On February 9, 2010, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov publically announced that he would drop the criminal proceedings he initiated against Mr. Oleg Orlov, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Human Rights Centre “Memorial”, and Ms. Ludmila Alexeeva, Chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, for “defamation”. According to an announcement made to the press by Ms. Ayman Kadyrova, the mother of Mr. Kadyrov, this decision would follow her advice that “Chechen traditions do not allow disputes with the elders, even if it’s you who is right”. As rightly put by the Representative for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Freedom of the Media, Mr. Milklos Haraszti, the Observatory points out that “statements like Orlov’s are perfectly legitimate in a democracy and should be subject neither to civil-law nor to criminal-law sanctioning”.

Kadyrov’s lawsuits against Sakharov Prize winners
Mr. Kadyrov had initiated the lawsuit against Mr. Orlov after the publication of a statement on July 15, 2009 in which he indicated he believed the Chechen President was responsible for the murder of Ms. Natalia Estemirova (picture on the right), Head of Memorial office in Grozny. As for Ms. Alexeeva, the lawsuit was initiated after she made a statement during a press briefing on May 23, 2009, in which she had said that the Chechen President was to be blamed for the policy of abductions and murders in the Republic. Both human rights defenders had received in December 2009 the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The Observatory also recalls that, on January 21, 2010, Mr. Oleg Orlov was condemned by the Moscow City Civil Court to pay 20,000 rubles (approximately 460 Euros) in damages to Mr. Kadyrov.

While the Observatory takes note with appreciation of the withdrawal of the complaints against Mr. Orlov (picture on the left) and Ms. Alexeeva (picture below), it remains concerned that the harassment of human rights defenders still continues in the Chechen Republic. On February 7, 2010, three human rights advocates, Mr. Dmitry Egoshin, Mr. Roman Veretennikov and Mr. Vladislav Sadikov, all members of the Joint Mobile Group that investigates human rights violations in the Chechen Republic, were arbitrarily detained while they were conducting an investigation in the Shali district, in the Chechen Republic. They were forced by the Shali district police to come to the police station. All night long, the activists were questioned individually about their activities and more specifically about the conduct of their investigation in Shali. They were subsequently released without charge at 10 am the next morning. During their detention, they were not allowed access to a lawyer and could only contact by phone colleagues outside of the Chechen Republic. The activists reported that the police did not formally acknowledge that they were detained and that this measure was personally conducted by the Head of Shali Police, Mr. Magomed Daudov. They also reported that, while in detention, their car was searched and that their video and audio recording devices were returned to them damaged and with their content erased.

The Observatory regrets the continuing acts of intimidation faced by human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, particularly in the Chechen Republic. The Observatory further recalls that the Human Rights Centre Memorial suspended its activities in the Republic during several months in 2009 and resumed its work at the end of December 2009.

Stop judicial harassment
Accordingly, the Observatory urges the Russian authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders, as well as to order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law.

More generally, the Observatory calls upon the Russian authorities to put an end to any act of judicial harassment against human rights defenders, and to conform in all circumstances with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as international and regional human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation.

For further information, please contact:
FIDH: Gael Grilhot / Karine Appy: + 33 1 43 55 25 18
OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: + 41 22 809 49 39