Menschenrechte in Russland

Rights and liberties of the citizens of the Russian Federation are granted by the 2nd Chapter of the Constitution adopted in 1993. Russia is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has also ratified a number of other international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (fully) and European Convention of Human Rights (with reservations). The international law instruments take precedent on national legislation according to Art. 15 of the Constitution.

After his 2004 visits in Russian Federation Alvaro Gil-Robles, the first Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, said that "the fledgling Russian democracy is still, of course, far from perfect, but its existence and its successes cannot be denied."

In recent years Vladimir Lukin, current Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, has invariably characterized the human rights situation in Russia as unsatisfactory. However, according to Lukin, this shouldn't discourage, because building a lawful state and civil society in such a complex country as Russia is a hard and long process.

However, Andrey Illarionov, former senior economic policy adviser to President Vladimir Putin, claimed in January 2007 that freedom in Russia has deteriorated dramatically since 2000 and that the year 2006 "was an extraordinary one in a sense of destruction of all types and all elements of freedom."

Freedom House considered Russia partially free with the scores of 5 on both political rights and civil liberties (out of 6 possible) in 2002-2004 and not free with 6 on political rights and 5 on civil liberties in 2005-2007 according to the Freedom in the World reports. In 2006 The Economist published a democracy rating, putting Russia at 102nd place among 167 countries and defining it as a "hybrid regime with a trend towards curtailment of media and other civil liberties." Russia occupies 120th place of 157 countries in the Index of Economic Freedom, composed by Heritage Foundation.Vorlage:Fact

Andrey Illarionov claimed that the rule of law has ceased to exist in Russia and that are now forced to apply not to the Russian courts, but to the European Court of Human Rights. The court has indeed become overwhelmed with cases from Russia. As of June 12007, 22.5% of its pending cases were directed against the Russian Federation.. In 2006 there were 151 admissible applications against Russia (out of 1634 for all the countries), while in 2005 - 110 (of 1036), in 2004 - 64 (of 830), in 2003 - 15 (of 753), in 2002 - 12 (of 578).

According to international human rights organizations as well as domestic press, violations of human rights in Russia include widespread and systematic torture of persons in custody by police , dedovshchina in Russian Army, neglect and cruelty in Russian orphanages , violations of children's rights . According to Amnesty International there is discrimination, racism, and murders of members of ethnic minorities . Since 1992 at least 44 journalists were killed .

Situation in the Russian republic of Chechnya ravaged by war has been especially worrying. During the Second Chechen War started in September 1999 there were summary executions and "disappearance" of civilians in Chechnya . According to ombudsman of Chechen Republic Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, as of March 2007 the most complex and painful problem is finding over 2700 abducted, unaccounted for and forcefully held citizens; analysis of complaints of citizens of Chechnya shows that social problems ever more often come to the foreground, while yet two years ago complaints mostly concerned violation of right for life.

The Federal Law of 10 January2006 changed the orders affecting registration and operation of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia. Russian-Chechen Friendship Society was closed .

There are cases of attacks on demonstrators organized by local authorities . High concern was caused by murders of opposition lawmakers and journalists Anna Politkovskaya , Yuri Schekochikhin , Galina Starovoitova , Sergei Yushenkov , as well as imprisonments of human rights defenders, scientists, and journalists like Trepashkin , Igor Sutyagin , Valentin Danilov .

Judicial and penal system

The judiciary is a subject to manipulation by political authorities according to Amnesty International. According to Constitution of Russia, top judges are appointed by the Federation Council, following nomination by the President of Russia. Anna Politkovskaya described in her book Putin's Russia stories of judges who did not follow "orders from the above" and were assaulted or removed from their positions Former judge Olga Kudeshkina wrote an open letter in 2005 in which she criticized chairman of Moscow city court O. Egorova for "recommending judges to make right decisions" which allegedly caused more than 80 judges in Moscow to retire in the period from 2002 to 2005. There are large case backlogs and trial delaysVorlage:Fact.

Lengthy pre-trial detention remains a serious problem. Prison conditions fall well below international standards.Vorlage:Fact Over 100,000 inmates have tuberculosis. Human rights groups estimate that about 11,000 inmates and prison detainees die annually, most because of overcrowding, disease, and lack of medical care.Vorlage:Fact

In 2001, President Boris Yeltsin pronounced a moratorium on the death penalty. However, Russian Government still violates many promises they made upon entering the Council of Europe. Citizens who appeal to European Court of Human Rights are often prosecuted by Russian authorities, according to the allegations of Politkovskaya

Torture and abuse

The Constitution of Russia forbids arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment. Part 2 of Article 21 of the constitution states that "no one may be subjected to torture, violence or any other harsh or humiliating treatment or punishment…". However Russian police is regularly observed practicing torture - including beatings, electric shocks, rape, asphyxiation - in interrogating arrested suspects. A popular method is called Phone Call to Putin. In 2000, human rights Ombudsman Oleg Mironov estimated that 50% of prisoners with whom he spoke claimed to have been tortured. Amnesty International reported that Russian military forces in Chechnya rape and torture local women with electric shocks, when electric wires are connected to the straps of their bra on their chest.

In the most extreme cases, hundreds of innocent people from the street were arbitrary arrested, beaten, tortured, and raped by special police forces. Such incidents took place not only in Chechnya, but also in Russian towns of Blagoveshensk, Bezetsk, Nefteyugansk, and others

On April 26, 2007, Radio Freedom announced that unofficial movement "Russia the beaten" in Moscow was created by human rights activists, journalists who "suffered from beatings in numerous Russian cities".[1]

Torture and humiliation are also widespread in Russian army (see also dedovshchina). Many young men are killed or commit suicide every year because of it. It's reported that some young male conscipts are forced to work as prostitutes for "outside clients" Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia works to protect rights of young soldiers.

Crime

In the 1990s, the growth of organized crime (see Russian mafia and Russian oligarchs) and the fragmentation of law enforcement agencies in Russia coincided with a sharp rise in violence against business figures, administrative and state officials, and other public figures. President Vladimir Putin inherited these problems when he took office, and during his election campaign in 2000, the new president won popular support by stressing the need to restore law and order and to bring rule of law to Russia as the only way of restoring confidence in the country's economy.

According to data by Demoscope Weekly, Russian homicide rate showd rise from the level of 15 murders per 100,000 people in 1991 to 32.5 in 1994, then it fell to 22.5 in 1998, that was succeeded by rise with maximum of 30.5 in 2002, and a fall to 20 murders per 100,000 people in 2006.

With the prison population rate of 532 per 100,000 population, Russia is tied with Bermuda United Kingdom and Belarus, second to the United States (2005 data).

Criminology studies show that for first five years since 2000 compared with the average for 1992 to 1999, rate of robberies is up by 38.2% and rate of drug-related crimes is higher by 71.7%.

Politically-motivated prosecutions

Espionage cases

In Soviet period of time scientists encountered sufficient administrative barriers when working with foreign colleagues. After collapse of the Soviet Union which coincided with decrease of governmental financing, many scientists broadened their contacts with foreign laboratories. A point to note is that administrative norms of secrecy in Russia are still more strict than those accepted in the West.

There were several cases when FSB accused scientists for alleged transferring state secrets to different countries, while defendants and their colleagues claimed that transferred information or technologies were based on sources well known in the world. While such cases caused resonance in society, courts considering the cases were often closed from press.

Scientists in question are: Igor Sutyagin (sentenced to 15 years), physicist Valentin Danilov (sentenced to 14 years), physical chemist Oleg Korobeinichev (held in 2006 under a written pledge not to leave the city), academician Oskar Kaibyshev (convicted to 6 years of suspended sentence and a fine of $130,000).

Ecologist and journalist Alexander Nikitin, who worked with Bellona Foundation, was accused in espionage. He published material exposing hazards posed by the Russian Navy's nuclear fleet. He was acquitted in 1999 after spending several years in prison (his case was sent for re-investigation 13 times while he remained in prison). Other cases of prosecution are the cases of investigative journalist and ecologist Grigory Pasko, sentenced to three years imprisonment and later released under a general amnesty, Vladimir Petrenko who described danger posed by military chemical warfare stockpiles and was held in pretrial confinement for seven months, and Nikolay Shchur, chairman of the Snezhinskiy Ecological Fund who was held in pretrial confinement for six months.

Other cases

Viktor Orekhov, a former KGB captain who assisted Soviet dissidents and was sentenced to eight years of prison in Soviet time, in 1995 was sentenced for 3 years for unlawful store of weapons (which could be a fakeVorlage:Fact). After one year he was released and left the country.

Vil Mirzayanov was accused for 1992 article in which he has claimed that Russia was working on chemical WMD, but won the court, and later emigrated to U.S.

Vladimir Kazantsev who disclosed illegal purchases of eavesdropping devices from foreign firms was arrested in August 1995, and released in the end of the year, however the case was not closed. Investigator Mikhail Trepashkin was sentenced in May 2004 for 4 years of prison.

Journalist Vladimir Rakhmankov in January 9, 2006 was sentenced for alleged defamation of the President in his article "Putin as phallic symbol of Russia" to fine of 20,000 roubles (about 695 USD)

Political dissidents from the former Soviet republics, such as authoritarian Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are often arrested by FSB and extradited to these countries for prosecution, despite protests from international human rights organizations. Special services of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaidjan also kidnap people at the Russian territory, with the implicit approval of FSB.

Many people have been also illegally detained to prevent them from demonstrations during G8 Summit in 2006.

Suspicious killings

Vorlage:See also Some Russian opposition lawmakers and investigative journalists are suspected to be assassinated while investigating corruption and alleged crimes conducted by state authorities or FSB: Sergei Yushenkov, ‎Yuri Shchekochikhin, Alexander Litvinenko, Galina Starovoitova, Anna Politkovskaya, Paul Klebnikov.

Situation in Chechnya

The Russian Government's policies in Chechnya are a cause for international concern. It has been reported that Russian military forces have abducted, tortured, and killed numerous civilians in Chechnya[2], but Chechen separatists have also committed abuses [3], such as abducting people for ransom [4]. Human rights groups are very critical of cases of people disappearing in the custody of Russian officials. Systematic illegal arrests and torture conducted by the armed forces under the command of Ramzan Kadyrov and Federal Ministry of Interior have also been reported.[5]. There are reports about repressions, information blockade, and atmosphere of fear and despair in Chechnya [6].

As claimed in 2005 report by Memorial, there is a system of "conveyor of violence" in Chechen Republic (as well as in neighbouring Ingushetiya) when a person suspected in crimes connected with activity of separatists squads, is unlawfully detained by members of security agencies, and then disappears. After a while part of detainees is found in centers of preliminary detention (while some allegedly disappear forever), and then he is tortured to confess to a crime or/and to slander somebody else. According to Memorial, psychological pressure is also in use. Known Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya compared this system with Gulag and claimed the number of several hundred cases.

Over the years, FSB and affiliated state security organizations have killed all elected and appointed presidents of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria including Dzhokhar Dudaev, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, Aslan Maskhadov, and Abdul-Khalim Saidullaev.

A number of journalists were killed in Chechnya or supposedly for reporting on the conflict. List of names includes less and more famous: Cynthia Elbaum, Vladimir Zhitarenko, Nina Yefimova, Jochen Piest, Farkhad Kerimov, Natalya Alyakina, Shamkhan Kagirov, Viktor Pimenov, Nadezhda Chaikova, Supian Ependiyev, Ramzan Mezhidov and Shamil Gigayev, Vladimir Yatsina, Aleksandr Yefremov, Roddy Scott, Paul Klebnikov, Magomedzagid Varisov, Anna Politkovskaya [7] [8].

Governmental organizations

Efforts to institutionalize official human rights bodies have been mixed. In 1996, human rights activist Sergey Kovalev resigned as chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission to protest the government's record, particularly the war in Chechnya. Parliament in 1997 passed a law establishing a "human rights ombudsman," a position that is provided for in Russia's constitution and is required of members of the Council of Europe, to which Russia was admitted in February 1996. The Duma finally selected Duma deputy Oleg Mironov in May 1998. A member of the Communist Party, Mironov resigned from both the Party and the Duma after the vote, citing the law's stipulation that the Ombudsman be nonpartisan. Because of his party affiliation, and because Mironov had no evident expertise in the field of human rights, his appointment was widely criticized at the time by human rights activists. International human rights groups operate freely in Russia, although the government has hindered the movements and access to information of some individuals investigating the war in ChechnyaVorlage:Fact.

Some German politicians see things differently; Gerhard Schröder, the former German prime minister, explained to all the Western states that Putin is a “flawless democrat”.[9]

Non-governmental organizations

The lower house of the Russian parliament passed a bill by 370-18 requiring local branches of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to re-register as Russian organizations subject to Russian jurisdiction, and thus stricter financial and legal restrictions. The bill gives Russian officials oversight of local finances and activities. The bill has been highly criticized by Human Rights Watch, Memorial organization [10], and the nonprofit think tank Indem for its possible effects on international monitoring of the status of human rights in Russia. [11] [12] In October 2006 the activities of many foreign non-governmental organizations were suspended using this law; officials said that "the suspensions resulted simply from the failure of private groups to meet the law's requirements, not from a political decision on the part of the state. The groups would be allowed to resume work once their registrations are completed" Current status of these organizations is unknown.

Press freedom in the Russian regions as of 2006
Green: Quite free
Orange: Not quite free
Red: unfree
Grey: No data (Free regions were not found)
Source: Glasnost Defense Foundation

Freedom of religion

The Constitution of Russian Federation provides for freedom of religion and the equality of all religions before the law as well as the separation of church and state. The influx of missionaries over the past several years has led to pressure by groups in Russia, specifically nationalists and the Russian Orthodox Church, to limit the activities of these "nontraditional" religious groups, including the Roman Catholic Church. In response, the Duma passed a new, restrictive, and potentially discriminatory law in October 1997. The law is very complex, with many ambiguous and contradictory provisions. The law's most controversial provisions separates religious "groups" and "organizations" and introduce a 15-year rule, which allows groups that have existed for 15 years or longer to obtain accredited status. According to Russian dissident priest Gleb Yakunin, new religion law "heavily favors the Russian Orthodox Church at the expense of all other religions, including Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism.", and it is "a step backward in Russia's process of democratization" [13]. Anna Politkovskaya described cases of prosecution and murders of Muslims by Russian secret services. However, there are plenty of Muslims in higher government, Duma, and business [14][15][16]

Press freedom

See also Media freedom in Russia

Reporters Without Borders put Russia at 147th place in the World Press Freedom Index (from a list of 168 countries) According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, since 1992 forty-two journalists have been killed in Russia for their professional activity. Thirty have been killed during President Boris Yeltsin's reign, and the rest were killed under the current president Vladimir Putin [17]. According to Glasnost Defence Foundation, there were 9 cases of suspicious deaths of journalists in 2006, as well as 59 assaults on journalists, and 12 attacks on editorial offices. [18]. In 2005, the list of all cases included 7 deaths, 63 assaults, 12 attacks on editorial offices, 23 incidents of censorship, 42 criminal prosecutions, 11 illegal layoffs, 47 cases of detention by militsiya, 382 lawsuits, 233 cases of obstruction, 23 closings of editorial offices, 10 evictions, 28 confiscations of printed production, 23 cases of stopping broadcasting, 38 refusals to distribute or print production, 25 acts of intimidation, and 344 other violations of Russian journalist's rights. [19].

Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, famous for her criticisms of Russia's actions in Chechnya, and the pro-Kremlin Chechya government, was assassinated in Moscow. Former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky believes that the murders of writers Yuri Shchekochikhin (author of "Slaves of KGB" [20]), Anna Politkovskaya, and Aleksander Litvinenko show that FSB has returned to the practice of political assassinations [21] practised in the past by the Thirteenth KGB Department.

Opposition journalist Yevgenia Albats in interview with Eduard Steiner has claimed: "Today the directors of the television channels and the newspapers are invited every Thursday into the Kremlin office of the deputy head of administration, Vladislav Surkov to learn what news should be presented, and where. Journalists are bought with enormous salaries." [22].

Freedom of assembly

See Freedom of assembly in Russia

Ethnic minorities

Some observers believe that there is a growing intolerance and racist violence in Russia. According to Sova Information Centre, 44 people were murdered and close to 500 assaulted on racial grounds in 2006 [23]. According to official sources, there are 150 "extremist groups" with over 5000 members in Russia.

According to nationwide opinion poll carried by VCIOM in 2006, 44% of respondents consider Russia "a common house of many nations" where all must have equal rights, 36% think that "Russians should have more rights since they constitute the majority of the population", 15% think "Russia must be the state of Russian people". However the question is also what exactly does the term "Russian" denote. For 39% of respondents Russians are all who grew and were brought up in Russia's traditions; for 23% Russians are those who works for the good of Russia; 15% respondents think that only Russians by blood may be called Russians; for 12% Russians are all for who Russian language is native, for 7% Russians are adepts of Russian Christian Orthodox tradition.

In 2006 Vladimir Putin said that is necessary to "protect the interests of native population of Russia" considering the situation at the wholesale and retail markets .

There was a short campaign against alleged criminal Georgian-owned businesses in 2006, as a part of 2006 Georgian-Russian espionage controversy. Vorlage:Fact

Almost 300,000 people were fined for immigration violations in Moscow alone in 2005. The numbers are many times higher in 2006, according to NGO Civil Assistance. Vorlage:Fact

LGBT rights

See LGBT rights in Russia

Psychiatric institutions

There are numerous cases when people "inconvenient" for Russian authorities are imprisoned in psychiatric institutions during last years.

Little has changed in Moscow Serbsky Institute where many prominent Sovied dissidents were labeled as having sluggishly progressing schizophrenia and incarcerated. This Institute conducts more than 2,500 court-ordered evaluations per year. When war criminal Yuri Budanov was tested there in 2002, the panel conducting the inquiry was led by Tamara Pechernikova, who condemned poet Natalya Gorbanevskaya in past. Budanov was found not guilty by reason of "temporary insanity". Ater public outrage, he was found sane by another panel that included Georgi Morozov, the former Serbsky director who declared many dissidents insane in the 1970s and 1980s. Serbsky Institute also made an expertise of mass poisoning of hundreds of Chechen school children by an unknown chemical substance of strong and prolonged action, which made them completely incapabale for many months. Panel found that the disease was caused simply the "psycho-emotional tension".

Disabled and children's rights

Currently, the estimated orphan population in Russia is 2 million and the street children is 4 million According to an earlier Human Rights Watch report in 1998, "Russian children are abandoned to the state at a rate of 113,000 a year for the past two years, up dramatically from 67,286 in 1992." "Of a total of more than 600,000 children classified as being “without parental care,” as many as one-third reside in institutions, while the rest are placed with a variety of guardians." "From the moment the state assumes their care, orphans in Russia—of whom 95 percent still have a living parent—are exposed to shocking levels of cruelty and neglect." Once officially labelled as retarded, Russian orphans are "warehoused for life in psychoneurological internaty. In addition to receiving little to no education in such internaty, these orphans may be restrained in cloth sacks, tethered by a limb to furniture, denied stimulation, and sometimes left to lie half-naked in their own filth. Bedridden children aged five to seventeen are confined to understaffed lying-down rooms as in the baby houses, and in some cases are neglected to the point of death." Life and death of disabled children in the State institutions was described by writer Ruben Galiego. Still, the recent adoption law made it more difficult to adopt Russian children from abroad.

Human trafficking

There has been a growing awareness of human trafficking as a human rights issue in Europe (see main article: trafficking in human beings). The end of communism and collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia has contributed to an increase in human trafficking, with the majority of victims being women forced into prostitution. [24] [25] Russia is a country of origin for persons, primarily women and children, trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Russia is also a destination and transit country for persons trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation from regional and neighbouring countries into Russia and beyond. Russia accounted for one-quarter of the 1,235 identified victims reported in 2003 trafficked to Germany. The Russian government has shown some commitment to combat trafficking but has been criticised for failing to develop effective measures in law enforcement and victim protection. [26] [27]

See also

• Human rights in the Soviet Union
• Human rights in Europe
• Politics of Russia
• International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
• Moscow Helsinki Group
• International human rights instruments

External links

• Report on human rigths in Russian Federation, by Amnesty International
• 2005 Annual Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russian Federation, by Vladimir Lukin.
• Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights of Council of Europe on his visits to the Russian Federation in 2004, by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles
• Statement by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, by Ms. Louise Arbour
• Russian Federation Homepage at Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Russian committee against torture
• SOVA Information Center
• Human Rights Watch: Russia (overview)
• Human Rights Watch: Russia (specific issues)
• List of links related to Human Rights in Russia
• Press releases on human rights in Russia
• Attacks on freedom of expression in Russia - IFEX
• IPI watch list
• Human rights watch: Widespread torture in the Chechen Republic
• Stigma and Discrimination against HIV-Positive Mothers and their Children in Russia
• Religious discrimination
• "HIV/AIDS and Human Rights in Russia" - UN Chronicle
• Jewish Human Rights Web-Site
• Russia: High-Profile Killings, Attempted Killings In The Post-Soviet Period, Radio Free Europe, October 19, 2006
• Human rights in Russia, 2006 Report by US Department of State
• International Religious Freedom Report 2006, site of US Department of State

Further reading

• David Satter. Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State. Yale University Press. 2003. ISBN 0-300-09892-8.
• Andrew Meier. Black Earth: A Journey through Russia After the Fall. W. W. Norton & Company. 2005. ISBN 0-393-32641-1
• Politkovskaya, Anna (2004) Putin's Russia
• Jonathan Weiler. Human Rights in Russia: A Darker Side of Reform. Lynne Rienner Publishers 2004. ISBN 1-58826-279-0 [28]
• Archana Pyati. The New Dissidents: Human Rights Defenders and Counterterrorism in Russia. Human Rights First. 2005. ISBN 0-9753150-0-5 Link to internet version and Information about author
• Emma Gilligan. Defending Human Rights in Russia: Sergei Kovalyov, Dissident and Human Rights Commissioner, 1969-96 (BASEES/Curzon Series on Russian & East European Studies) RoutledgeCurzon. 2003. ISBN 0-415-32369-X Link to internet version
• Pamela A. Jordan. Defending Rights in Russia: Lawyers, the State, And Legal Reform in the Post-Soviet Era 2006. ISBN 0-7748-1163-3.

FSB, terror

• Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia--Past, Present, and Future. 1994. ISBN 0-374-52738-5.
• Yuri Felshtinsky, Alexander Litvinenko, and Geoffrey Andrews. Blowing up Russia : Terror from within. 2002. ISBN 1-56171-938-2

Chechnya

• Khassan Baiev, Ruth Daniloff. The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire. Walker & Company. 2004. ISBN 0-8027-1404-8.
• Politkovskaya, Anna (2003) A Dirty War: A Russian reporter in Chechnya
• Politkovskaya, Anna (2003) A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya
• Today In The UK - Journalists Murdered in Chechnya