Russia announced this spring that the almost 10 year long "anti-terror operation" in Chechnya was over and that the situation has been normalised. However, the reality in Chechnya and the rest of North Caucasus is anything but normal. In the past year, there has been increased pressure on those of us who work in that region to defend human rights. Several of our colleagues have been kidnapped and murdered. It is no longer a question of if one of us will be the next victim but whom. We expect that the Swedish Presidency and the EU to present clear demands to Russia, during the summit in Stockholm 18 November, to take concrete measures to strengthen the protection of human rights in North Caucasus.
The authors of this article represent local human rights organisations from North Caucasus and international organisations. On 15 July, Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped in Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, where she worked for the human rights organisation Memorial. She was found murdered later the same day. On 10 August, masked men hustled away the activists Zarema Sadulayeva and Alik Dzhabrailov in Grozny and the next day they were found dead. The same day, the journalist Malik Achmedilov was found shot dead in his car in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala. On 25 October, the activist Maksharip Aushev was shot dead in Kabardino-Balkaria. Additionally there are innumerable threats and acts of harassment, for example that against the organisation Mothers of Dagestan, whose office was torched on 19 August.
The reason why our friends and colleagues are subjected to such violent crimes is that they have drawn attention to the violations of human rights that are occurring. The responsibility for a large proportion of these violations, some of which may constitute crimes against humanity, in the North Caucasus lies with the Russian federal forces, as well as with the Moscow-supported local authorities and their police and military personnel. The Russian authorities appear unwilling to investigate the crimes and the guilty go free. An atmosphere of impunity permeates the entire region. This means that the crimes continue and that we as human rights defenders are considered outlaws by those who feel threatened by our work.
We, the article’s authors, gathered under the auspices of Civil Rights Defenders in Stockholm 27-28 October this year to discuss the serious security situation in North Caucasus. We agreed on recommendations to the EU, with the prospect of the EU summit with Russia on 18 November. One subject for the summit is the continued discussion of a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. We fully understand the importance of a new agreement covering political, economic and energy policy cooperation with Russia. Nevertheless, the alarming security situation in North Caucasus must be a main point on the agenda.
We want the EU and the Swedish Presidency to increase pressure on Russia, and the discussion of a new agreement to be coupled with clear demands for the human rights to be respected. A fundamental demand is that Russia ensures that extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, kidnappings and other abuses cease immediately. In addition to this, we want the EU to present the following five demands to the Russian government :
Russia must fully enforce the European Court’s judgements. There have been 115 judgments against Russia for extrajudicial executions, disappearances and torture in North Caucasus. These judgements point out how the Russian legal system has failed time and again to investigate these crimes, and that sometimes even identified as perpetrators go free. Up to now, Russia has paid the damages that the court has stipulated, but has refused to correct the systematic deficiencies, which means that the country is not fulfilling its commitments pursuant to the European Convention.
Russia must accede to international agreements on human rights and their observance. First and foremost, this concerns the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearance. Thousands of individuals have "disappeared" in North Caucasus. No one has been held responsible. Second, Russia should ratify protocol 14 to the European Convention, which seeks to rationalise the Court’s work and would make it possible for the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to take action against a member state that does not enforce the Court’s judgements. The European Court is overloaded and approximately one third of the Court’s cases concern Russia, the only of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states that has not ratified the protocol. Third, Russia should ratify the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court. The Court can take legal proceedings against perpetrators of serious human rights violations when the national legal system is unwilling or unable to do so.
Russia must take concrete actions to reform the laws and regulations that set limits on how the military, security and police personnel are allowed to use armed force. The perpetrators of serious human rights violations that occur in the region belong, to a great extent, to the Russian federal forces and the local authorities. The standards that regulate these operations must be adapted to ensure their compliance with international law.
Russia must guarantee the safety of human rights defenders and adjust the regulations for non-state organisations in accordance with international standards. In Russia there is systematic persecution of human rights defenders. In many cases organisations that criticise the government have problems with registration, or their offices and personnel are subjected to frequent and arbitrary inspections. It is difficult to receive foreign financing.
Russia must guarantee international organisations unimpeded access to North Caucasus. The Russian authorities do not investigate human rights crimes in North Caucasus. Therefore it is important that independent human rights organisations, media and international bodies, for example the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the UN, have access to the region.
Sweden has been a strong proponent of democracy and human rights for a long time. The Presidency of the EU offers a unique opportunity to show that Sweden and the EU take a serious view of the human rights situation in North Caucasus. However, dialogue is not enough - the situation for human rights in Russia generally, and North Caucasus in particular, has become so serious that the EU must take a leading role in pressuring Russia to follow its international commitments. A failure can lead to disastrous consequences for us all.
Vissarion Aseev, Human rights activist, North Ossetia, Russia
Lipkhan Bazayeva, Chairperson , Women’s Dignity, Chechnya, Russia
Oxana Chelysheva, Russian-Chechen Friendship Society
Larisa Dorogova, Human rights lawyer, Mothers of Kabardino-Balkaria, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia
Anna Ek, President, the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, Sweden
Carl Gershman, President, the National Endowment for Democracy, USA
Neil Hicks, International Policy Advisor, Human Rights First, USA
Robert Hårdh, Executive Director, Civil Rights Defenders (former Swedish Helsinki Committee), Sweden
Svetlana Isaeva, Chairperson, Mothers of Dagestan, Dagestan, Russia
Ella Kesaeva, Chairperson, Voice of Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia
Roemer Lemaitre, Legal and program director, Stichting Russian Justice Initiative, Russia
Tanya Lokshina , North Caucasus expert, Human Rights Watch, Russia
Madina Magomadova , Chairperson, Mothers of Chechnya for Peace, Chechnya, Russia
Magomed Mutsolgov, Chairperson, MASHR, Ingushetia, Russia
Oleg Orlov, Head of the Council of Human Rights Center Memorial (this year’s Sacharov prize laureate), Russia
Varvara Pakhomenko, North Caucasus expert, Russia
Oleg Panfilov, Director, Centre For Journalists in Extreme Situations, Russia
Arsen Sakalov, Legal Initiative for Chechnya (2005 Per Anger prize winner), Ingushetia, Russia
Marta Ter, Lliga dels Drets dels Pobles, Spain
Martin Uggla, Chairperson, the Swedish Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, Sweden
Leon Willems, Executive director, PressNow, the Netherlands
