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Alert

ARTICLE 19 condemns silencing of critical voices on Chechnya as court closes NGO

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 17 October 2006 ARTICLE 19 statement:

THE CLOSURE OF THE RUSSIAN-CHECHEN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY IS A VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

ARTICLE 19 Statement on the Closure of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society

ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, condemns the decision by the Court of Nizhny Novgorod to close the Russian NGO "Russian-Chechen Friendship Society" (RCFS).

RCFS is a well-respected Nizhny Novgorod-based NGO, which monitors human rights violations in Chechnya and other republics in the North Caucasus and, through its Russian-Chechen Information Agency, disseminates news from the region, including allegations of "disappearances", torture and killing of civilians by the Russian army. RCFS has also campaigned for an end to the conflict.

The closure decision comes only six days after the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who had also provided critical coverage of events in Chechnya, and is yet another manifestation of the alarming deterioration of freedom of expression in Russia. RCFS will pursue an appeal against the closure order in the Supreme Court.

ARTICLE 19 concerns

The proceedings for the closure of the organisation were initiated by the Office of the Prosecutor of Nizhny Novgorod, on the basis of the recently adopted NGO Law and the Law on Countering Extremist Activities. Of particular concern to ARTICLE 19 are the following:

1) The Prosecutor's Office held that RCFS's director, Stanislav Dmitrievsky, should have stepped down from his responsibilities because of his criminal record - which prohibits him from heading an NGO under the NGO Law. In February 2006, Stanislav Dmitrievsky was convicted of "inciting hatred and enmity on the basis of ethnicity and religion" under Article 282 of the Criminal Code and received a two-year suspended prison sentence. Mr. Dmitrievsky's conviction was based on the publication of articles written by Chechen rebel leaders in 2004, which were non-violent and instead called for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

ARTICLE 19 considers Mr. Dmitrievsky's February 2006 conviction to be a violation of international standards governing the right of freedom of expression. While States are permitted to take measures under their criminal law against hate speech, a clear distinction should be drawn between speech that genuinely incites to discrimination, hostility or violence, and statements which are rather intended to contribute to a debate about conflicts of an ethnic or religious nature, and their causes and solutions.

ARTICLE 19 has repeatedly witnessed abuses of Article 282 of the Criminal Code as a means to illegitimately silence independent voices rather than to respond to well-founded cases of incitement to hatred or violence. Furthermore, the NGO Law grants the Russian authorities considerable discretionary power to regulate the activities of NGOs, and this has been clearly exercised in the closure of RCFS. Draconian amendments in July 2006 to the Law on Countering Extremist Activities have made the already broad and vague definition of "extremism" even wider, enabling the authorities to easily penalise those who expose politically unpalatable information.

2) In the proceedings for the closure of RCFS, the court also held that the organisation had failed to act upon a warning of the Ministry of Justice, requesting that the organisation change its name, as, pursuant to the Law on Public Associations, the term "Russian" should apply only to nation-wide organisations. However, RCFS had already submitted the necessary documentation to change its name to "Russo-Chechen Friendship Society", yet the application was rejected for failure to observe certain formalities.

3) Finally, it is apparent that there has been a serious procedural irregularity which amounts to the denial of one of the most fundamental human rights - the right to a fair trial. The proceedings were initiated by the prosecution on 9 October 2006, and the first hearing was held on 11 October, allowing a mere two days to respond to proceedings of a most serious nature and to prepare a defence.

Silencing of voices on the Chechen conflict

There have also been other attempts to close RCSF in 2005 - for failing to respond sufficiently promptly to a request for financial documents from the Federal Registration Services; by actions from the tax authorities; and, again, on the ground that the name of the organisation had to be modified. In addition to the incitement charge against Mr. Dmitrievsky, both he and his colleague Oksana Chelysheva received threats and experienced harassment for their work, for example through leaflets containing death threats and condemnation of their work which were distributed in 2005.

The Russian authorities have virtually banned all voices from Chechen rebel leaders, ensuring that the official line is the only one to which the Russian public may be exposed. This undercuts full public debate on the conflict, which is an essential building-block in conflict resolution.

All of the above once again demonstrates that the Russian government is failing to fulfill its obligations under international human rights law, including those arising from Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which are both legally binding on the Russian Federation. These documents oblige governments to create an environment that encourages pluralism and political debate, and where a diverse media can operate freely. Such an environment currently does not exist in the Russian Federation, and instead free expression comes regularly under attack.

ARTICLE 19 therefore calls on the Russian authorities to:

- Annul the court order to close the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society;
- Quash the sentence of incitement to hatred imposed upon Mr Dmitrievsky;
- Allow the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society to operate free from governmental interference;
- Ensure that Article 282 of the Criminal Code is no longer abused to suppress independent voices;
- Take measures as a matter of urgency to create the conditions for media pluralism in the Russian Federation, including the free expression of opinions and information on the Chechen conflict and critical of the authorities.