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URGENT APPEAL THE OBSERVATORY
RUS 003 / 0906 / OBS 112
Arbitrary detention / Obstacle to freedom of assembly
Russian Federation
September 28, 2006
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 by Memorial Human Rights Center of the detention of Mr. Lev Ponomarev, executive director of the organisation All-Russian Public Movement "For Human Rights", in Moscow.
According to the information received, on September 26, 2006, Mr. Lev Ponomarev was condemned by the Tribunal n°370 of Moscow to a three-day prison term for having organized a commemoration of the second anniversary of the Beslan massacre on September 3, 2006, without any official authorization. However, according to the “Federal Law on Assemblies, Meetings, Demonstrations, Processions and Pickets”, adopted in June 2004, organisations do not need to obtain an authorization to gather but only to inform the authorities.
The Observatory recalls that, on August 29, 2006, the central district of Moscow prefecture had rejected the notification presented by human rights organisations to hold this gathering on Lubyanka Square, proposing organisers to gather in another place or at another date under the pretext that other celebrations were planned. However, the human rights organisations decided to uphold the gathering in Lubyanka Square with placards, considering that the reason given by the authorities was not valid. During the meeting, the participants called for the need to try those responsible of the Beslan massacre, including political and police authorities, in particular FSB officers.
On September 3, 2006, as the participants were arriving at Lubyanka Square, they found the place barricaded by police officers with metallic roadblocks, who told them that they had no authorization to gather. Twenty human rights defenders and activists were then arrested by members of the special forces and taken to the nearest police station. They were released soon afterwards.
The Observatory considers Mr. Ponomarev’s detention as arbitrary, since it aims at restricting freedom of peaceful assembly and expresses its concern about these new acts of repression, which occur in the context of an increasing climate of hostility against human rights defenders in the Russian Federation. The Observatory fears that the decision against M. Ponomarev could create a judicial precedent, as the authorities could invoke it to proceed other human rights gatherings organizers.
Action requested:
Please write to the Russian authorities urging them to:
i. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Lev Ponomarev, as well as all Russian human rights defenders;
ii. release Mr. Ponomarev immediately and unconditionally since his detention is arbitrary and put an end to any kind of harassment against him, as well as against all human rights defenders in the Russian Federation;
iii. guarantee in all circumstances freedom of assembly and peaceful gathering:
iv. comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, article 5.a stating that “for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels, to meet or assemble peacefully”, article 12.2, which declares 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” and article 12.3, which provides that “everyone is entitled, individually and in association with others, to be protected effectively under national law in reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means, activities and acts, including those by omission, attributable to States that result in violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as acts of violence perpetrated by groups or individuals that affect the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms";
v. more generally, 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 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru
Prosecutor 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
Mr. Vladimir Chizhov, Permanent Representation in Brussels, Boulevard du Regent, Regentlaan, 31-33, 1000, TEL.:+ 32(0)2.502.17.91, FAX: + 32(0)2.513.7649.91
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
Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Ministru vnutrennykh del, Fax: + 7 095 237 49 25
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 Valery Loshchinin, 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@vtxnet.ch , fax: +4122 734 40 44
Tel. +4122 733 18 70
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Paris - Geneva, September 28, 2006
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