concussion. An investigation was opened but so far there are no results.
Moreover, on June 20, 2004, another human rights defender from Saint Petersburg, Mr. Nikolay Girenko, head of the Minority Rights Commission at St. Petersburg’s Scientific Union and chairman of the Ethnical Minority Rights, one of the main anti-racist organisations in St. Petersburg, was murdered by unknown gunmen at his apartment in St. Petersburg (see the Observatory Urgent Appeal RUS 003/0604/OBS 049).
Actions requested:
Please write to the Russian authorities urging them to:
i. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all members of Memorial Saint Petersburg in all circumstances;
ii. adopt immediate measures to put an end to all acts of violence against human rights defenders working in Memorial Saint Petersburg so that the organisation can carry out its activities without being subjected to outside hindrance;
iii. conduct a fair, impartial and independent inquiry into the breaking-in of the Research Center of Memorial Saint Petersbourg and the attack against Mr. Polyakov, in order to identify the authors, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of their crimes;
iii. comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or 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”, and above-mentioned article 12(2);
iv. more generally, guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international instruments ratified by the Russian Federation, in particular the Charter of Paris and the documents adopted under the OSCE’s Human Dimension.
Addresses:
*****
Paris-Geneva, February 23, 2005
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : (+ 41 22) 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
RUS 001 / 0803 / OBS 042.1
Attack / Break in / Physical attack
The Russian Federation
February 23, 2005
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.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed of a new attack on the office of the human rights association Memorial Saint Petersburg.
According to the information received from Memorial Saint Petersburg, on February 18, 2005, at approximately 11 pm, unknown people rang at the door of the Research Center of Memorial, saying that they had an urgent message from Memorial Moscow. Mr. Emanuil Polyakov, a Memorial employee, opened the door and three men rushed in. They knocked him out with a heavy object and then continued to beat him as he laid unconscious. He sustained injuries to his head, his jawbone was broken and he lost one eye. He was found only in the late morning the next day in a critical condition, and taken to hospital.
The attackers destroyed a part of Memorial’s office equipment, searched and turned over the archives and forced the safes of the organisation. The fact that they went directly to the room of the Research Center’s director, Mrs. Irina Flige, and left later by the back door, could be an indication that the attackers knew the office plan.
A police investigation was open.
The Observatory is gravely concerned by this new attack against Memorial, and in particular by the fact that staff of Memorial were physically assaulted and threatened. Moreover, the Observatory fears that the aim of the attack was to obtain information on the activities of Memorial Saint Petersburg, its members and contacts.
The Observatory recalls that under article 12(2) of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, “ 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 also expects the Russian authorities to be highly vigilant and ensure that investigations into these events, as well as other acts of harassment against human rights defenders, are carried out effectively. Furthermore, the Observatory urges the authorities to put an end to the impunity of authors of human rights violations against defenders to avoid a repetition of such violations in the future.
Background information:
On August 14, 2003, a man came to the main office of the Memorial Saint Petersburg and asked to meet those in charge of the anti-fascist commission. The commission’s staff were not there at the time, so the young man returned later in the day with another individual. The two men threatened an employee, Mrs. Anna Chmygara, with hammers, then tied her up, gagged her, locked her in a closet and cut the telephone line. The two attackers then burst into the office of Mr. Vladimir Schnitke, Chairman of the organisation. Mr. Schnitke and another employee were also bound, gagged and locked in a closet, the attackers claiming that they had booby-trapped the door. They then stole Mr. Schnitke’s computer, his two mobile phones, his diary and address book. The staff of Memorial were released later on that day (see Urgent Appeal RUS 001/0803/OBS 042, as well as Annual Report 2003 of the Observatory).
Even though the assailants took no money and no computers except for Mr. Schnitke’s one, the press office of the Department of Internal Affairs (MVD) declared that the attack was an ordinary burglary, with no political motive. Memorial pressed charges and, faced with police inaction, employed private detectives who were able to identify one of the assailants, Mr. Vladimir Goliakov, and have him arrested on September 26, 2003.
Subsequently, a commander in the FSB (ex-KGB, Federal Security Service) was searched during an anonymous prison visit to Goliakov and found to be bringing him a list of names of people who could supply him with an alibi. There have been no repercussions in the wake of this incident. On June 22, 2004, Mr. Goliakov was sentenced to a 5 years suspended sentence by the Kuibyshevsky Federal Court of Saint-Petersburg, on charges of “physical attack and theft of equipment”, then released. The political motive of the attack was not acknowledged.
On December 11, 2004, Mr. Schnitke was subjected to a second attack. He was hit with a heavy object from behind at the entrance of his house, as a result of which Mr Shnitke suffered from concussion. An investigation was opened but so far there are no results.
Moreover, on June 20, 2004, another human rights defender from Saint Petersburg, Mr. Nikolay Girenko, head of the Minority Rights Commission at St. Petersburg’s Scientific Union and chairman of the Ethnical Minority Rights, one of the main anti-racist organisations in St. Petersburg, was murdered by unknown gunmen at his apartment in St. Petersburg (see the Observatory Urgent Appeal RUS 003/0604/OBS 049).
Actions requested:
Please write to the Russian authorities urging them to:
i. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all members of Memorial Saint Petersburg in all circumstances;
ii. adopt immediate measures to put an end to all acts of violence against human rights defenders working in Memorial Saint Petersburg so that the organisation can carry out its activities without being subjected to outside hindrance;
iii. conduct a fair, impartial and independent inquiry into the breaking-in of the Research Center of Memorial Saint Petersbourg and the attack against Mr. Polyakov, in order to identify the authors, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of their crimes;
iii. comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or 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”, and above-mentioned article 12(2);
iv. more generally, guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international instruments ratified by the Russian Federation, in particular the Charter of Paris and the documents adopted under the OSCE’s Human Dimension.
Addresses:
- Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Fax: + 7 095 206 8510, Email: president@gov.ru
- President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, c/o the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation, Avenue de la Paix 15, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, fax: +41 22 734 40 44, e-mail: mission.russian@ties.itu.int
- Procurator General of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Ustinov, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, 103793 g. Moskva K-31, Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d 15a, Prokuratura Rossiyskoy Federatsii, Generalnomu prokuroru Ustinovu V., Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 095 292 88 48
- Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya,103132 g. Moskva, Staraya ploshchad, d 8/5,pod 3,Predsedatele Komissii po pravam cheloveka pri Prezidente, Pamfilove Elle., Russian Federation, Fax:+7 095 206 48 55
- Nikolai Patrushev, Director General of the Federal Security Service, Bolshaia Lubianka 1/3, Moscow, Russia, Fax: + 7 095 975 2470
- Ambassadeur, Leonid Skotnikov, Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland, e-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +41 22 734 40 44
- Please also write to the diplomatic representations of the Russian Federation in your respective countries.
*****
Paris-Geneva, February 23, 2005
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : (+ 41 22) 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch