On 10 April the Basmanny Municipal Court of Moscow rejected the claim of the Federal Registry Service of the Ministry of Justice, which wanted the Russian Research Center for Human Rights to be liquidated as a legal entity. Is this a definitive victory, or is the Federal Registry Service preparing a new blow against human rights activists? Will the new NGO law become a grave digger for all civil initiatives in Russia? (13-APR-06)
Text and photos: HRH/ Moscow, Yanina Savenko
On 10 December 2005 the Russian Research Center for Human Rights made a request to the Federal Registry Service to make a state registration of the changes made in its structure. In particular, key members of the organizations had changed – a new Director and a new Chairman of the Board had been elected. But instead of completing the registration within a 5-day period as it is prescribed by law, the Federal Registry Service brought a suit against the RRCHR on 16 December 2005, demanding the liquidation of the organization. The Federal Registry Service claimed that the RRCHR hadn’t sent any information about its activities over five years to the Minister of Justice. Later the Ministry of Justice refused to register RRCHR’s new Director and Chairman of the Board.
The Center won’t be liquidated
On 27 February a preliminary hearing of the case took place in the Basmanny court in Moscow. The representatives of the Federal Registry Office did not attend the hearing. The lawyer 
of the Center Irina Khrunova produced to the judge documents proving that all papers had been delivered to the Ministry of Justice in proper time. The court hearing was put off and set for 10 April. On 10 April representatives of the RRCHR and of the mass media came to the court. The court session lasted 15 minutes. The plaintiff, demanding the liquidation of the Center, representatives of the Federal Registry Office, again failed to show up for court. Only the Director of RRCHR Liubov Vinogradova and the lawyer Irina Khrunova were allowed to enter the courtroom. Irina Khrunova said that the court had pronounced a well-grounded judgment. The plaintiff, representative of the Federal Register Service Alexey Zhafyarov said that he wouldn’t appeal the court’s decision.
The Center organized a large support campaign 
Human rights activists used all channels for strengthening their position. So the Ombudsman for human rights sent a letter to the Minister of Justice, Mr. Chaika, asking him to examine the case attentively. The Chairwoman of the Russian President’s Council for Human Rights and Development of Civil Institutions, Ella Panfilova, organized a discussion and gave the President a letter from the members of the Board of the RRCHR, in which they asked him to explain to the Federal Registry Service that its persecution of the NGOs was inadmissible and unfounded. The situation concerning the possible liquidation of the Center was widely covered in the media.
The claim wasn’t withdrawn in spite of the promises
On 7 April in the President’s Council for Human Rights and Development of Civil Institutions there was a working-meeting of leaders and experts of NGOs and representatives of the federal departments responsible for the realization of the NGO law. The Director of the RRCHR Liubov Vinogradova and the initiator of the “liquidation suit,” head of the department for political, non-govermental, religious and other organizations, which is a part of the Federal Register Service, Alexey Zhafyarov took part in the meeting. Alexey Zhafyarov said that he didn’t make claims on the RRCHR. Earlier Director of the Federal Registry Service, answering to Ombudsman for human rights Vladimir Lukin, said that he was ready to withdraw the claim if the Center for Human Rights presented the required documents. On the whole, during two months the leaders of the Ministry of Justice and of the Federal Registry Service were repeatedly required to answer annoying and unpleasant questions from the Russian and foreign press concerning the situation about the Russian Research Center for Human Rights.
The State strengthens its control over NGOs activities 
Human rights activists don’t consider the victory of the RRCHR in court as the end of attack against Russian human rights organizations led by Russian authorities. The head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Ludmila Alekseeva, believes that human rights activists should calm down only until the G8 Summit Meeting. “In general, the Russian human rights community is preparing for severe trials, concerning the NGO law coming into effect. The government of Moscow has prepared a packet of documents regulating the realization of the new law, including multi-page reports stating that NGOs must produce documents for the registering bodies annually. In addition to the detailed description of the activities and reports about sources of all funds human rights activists must prepare a report describing how they have been covering their activities in newspapers, on the radio and on TV during the whole year,” said the Director of the RRCHR Liubov Vinogradova.
