Lift Restrictions on Russian Activist

Alert Issued: August 22, 2007

On August 17, 2007, a court in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, imposed more stringent restrictions on Stanislav Dmitrievsky, director of the banned Russian Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS).  It is now more likely that Dmitrievsky may be imprisoned and forced to serve out the two-year sentence he received when he was convicted in February 2006. 

This court decision is a continuation of the official harassment of Dmitrievsky and the RCFS in recent months, which has included threats, heavy surveillance of the organization’s premises, and harassment by law enforcement agencies.

In 2005, Dmitrievsky was the target of a prosecution that appeared designed to disrupt the work of one of the few independent organizations reporting on human rights conditions in the war-torn province of Chechnya.

Despite these official pressures, the organization has re-formed under a new name and is continuing to function.  Please call on the Russian authorities to cease interference with the legitimate activities of Stanislav Dmitrievsky.

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In 2005, Russian authorities prosecuted human rights defender Stanislav Dmitrievsky under laws intended to curb racist violence.  Dmitrievsky, director of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) and editor-in-chief of the human rights newsletter Pravozaschita (Human Rights Defense), was convicted on February 3, 2006.  He was unfairly penalized for his legitimate activities as a human rights defender and in particular for exercising his rights to freedom of expression.  Dmitrievsky’s two year prison sentence was suspended under terms that left him vulnerable to imprisonment for a wide range of activities. 

Dmitrievsky’s prosecution under the counter-extremism law in 2006 formed the basis for a closure order imposed on the RCFS in January 2007.  RCFS became the first human rights organization to be closed under the terms of the law governing the operation of non-governmental organizations introduced in 2006.  

Despite being under probation and a suspended sentence, Dmitrievsky has not stopped his activities.  He has played a prominent role in various protests against government policies that have taken place in Nizhny Novgorod in recent months, including a protest on August 16, 2007 in support of the preservation of the city’s architectural heritage.  This protest, which involved human rights activists, journalists, and academics, as well as political activists, opposes plans by private developers to demolish a number of historic buildings in Nizhny Novgorod’s city center.  At this protest, Dmitrievsky was warned by a representative of the Ministry of the Interior that the authorities would not permit violations of the law on mass assemblies or the law to counter extremism.  This warning demonstrates the extent to which the law is being used to threaten and harass Dmitrievsky, curtailing his freedom of expression for all types of peaceful activities. 

On August 17, 2007, the Nizhegorodskiy District Court of Nizhny Novgorod approved new restrictions on Dmitrievsky’s activities.  He now faces the imminent threat of imprisonment if he violates administrative laws, which could include engaging in public criticism of the authorities, participating in unsanctioned protests, or committing any kind of minor infraction, real or imagined.  

The Russian Constitution provides for the right to freedom of expression.  Moreover, as a State Party to numerous human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, Russia is obligated to uphold this right.  Article 6(b) of the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders states that: “As provided in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Dmitrievsky has petitioned the European Court of Human Rights protesting that his 2006 conviction violated his right to freedom of expression under the Convention.  The Court has agreed to consider his complaint.

The recent decision by the Nizhny Novgorod court appears to be a further attempt to prevent Dmitrievsky from disseminating his views on a variety of human rights issues.  It is also a continuation of the harassment directed toward the RCFS, now legally registered as the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation to Promote Tolerance, with the RCFS itself now registered in Finland.  Such pressure aimed at disrupting the legitimate activities of a human rights organization should be brought to an end.

More Information:
Russia’s Human Rights Defenders in Danger: The Example of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society

Sample Letter

President Vladimir Putin
c/o H.E. Ambassador Yuri V. Ushakov
Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United States
2650 Wisconsin Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Fax: 202-298-5735

Dear President Putin:
I write to express my concern about your government’s continued efforts to restrict Stanislav Dmitrievsky’s freedom of expression.
  
On August 17, 2007, Nizhegorodskiy District Court of Nizhny Novgorod granted a government motion to increase restrictions on Dmitrievsky’s work.  If he commits two violations of administrative law – including joining in a protest that has not been approved by the government – his suspended sentence of two years could be immediately enforced. 

As director of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society and editor-in-chief of Pravozaschita, a human rights newsletter, Dmitrievsky is an important monitor of human rights violations in the context of the ongoing conflict in Chechnya and the North Caucasus. As a result, he has suffered a long history of threats, harassment, and attacks that appear designed to silence him and to curb the work of his organization. 
 
Enforcing the two-year sentence and imprisoning Dmitrievsky would send a chilling message to other human rights defenders in Russia. If anything, his February 2006 conviction on spurious charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” in relation to two articles calling for an end to the conflict in Chechnya should be overturned.

The government’s misuse of administrative laws and criminal laws designed to counter extremist activities by violent, racist organizations to silence a human rights defender is a violation of the basic right to freedom of expression.

That right is protected under Russia’s constitution as well as the human rights instruments to which Russia is a state party, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.

According to the 1998 U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, all persons have the right “freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Intimidation of human rights defenders through unwarranted restrictions and prosecutions curtails the right of defenders to monitor human rights violations and publish their findings and opinions freely.

Government officials should recognize the important work of human rights defenders and should support them for their valuable activities. I hope that your government will cease to violate the rights of Stanislav Dmitrievsky and other members of the human rights community in Russia. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.