Latest

Last week, shortly after Politkovskaya was gunned down in the entrance to her apartment building in Moscow, Russian prosecutors invoked part of the country´s new NGO law to shut down the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, a group that opposes the ongoing conflict in the region. A few days later, on October 16, a rally in memory of the slain journalist held in the main city of Ingushetia, a region neighboring the Chechen Republic, was broken up violently by local authorities. A number of activists were detained and some were beaten. (18-OCT-06)
 

9 October, Prosecutor of Nizhniy Novgorod region lodged a lawsuit demanding the closure of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society. In the notification the public prosecutor states that the organization has violated several laws. The case is linked to the verdict of the same court of February 2006 when Stanislav Dmitrievsky, right, was given a two years’ suspended sentence on politically motivated `race hate´ charges reated to articles published by his organization. (13-OCT-06)
 

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) is appealing to the Russian government to allow UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, to visit its North Caucasus region on terms already agreed. (05-OCT-06)
 
 

Amnesty International has called on President Vladimir Putin to condemn the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and show that there can be no impunity for such crimes. This would demonstrate his support for human rights defenders and independent journalists and the vital and legitimate role they play in Russian society. (13-OCT-06) 
 

On October, 7th, on the 54-th anniversary of Vladimir Putin, internationally known Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed in Moscow. Anna Politkovskya was rather more the human rights activist than a journalist – it wasn’t enough for her just to write about people’s problems, she helped to solve these problems.  (12-OCT-06)
 

The European Court of Human Rights today held the Russian Federation responsible for the summary execution of five members of the Estamirov family in the Chechen Republic in February 2000, Stichting Russian Justice Initiative said. At least eleven other incidents of summary executions committed on the same day in the same region of the Chechen Republic are pending before the Court. (12-OCT-06)
 

Employees of the State Department of Internal Affairs in Voronezhsky region enforce their fight against so-called youth extremism. Human rights activists believe that police actions are aimed at suppression of opposition. Authorities authorize nationalist actions and overlook anti-Semitic slogans and xenophobic statements.  Nationalist parties plan to organize a Right March in Moscow. (11-OCT-06)
 

Against the background of the Russian-Georgian conflict the Russian authorities organized the widespread campaign against migrants from Georgia. Human rights activists have been raising alarm. They consider unceasing check-ups as ethnic crackdowns and authorities’ actions – as racial discrimination. (11-OCT-06)
 

Manfred Nowak, right, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment issued the following statement today: As the Special Rapporteur announced on 6 July 2006 and reiterated in his statement to the Human Rights Council on 20 September 2006, he was invited by the Government of the Russian Federation to carry out a fact-finding visit from 9 to 20 October 2006, with a particular focus on the North Caucasus Republics of the Chechen Republic, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. (04-OCT-06)