On this page you will find statements and opinions by members of Rights in Russia's Advisory Committee (Russia).
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posted 27 Feb 2012 09:31 by Rights in Russia
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updated 27 Feb 2012 10:34
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I call on the Moscow city authorities to take careful consideration and reach agreements with representatives of the opposition to permit the public events they propose holding after the presidential elections
Ludmila Alekseeva: “I condemn the provocative attempts to interfere with the holding of peaceful demonstrations planned for after the presidential elections. This is how I assess the scandalous incident that took place at Moscow City Hall on the morning of 20 February: pro-Kremlin youth movements began a fight with representatives of the opposition, and succeeded in getting their applications submitted before the opposition. And their applications were for rallies on the same day and at the same places as the opposition were requesting." [ Read more] Source: ' Statement by Ludmila Alekseeva, Chair of Moscow Helsinki Group', HRO.org, 24 February 2012
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posted 17 Feb 2012 00:18 by Rights in Russia
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updated 17 Feb 2012 00:29
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In the last three weeks before the elections on 4th March the authorities’ fear of losing their monopoly has reached such an extreme pitch that they are throwing away the last fig-leaves of commitment to democracy Gasprom Media - the main share holder in Echo of Moscow – has begun an operation to rid the radio station’s leadership of its independent members. It would seem that this is an obvious attempt to force the station to change its editorial policy, particularly on political and social issues in the country. What is happening clearly reveals the real attitude of those in power towards their own assurances that they are willing to engage in dialogue with civil society, in open and fair discussions. It is obvious that in the last three weeks before the elections on 4th March the authorities’ fear of losing their monopoly has reached such an extreme pitch that they are throwing away the last fig leaves of commitment to democracy. [ Read more]
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posted 8 Feb 2012 06:09 by Rights in Russia
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updated 8 Feb 2012 06:32
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I think the provocation during the recording of Alexander Gordon's show [...] was yet another clumsy attempt to provide at least some justification for the accusation that an 'Orange Revolution' was being planned and commissioned by the West [...]. It is, after all, well known that the funding of all the events organized by the movement 'For Fair Elections' has been completely transparent and has come from voluntary contributions by Russia's citizens. As a matter of fact, this is precisely what makes the authorities and opponents of the protest movement so irritated.
- from a statement, 'Citizen Provocateur', by Lev Ponomarev published on the website of For Human Rights "Citizen Provocateur"
I was invited to participate in the recording of the 'Citizen Gordon' TV show on Channel 1. It was scheduled for 4 February, immediately following the Bolotnaya Square rally. I assumed that the discussion would focus on the rally, its aims and results etc. I haven't been involved in the organization of the rallies 'For fair elections' but have actively participated in them. That is why I agreed to take part in the programme, assuming it was a sign of a general 'thaw' on state-run TV channels. I won't dwell on the show's contents as anyone interested can watch it or has already watched it. The guests included some representatives of the 'anti-orange' rally on Poklonnaya Hill. One of them was a speaker from Poklonnaya Hill, whose name was given as Eduard Bagirov, a writer. Bagirov accused the organizers of the Bolotnaya Square rally of planning an 'orange revolution' and claimed that its active participants included people such as Lev Ponomarev, who receives funding from the West, defends Chechen terrorists etc. [ Read more] |
posted 23 Jan 2012 23:24 by Rights in Russia
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updated 23 Jan 2012 23:26
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They picked these tired allegations because people like us, rights activists, are training people to work as monitors during the imminent presidential elections. This is the only reason why this story resurfaced.
"Head of Russia’s oldest human rights organization said Monday that a television report aired Sunday implicating her group of being funded by foreign elements aims to undercut any possible criticism of the upcoming presidential elections by Russian public groups. 'They picked these tired allegations because people like us, rights activists, are training people to work as monitors during the imminent presidential elections,' Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow-Helsinki Group, told RIA Novosti. 'This is the only reason why this story resurfaced.' The Russian presidential elections will take place on March 4 and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is still the leading contender, despite a sharp drop in public popularity. A state-run TV channel Rossia One aired a report on Sunday, saying that the British intelligence officials paid 23,000 British pounds to the Moscow-Helsinki Group in 2004. [...]" |
posted 16 Jan 2012 15:01 by Rights in Russia
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updated 16 Jan 2012 15:02
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Source: HRO.org ( info), 12/01/12 · Articles by human rights defenders · Prisoners · Ministry of Internal Affairs · Moscow city & Moscow region Karinna Moskalenko: The first working day in Russia this year saw the delivery of a pilot judgment in a Russian case before the European Court of Human Rights, a judgment that must loudly ring an alarm bell for the Russian authorities, a bell that may possibly bring good news for all those imprisoned in Russian pre-trial detention centres, and, I may be so bold to hope, for all people of good will. In its judgment in the case of Ananyev and Others v Russia, the Court found that Russia has no effective means of legal protection against the inhuman and degrading conditions of detention in pre-trial detention centres. The Court ruled that this is a systemic, deep and structural problem. And the Court can no longer here limit itself to the mere assertion of the fact, recognizing a violation and obliging the government to pay compensation to the applicant. If this were the case the Court would be transformed into a powerless and equally useless recorder of violations, but one without the power (authority? possibility? competence?) to stop the practice of these human rights violations that are among the most serious and belong to the category of absolute rights. [ Read more] |
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posted 13 Jan 2012 12:45 by Rights in Russia
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updated 13 Jan 2012 12:57
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Over the years the Festival has become an important event in the cultural life of Russia and a distinctive barometer that reflects the spectrum of human rights issues through the art of the cinema.
The history of the Stalker Festival In the 1990s film directors often addressed the theme of Stalin’s repressions and the problems faced by prisoners. This is how the name “Stalker” appeared, taken from the famous film of the same name by Andrei Tarkovsky. The Stalker International Film Festival on Human Rights has been held in Moscow since 1995. It is an annual event. The festival traditionally starts on 10 December, the day of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At the opening ceremony the special Stalker Prize is presented to the heroes of the documentary films to be shown at the Festival whose lives have been dedicated to protecting human rights. During the year that follows, the prize-winning films are screened in Russia’s regions as part of the charitable activities of the Stalker Festival. The President of the Festival is the well-known film director Marlen Khutsiev. [ Read more] Igor Stepanov General Producer of the Stalker International Human Rights Film Festival 13 January 2012
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posted 11 Jan 2012 14:22 by Rights in Russia
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updated 11 Jan 2012 22:30
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Yet one more “bad joke” about the phony fight against corruption among highly-placed law enforcement officers
"I am convinced that the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs bears personal responsibility for corruption in the Ministry’s former Department (now Main Administration) of Economic Security. According to media reports, the official investigation declined to bring charges against Andrei Khorev, retired police general and former first deputy head of the Department for Economic Security, for owning a rare, 160-year-old French revolver. That is now yet one more “bad joke” about the phony fight against corruption among highly-placed law enforcement officers. At the same time, what has been completely ignored is the fact that Andrei Khorev lived in an elite three-room apartment valued at a mere 300 dollars (!) and formally belonging to his father, to whom it had been given as a gift by the wife of his friend, retired Captain Kagansky, who is currently on a wanted list. [ Read more] Source: Lev Ponomarev, 'Nurgaliev is Hiding Thieves', Grani.ru, 11 January 2012
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posted 10 Jan 2012 04:40 by Rights in Russia
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updated 10 Jan 2012 04:45
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Without immediate steps to democratize public life, the developing political crisis will have unpredictable destructive consequences for the country
"Today it has become quite plain to Russian society that, without immediate steps to democratize public life, the developing political crisis will have unpredictable destructive consequences for the country. Without delay the country needs a wide-ranging political reform. This circumstance, and also the necessity for talks with society, has, it would seem, been realized by V. Putin and D. Medvedev. In January 2012 at a meeting of the Round Table of 12 December (membership of which includes representatives of human rights organizations, public figures from the arts and sciences, representatives of opposition parties and organizations, and also representatives of the academic community) agreements with the authorities on steps to overcome the political crisis could be considered and approved. For this reason the organizing committee of the Round Table proposes that consultations between society and the authorities begin immediately to work out steps to democratize public life and ensure a return to the framework of the Russian Constitution as rapidly as possible." [ Read more]
from: '"Principles and Conditions for Holding Talks between Society and the Authorities" (letter of the Organizing Committee of the Round Table to A. L. Kudrin', Grani.ru, 30 December 2011
Ludmila Alekseeva lives in Moscow and is chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group. She is a member of the Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights. |
posted 3 Jan 2012 04:44 by Rights in Russia
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updated 3 Jan 2012 04:56
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We must not think that we have already been so successful, and that the authorities have already given in to all our demands, so that we can now walk in the front ranks with our medals.
"You know, when a demonstration – a march – is permitted by the authorities, the veterans go in the front ranks with their medals. If it is not sanctioned by the authorities, then young people ready for a fight take the leading role. And the veterans go to the back of the march out of harm’s way. We must not think that we have already been so successful, and that the authorities have already given in to all our demands, so that we can now walk in the front ranks with our medals. It is not the time for that. It is not our time now. What we can do, I hope, is to make a contribution from time to time through our ‘wise thoughts’. And this can be quite useful. This Council of Wise Persons has existed now for a year and a half and we have published a number of papers. I think they have contributed to moving the situation forwards."
- from 'Aleksei Simonov on freedom of speech, human rights, and the situation in Russia today' (Interview), Rights in Russia, 2 January 2012 |
posted 3 Jan 2012 04:39 by Rights in Russia
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updated 3 Jan 2012 04:51
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"If we have no human rights and freedom, we have no stability, we have no prosperity. Now many people understand this. It's a new stage of our development towards democracy. And I do believe we will be a democratic country"
- Ludmila Alekseeva on the current situation in Russia
Source: CNN, 'Human rights activist, 84, sees hope in Russian protests', WNEM.com, 1 January 2012
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