August 17, 2005

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) of the judicial harassment of Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky, managing director of RCFS and chief editor for the publications of the Information Centre of RCFS in Nizhny Novgorod, as well as the fiscal harassment of the RCFS.

According to the information received, Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky was interrogated on August 11, 2005, at the prosecutor's office of Nizhny Novgorod Region as a suspect in the judicial case against the Pravozaschita (Human Rights Defence) newspaper, a joint publication by RCFS and the Nizhny Novgorod Society for Human Rights (NNSHR). The interrogation lasted from 2 until 4 pm and was carried out by a senior investigator, Mr. Oleg Kirukov. Mr. Dmitrievsky's lawyer, Mr. Yury Sidorov, was present at the interrogation.

Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky was previously regarded as a witness in these judicial proceedings, as chief editor of the Pravozaschita newspaper. On January 11, 2005, the prosecutor's office of Nizhny Novgorod Region initiated the case against the newspaper for publishing statements of Messrs. Akhmed Zakaev and Aslan Maskhadov, two Chechen separatist leaders, calling for a peaceful end to the Russian - Chechen conflict. Several members of the RCFS Information Centre have been summoned and interrogated in relation to the investigation (see Observatory Open Letter to President Putin, dated 20 June 2005).

Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky is reportedly accused of having committed a crime under part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation referring to "actions aimed at inciting hatred or hostility and at disparagement of either an individual or a group of people according to their gender, race, nationality, background, religious beliefs as well as belonging to any social group that are committed publicly or through mass media outlets". This offence is liable to up to two years imprisonment.

Moreover, according to the information received, the RCFS has been subjected to fiscal harassment, which currently threatens the continuation of its activities. On June 16, 2005, the RCFS received an order from the Federal Tax Inspection office in Nizhny Novogorod, pursuant to an audit undertaken by the office. According to this order, RCFS has to pay 1'000'561 roubles (over 35,000 USD) for non-payment of income tax and fines for the grants received in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The order was issued according to the Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation concerning grants from the European Commission and the National Endowment for Democracy Foundation (whose budget mainly comes from the United States Department of State). The Federal Tax Inspection agency argues these sponsoring organisations have not been included in the list of donors from which subsidies are not taxable (the list was drawn up by the Government of the Russian Federation and adopted in Resolution N. 923 on 24 December 2002 - see Observatory Annual Report 2004).

On June 28, 2005, RCFS appealed against this decision considering that the Tax inspection office claims were unlawful and groundless, as the European Commission appears on that list. Furthermore, the financial support allocated to non-profit organisations by US government agencies is not subject to taxation, according to the bilateral agreement between the Russian Federation and the USA signed on April 14, 1992.

On July 11, 2005 , a meeting devoted to the examination of the complaint filed by the RCFS against this decision took place in the Federal Tax Inspection office in Nizhny Novgorod. The inspection office maintained its decision to allege tax irregularities committed by the RCFS and to bring out further claims.

On August 15, 2005, the RCFS received another order (Resolution N. 25) from the Federal Tax Inspection office that confirmed the order to pay the same amount of taxes and fines. In this order, the deputy chief of tax inspection, Mr. Trifonov, admitted that the European Commission is included in the list of donors from which grants are not taxable. However, he further claimed that the RCFS had used this subsidy for "publishing and diffusing publications", an activity that is not included in article 251 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to this article, tax free grants must be dedicated to "education, arts, culture and environmental defence fields". The resolution also states that the bilateral agreement between the Russian Federation and the USA signed on April 14, 1992, does not concern grants awarded by the National Endowment for Democracy. The RCFS will lodge another complaint against this decision.

The Observatory recalls that a legal case is still pending against the RCFS before the Court of Nizhny Novgorod Region (see Background information). On 25 April 2005, the first court hearing took place, and the proceedings are ongoing. The next hearing is expected to be held in September.

The Observatory is seriously concerned about the judicial harassment against Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky and the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, which visibly aims at hindering their human rights activities. The Observatory is deeply concerned about the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Dmitrievsky and recalls that RCFS members have been continuously victims of threats and acts of harassment. One of its volunteers, Mr. Aslan Sheripovich Davletukaev, was tortured and killed in January 2004 (See Observatory Annual Report 2004).

Background information:

In March 2005, the Federal Security Service (FSB) Department in the Chechen Republic received a special mandate from the Nizhny Novgorod Region Department of the FSB to summon the staff of the Information Centre of the RCFS. Seven Chechen staff members of the centre whose contracts had been seized on January 20, 2005 by the FSB at RCFS Nizhny Novgorod office were interrogated as a means of intimidation (See Open Letter of the Observatory to President Putin, dated 26 January 2005). Some of them subsequently decided to quit their jobs at the Information Centre.

The RCFS is also subjected to judicial harassment by the Ministry of Justice. Indeed, pursuant to an audit carried out by the Main Department at the Federal Registration Service of the Ministry of Justice of Nizhny Novgorod Region, a complaint was lodged by the ministry against the RCFS on April 8, 2005, before the Court of Nizhny Novgorod Region, aiming at closing down the organisation on the basis of the allegation that RCFS had failed to provide some documents to the Ministry. This measure was taken whereas the material required had already been provided to the Tax Inspection office which was then also auditing into the organisation's accounts. It must be noted that the audit has been carried out in contradiction with the Russian Law on Public Association, which provides that the registration body has the right to conduct regular inspection of all activities of an organisation only once a year. The last regular audit of RCFS was conducted in July 2004 and no law breach was found at that time (See Open Letter of the Observatory, dated 20 June 2005).

The NNSHR, a human rights organisation that co-publishes the Pravozaschita newspaper, was subjected to similar harassment in 2005. On June 3, 2005, the Ministry of Justice ordered a halt in the activities of the NNSHR through a written notification. According to the Ministry, this decision was taken because NNSHR had allegedly not transmitted to them the documentation they had requested in the framework of an audit into the organisation's activities, which started in February 2005. However, NNSHR claims they had conformed with all their obligations in this respect, which had been confirmed by a court decision in April 2005. NNSHR was eventually authorised to continue its activities from August 1, 2005.

From February to April 2005, RCFS members and Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky in particular, were subjected to a smear campaign that was launched in mass media venues of Nizhny Novgorod (See Open Letters of the Observatory, dated 26 January 2005 and 20 June 2005).

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities of the Russian Federation urging them to:

1. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Stanislav Dmitrievsky and all Russian human rights defenders;
   
2. put an end to all acts of harassment against the RCFS and all of its members;
   
3. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Humans Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels";
   
4. more generally, conform with the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and with all other international human rights instruments binding The Russian Federation.
   
   

Addresses:

• Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Faxes: + 7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru
• Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Mr. 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
• Prosecutor of Nizhegorodskaya Oblast Demidov Vladimir Veniaminovich Izhorskaya Street, 25 Nizhny Novgorod 603115 Russian Federation; Fax: +7 8312 61 85 55
  
• Mr. Triphonov Michail Yurievich, deputy director of the Federal Tax Inspection office in Nizhny Novgorod; Tel: +7 8312 33 22 01
  
• 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 4855
• Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Ministru vnutrennykh del, Fax: +7 095 237 4925
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 121200 Moskva, Ministru inostrannykh del, Fax: + 7 095 244 2203
• Ambassador Leonid Skotnikov, Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland, e-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 734 40 44
  
  

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Geneva - Paris, August 17, 2005