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Russia: 'Operation Crazy Xerox' – Unprecedented pressure on Civil Society

The following blog is based on interviews with human rights defenders in the Russian Federation.

In the Russian Federation mass inspections of non-governmental organisations are currently taking place. According to  Russian human rights organisation Agora which is trying to maintain a comprehensive list of NGOs searched, to date at least 94 NGOs in 24 regions have been visited.

This wave of inspections is unprecedented and looks more like police raids than regular inspections: teams of representatives from different state institutions come to the offices without warning, they take away boxes of documents and, sometimes, office equipment. During searches at some of the leading human rights NGOs the inspectors arrived at the same time as journalists from the tv channel NTV , a “teletabloid” which broadcasts the most odious pro-Kremlin propaganda. The Prosecutor office has denied co-ordinating the time of the searches with the journalists, but it is difficult to believe in such coincidence.

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Russian Federation: Brutal attack on human rights defender Mr Philipp Kostenkoposted on: 2012/02/07

On 3 February 2012, human rights defender Mr Philipp Kostenko was attacked and badly beaten by two unidentified individuals in Saint Petersburg.

Russian Federation: Website of Interregional Committee Against Torture hackedposted on: 2012/02/03

On 28 January 2012, the website of the Russian Interregional Committee Against Torture (CAT) was hacked.

Russian Federation: Update - Investigations into the case brought by human rights defender and lawyer Ms Sapiyat Magomedova against police officers and counter claim put on holdposted on: 2012/01/24

Ms Sapiyat Magomedova was informed by reliable sources that further investigations into the case which she initiated against two police officers, Batirbi Magdiev and Nariman Mollaev, have been put on hold.

Russian Federation: Detention of human rights defender Mr Anton Ryzhov on his way from Chechnyaposted on: 2012/01/23

On 21 January 2012, human rights defender Mr Anton Ryzhov was temporarily detained in Nizhny Novgorod as he was on his way back from Chechnya.

Russian Federation: Human rights defender Mr Igor Kalyapin at risk of facing a criminal charge of disclosing State secretsposted on: 2012/01/20

On 18 January 2012, human rights defender Mr Igor Kalyapin was informed that a statement had been filed with the investigative authorities in the Chechen Republic accusing him of disclosing State secrets.

Igor Kalyapin is chairman of the Committee Against Torture, and founder and President of the Joint Mobile Group (JMG), who received the Front Line Defenders Award in April 2011 for their work in investigating torture and disappearances in Chechnya.

On 18 January 2012, Igor Kalyapin was notified by Mr Igor Sobol, Senior Investigator at the Department for the Investigation of Serious Cases of the Central Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Prosecutor’s Office, that the leader of the Chechen OMON (special police forces) had filed a statement accusing him of disclosing State secrets. On the basis of the statement, an enquiry was launched and a criminal case may be opened against Igor Kalyapin. Such disclosure constitutes a crime under Article 283 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and carries with it a prison sentence of 3 to 7 years.

The filing of this statement comes in the context of recent progress made in investigations conducted by the JMG, who works with Igor Sobol's investigative group, into cases in which members of the Chechen OMON are the chief suspects, in particular the abduction and subsequent ill-treatment of Mr Islam Umarpashayev. This case is the most high-profile case of the JMG and is currently under investigation by a group led by Igor Sobol. Igor Kalyapin represents the victim in that investigation. The “State secrets” allegedly disclosed refer to the fact Igor Kalyapin identified the place where Islam Umarpashayev was illegally detained on blogs that he wrote in the summer of 2011.

Igor Kalyapin described how the investigating group, accompanied by the JMG and Islam Umarpashayev, had attempted to enter the place where the victim had been detained in order for him to formally identify it for the purpose of the investigation.

Russian Federation: Final appeal hearing of human rights defender Oleg Orlovposted on: 2012/01/19

The final appeal hearing of Oleg Orlov, the head of the Human Rights Centre “Memorial” will take place tomorrow 20 January 2012 at 2pm in Khamovniki district court of Moscow.

Russian Federation: Death threats against human rights defender Ms Lilya Shibanova amid campaign of persecution against election watchdog Golosposted on: 2011/12/13

On 11 December 2011, the words “Shibanova, die” were discovered daubed on the apartment door of Ms Lilya Shibanova, head of election monitoring organisation NGO for Democratic Rights and Liberties Golos (“Voice” or “Vote” in Russian).

Strasbourg: The Human Rights Prize of the Council of Europe goes to Committee Against Torture of the Russian Federationposted on: 2011/06/27

The Russian organisation, The Committee against Torture, has won the 2011 Human Rights Prize. It was awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to Igor Kalyapin on behalf of the Committee.

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The bi-ennial prize is in recognition of outstanding action in the defence of human rights in Europe.

Igor Kalyapin is the Chairman of the Committee Against Torture.

“I hope it will help us to be better heard, to speak loudly about the problems we have in Russia and particularly in Chechnya.”

One member of the jury panel, Dick Marty, paid particular tribute to the work of the group of 45 lawyers in the North Caucusus and Chechnya region.

“I had the opportunity to see their work at first hand, and it’s extraordinary in the sense that they are a team of young lawyers who assist victims, parents, and they do everything possible to ensure that the judicial machine is put into action. They fight impunity, and I must say that in this country (Russia) impunity is almost universal.”

The award isn’t just about the 10,000 euros prize money. It is a way of keeping human rights in Europe in the spotlight.

Russian Federation: Arrest and dry hunger strike of human rights defenders Nadejda Nizovkina, Tatiana Stetsura and Natalia Filonovaposted on: 2011/06/23

On 12 June 2011 human rights defenders and journalists Nadejda Nizovkina, Tatiana Stetsura and the deputy of Petrovsk-Zabaykalsk regional parliament Natalia Filonova were arrested during a protest demonstration against the closure of three rural schools near Petrovsk-Zabaykalsk in the Chita region of the Russian Federation. In protest against their arrest, they started a dry hunger strike.