Russia
25.06.04
Urgent Interventions
Russian Federation: murder of Nikolay Girenko, human rights defender and minority rights expert
URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY
RUS 003 / 0604 / OBS 049
Violation of the right to life
The Russian Federation
June 25, 2004
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 that 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.
On the morning of June 20, 2004, as Mr. Girenko came to answer his door, he was shot by unknown assailants who fired at him through the closed door. He died immediately. His wife and his daughter were at home at the time of the assault.
Mr. Girenko, a 64-year-old ethnologist, was an experienced anti-fascist activist who had official consultative status with the local authorities on minority rights. He also acted as an expert in legal cases against fascist groups in St. Petersburg and elsewhere in Russia, especially those against such organisations as Russian National Unity (RNE) and a skinheads' group, Shultz 88, which targeted city residents from ethnic minority groups and foreign nationals.
In 1990, Mr. Girenko, was elected to the City Council of St. Petersburg, where he worked with Galina Starovoytova, a human rights activist murdered in St. Petersburg in November, 1998. He also worked with ethnic diaspora and founded the House of Ethnic and Cultural Organisations. In August 2003 he acted as an expert in the legal case against the Head of Sakharov Museum and his two employees (see 2003 Observatory Annual Report).
The investigation is being conducted by the police with the participation of the 18th Department of the Organised Crime Office which specialises in extremist groups.
The Observatory is deeply concerned by the comment of Mr. Valery Vekhov, representative of the St. Petersburg Department for Organised Crime, that this murder could likely be attributed to petty criminals. Statements such as this are likely to shift public focus away from the political nature of the crime.
The protection of human rights defenders is a State responsibility, as laid out in the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by consensus of the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998. Article 1 of the Declaration 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 more specifically, Article 12(2) states 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.”
Actions requested:
Please write to the Russian authorities urging them to:
i. conduct a fair, impartial and independent inquiry into these events with the direct participation of the General Prosecutor, in order to identify the perpetrators, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of the crime;
ii. ensure that Mr. Nikolay Girenko’s family receives adequate reparation;
iii. adopt immediate measures to put an end to all acts of violence against human rights defenders and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations are able to carry out their work;
iv. comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular Article 1, and Article 12(2), mentioned above,
v. more generally, to comply with the terms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and regional and international mechanisms concerning human rights, to which the Russian Federation is a party.
Addresses:
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Faxes:+ 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: +4122 7344044, 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:+70952064855
Nikolai Patrushev, Director General of the Federal Security Service, Bolshaia Lubianka 1/3, Moscow, Russia, Faxes: + 7 095 975 2470
Ambassadeur, Skotnikov, Leonid, Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Genève 20, Suisse, e-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 734 40 44
Minister of Internal Affairs, Boris Gryzlov, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Ministru vnutrennykh del, Fax: + 7 095 237 49 25
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Igor Ivanov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 121200 Moskva, Ministru inostrannykh del, Fax:+ 7 095 244 2203
Paris - Geneva, June 25, 2004
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 003 / 0604 / OBS 049
Violation of the right to life
The Russian Federation
June 25, 2004
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 that 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.
On the morning of June 20, 2004, as Mr. Girenko came to answer his door, he was shot by unknown assailants who fired at him through the closed door. He died immediately. His wife and his daughter were at home at the time of the assault.
Mr. Girenko, a 64-year-old ethnologist, was an experienced anti-fascist activist who had official consultative status with the local authorities on minority rights. He also acted as an expert in legal cases against fascist groups in St. Petersburg and elsewhere in Russia, especially those against such organisations as Russian National Unity (RNE) and a skinheads' group, Shultz 88, which targeted city residents from ethnic minority groups and foreign nationals.
In 1990, Mr. Girenko, was elected to the City Council of St. Petersburg, where he worked with Galina Starovoytova, a human rights activist murdered in St. Petersburg in November, 1998. He also worked with ethnic diaspora and founded the House of Ethnic and Cultural Organisations. In August 2003 he acted as an expert in the legal case against the Head of Sakharov Museum and his two employees (see 2003 Observatory Annual Report).
The investigation is being conducted by the police with the participation of the 18th Department of the Organised Crime Office which specialises in extremist groups.
The Observatory is deeply concerned by the comment of Mr. Valery Vekhov, representative of the St. Petersburg Department for Organised Crime, that this murder could likely be attributed to petty criminals. Statements such as this are likely to shift public focus away from the political nature of the crime.
The protection of human rights defenders is a State responsibility, as laid out in the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by consensus of the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998. Article 1 of the Declaration 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 more specifically, Article 12(2) states 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.”
Actions requested:
Please write to the Russian authorities urging them to:
i. conduct a fair, impartial and independent inquiry into these events with the direct participation of the General Prosecutor, in order to identify the perpetrators, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of the crime;
ii. ensure that Mr. Nikolay Girenko’s family receives adequate reparation;
iii. adopt immediate measures to put an end to all acts of violence against human rights defenders and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations are able to carry out their work;
iv. comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular Article 1, and Article 12(2), mentioned above,
v. more generally, to comply with the terms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and regional and international mechanisms concerning human rights, to which the Russian Federation is a party.
Addresses:
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Faxes:+ 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: +4122 7344044, 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:+70952064855
Nikolai Patrushev, Director General of the Federal Security Service, Bolshaia Lubianka 1/3, Moscow, Russia, Faxes: + 7 095 975 2470
Ambassadeur, Skotnikov, Leonid, Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Genève 20, Suisse, e-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 734 40 44
Minister of Internal Affairs, Boris Gryzlov, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Ministru vnutrennykh del, Fax: + 7 095 237 49 25
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Igor Ivanov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 121200 Moskva, Ministru inostrannykh del, Fax:+ 7 095 244 2203
Paris - Geneva, June 25, 2004
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