Stanislaw Dmitrievsky's ban to violate administrative law lacks motivation: a positive development amid repeated attacks on civil society

The Observatory recalls that on August 17, 2007, the District Court had decided to impose a “ban to violate the administrative law” on Mr. Dmitrievsky, following his participation in the “Dissenters’ Marches” in April 2007 and in a press conference organised by several human rights defenders on August 16, 2007[1]. The Observatory has expressed its concern in this regard, since the terms of this ban provide that Mr. Dmitrievsky’s suspended sentence[2] might turn into a real one if he was found guilty of infringing Russian administrative law on two occasions (i.e. by taking part in a demonstration, incorrectly crossing a street, etc.). Mr. Dmitrievsky had appealed the decision.

On October 26, 2007, the Observatory sent an observer to the trial before the Commission on Criminal Trials, which ruled that the complaint initiated by the Inspection to Enforce Sentences of the Nizhegorodskiy District of Nizhny-Novgorod against Mr. Dmitrievsky and which aimed at imposing this ban lacked motivation, and was therefore contrary to the Russian Criminal Code. The Commission on Criminal Trials decided to send the case back to the District Court.

The Observatory welcomes the decision of the Commission on Criminal Trials, and hopes that it will be followed by the court of first instance, so that the administrative ban be cancelled. Such a decision would be consistent with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right to a fair trial and would be seen as a relief for Mr. Dmitrievsky, who remains harassed by the Russian authorities on other grounds. The Observatory recalls for instance that on August 29, 2007, the police established that the newly-created Nizhny-Novgorod Foundation to Support Tolerance[3] could not provide the licenses to some of the software installed in four of its computers, and therefore fears that new proceedings be undertaken against this organisation and its Chairman, Ms. Oksana Chelysheva[4].

The Observatory reminds that as a participating State of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Russian Federation is committed to “ensure that individuals are permitted to exercise the right to association, including the right to form, join and participate effectively in non-governmental organizations which seek the promotion and protection of human rights [...]”[5]and 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”[6].

Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Russian authorities to conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its Article 1, which states 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”, as well as its Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or 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”.

More generally, the Observatory urges the Russian Federation to conform with international and regional human rights standards and instruments it has ratified.

For further information, please contact:
FIDH : Gael Grilhot, + 00 33 1 43 55 25 18
OMCT : Delphine Reculeau, + 00 41 22 809 49 39

[1] See Observatory urgent appeal RUS 006 / 0807 / OBS 096 of August 22, 2007.

[2] On February 3, 2006, Mr. Dmitrievsky received a suspended sentence of two years in prison and four years of probation for “incitement to racial hatred” by the Sovetsky District Criminal Court (Nizhny-Novgorod), after Pravozaschita, a joint publication of RCFS and the Nizhny-Novgorod Society for Human Rights (NNSHR), released statements by two Chechen separatist leaders, calling for a peaceful resolution of the Russian-Chechen conflict. On April 11, 2006, the appeals lodged by Mr. Dmitrievsky and the Prosecutor, who considered the verdict too lenient, were dismissed by the Nizhny-Novgorod Regional Court (See Observatory Annual Report 2006).

[3] Following the dissolution of the RCFS by court order in February 2007, the organisation obtained its registration in Finland and another organisation was founded in Nizhny, the Nizhny-Novgorod to Support Tolerance.

[4] See Observatory Urgent Appeal RUS 007 / 0807 / OBS 105, dated August 30, 2007.

[5] See Article 10.3 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document.

[6] 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.