RUS 003 / 0423 / OBS 0
Raids /
Seizure /
Harassment
Russian Federation
April 28, 2023
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a collaboration of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), demands your immediate intervention in the following scenario in the Russian Federation.
Description of the scenario:
The Observatory has actually been notified about the raids on the workplace of the Crew Against Torture-Russia (CAT-Russia) workplace in Nizhny Novgorod, along with on the houses of a number of staff of the organisation, including its deputy chairperson Olga Sadovskaya. CAT-Russia is a popular and among the oldest anti-torture human rights organisation in the nation and a member of the OMCT SOS-Torture network. Among other things, CAT Russia assists victims of abuse through efforts to additional responsibility, especially in areas like Northern Caucasus. The organisation offers support to victims of abuse and carries out independent examination of abuse cases. Since its development, the organisation has actually received a minimum of 3178 problems, won 78 cases in European Court of Human Rights and added to decisions to 159 wrongdoers of abuse.
Ms Sadovskaya belongs to the OMCT Executive Council. She is a legal representative and signed up with CAT-Russia in 2002. As a legal representative, she is specialised in the submission of applications to the European Court of Human Rights for offense of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“prohibition of torture”). She received the Moscow Helsinki Group Award in the classification “Protection of the rights of detainees and other susceptible groups” on April 27, 2023.
On April 28, 2023, officers of the Centre for Combating Extremism (Centre-E) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs browsed CAT-Russia’s workplace in the city of Nizhny Novgorod in connection with a criminal case opened versus among CAT-Russia’s recipients in North Ossetia who reported abuse at a police headquarters. During the search, a number of USB flash drives were taken. Centre-E officers likewise browsed the homes of 3 staff of CAT-Russia in Nizhny Novgorod, consisting of Olga Sadovskaya’s residence, where they took her laptop computer, a smart phone and 80 hunting cartridges coming from her ex-husband.
Previously, on April 14, 2023, CAT-Russia’s North Caucasus branch’s workplace in the city of Pyatigorsk was likewise browsed in connection with the very same case, the information of which stayed unidentified at the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal. On that day, the authorities took an old laptop computer and an USB flash drive. CAT-Russia group’s position is that police authorities are utilizing the criminal case brought versus their recipient to put pressure on the organisation, as it continues running in the Russian Federation.
The Observatory remembers that it is not the very first time that CAT-Russia and its members deal with harassment and barriers to their right to safeguard human rights. On June 10, 2022, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation designated CAT-Russia as a non-registered foreign representative organisation under the “Foreign Agent” Law. On June 11, 2022, the human rights organisation revealed its liquidation due to the impossibility to continue performing its human rights operate in a safe way under the label of “foreign agent”. Yet, on June 15, 2022, the organisation revealed the extension of its work under a brand-new name – from Committee Against Torture-Russia to Crew Against Torture-Russia. The organisation was similarly noted as a “foreign agent” in January 2015. After that, the organisation altered its name and it was once again stated a ”foreign representative” in January 2016.
The Observatory even more remembers that the harassment versus CAT-Russia and its members happens in the context of an increased crackdown on the Russian civil society, consisting of the methodical liquidation of human rights organisations and independent media outlets under the “Foreign Agent” Law. This holds true of the International Memorial and the Human Rights Center “Memorial (HRC Memorial), the Moscow Helsinki Group, along with the independent human rights media job OVD-Info.
The Observatory condemns the searches performed in the workplaces of CAT-Russia and the homes of 3 of its members and contacts the Russian authorities to put an instant end to all acts of harassment, consisting of at the judicial level, versus them and all human rights protectors and organisations in the nation.
The Observatory reveals its issue over the continuous targeting of CAT-Russia along with over the crackdown on all independent human rights organisations in Russia and prompts the authorities to guarantee, in all situations, the rights to flexibility of expression, assembly and association, as preserved in worldwide human rights law, and especially in Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Actions asked for:
Please compose to the authorities of Russia, prompting them to:
– Guarantee in all situations the physical stability and mental wellness of all members of CAT-Russia, along with of all human rights protectors in Russia;
– Put an instant end to all act of harassment, consisting of at the judicial level, versus CAT-Russia, its members, along with versus all human rights organisations and protectors in Russia, and guarantee in all situations that they have the ability to perform their genuine activities with no limitation and worry of reprisals;
– Immediately reverse the classification of the CAT-Russia as a “foreign agent”;
– Guarantee, in all situations, the rights to flexibility of expression, assembly and association, as preserved in worldwide human rights law, and especially in Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Addresses:
• Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Twitter: @KremlinRussia_E
• Mr. Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Twitter:@GovernmentRF
• Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Email: [email protected]
• Mr. Igor Krasnov, General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, [email protected]
• Mr. Alexander Bortnikov, Director of Federal Security Service (FSS), [email protected]
• Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Email: [email protected]
• Embassy of the Russian Federation in Brussels, Belgium. Email: [email protected]
• Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe, France. Email: [email protected]
Please likewise compose to the diplomatic representations of the Russian Federation in your particular nations.
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Paris-Geneva, April 28, 2023
Kindly notify us of any action carried out estimating the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was produced in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The goal of this program is to avoid or treat circumstances of repression versus human rights protectors. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism executed by worldwide civil society.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency situation line:
• Email: [email protected]
• Such. FIDH: +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18
• Tel. OMCT: +41 (0) 22 809 49 39
