HONORARY CHAIRMAN ADVISORY BOARD (CHAIR) PRESIDENT Yuri Orlov Karl von Schwarzenberg Ulrich Fischer EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VICE PRESIDENT Aaron Rhodes Holly Cartner Srdjan Dizdarević DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Bjørn Engesland TREASURER Brigitte Dufour Vasilika Hysi Stein-Ivar Aarsæther Krassimir Kanev Jos Kösters Wickenburgg. 14/7, A-1080 Vienna, Austria; Tel +43-1-408 88 22; Fax 408 88 22-50 e-mail: [email protected] – internet: http://www.ihf-hr.org Bank account: Bank Austria Creditanstalt, 0221-00283/00, BLZ 12000

Russian Federation: Detentions and Police Brutality against Protesters

Vienna 16 April 2007. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) condemns mass detentions and the use of excessive force against protesters during opposition rallies held in and St. Petersburg on 14 and 15 April. These events form part of a growing crackdown on opposition forces in ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections in late 2007 and early 2008.

“By rounding up, detaining and beating citizens who had taken to the streets to express their views about the current state of affairs in the country, Russian authorities acted in open violation of international human rights standards and demonstrated contempt for democratic processes,” stated Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director.

The weekend’s rallies were organized by a broad coalition of opposition movements that oppose the politics of President Putin but have limited possibilities to make their voices heard in a political climate largely controlled by Kremlin.

On 14 April, thousands of riot police and interior ministry troops – many of whom wore combat uniform, armored vests and helmets – cordoned off Pushkin Square in central Moscow to prevent protesters from gathering there for a planned march through the city to Turgenev Square, where a rally had been sanctioned. Local authorities refused permission for a gathering at Pushkin Square on grounds that the pro-Kremlin Young Guard movement (Molodaya gvardia) had already secured permission to meet at this location and only allowed a meeting at the less centrally located Turgenev Square, where hundreds of people eventually went ahead with the protest amid massive and intimidating police presence.

In connection with the rally, scores of participants and observes were detained and loaded onto buses and taken into custody. In some cases, they were dragged on the ground and subjected to heavy-handed treatment (see attached photos1). An IHF representative who was present to monitor the rally throughout its duration reported that it was carried out in a fully peaceful manner and that there were no signs of violence on the part of participants that would have justified such a harsh response by the authorities.

Among others, ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov who heads the United Civil Front - one of the core groups of The Other Russia opposition coalition, youth opposition leaders

1 Photos taken by Tanya Lokshina, IHF Consultant

MEMBER AND COOPERATING* COMMITTEES IN: Albania – Armenia* - Austria – Azerbaijan - Belarus – Bosnia-Herzegovina – Bulgaria – Canada – Croatia – Czech Republic – Denmark – Finland – France – Georgia* - Germany – Greece – Hungary – Italy – Kazakhstan – Kosovo – Kyrgyzstan – Latvia – Lithuania – Macedonia – Moldova – Montenegro – Netherlands - Norway – Poland – Romania – Russia – Serbia – Slovakia – Slovenia – Sweden – Switzerland – Tajikistan* – Turkmenistan* - – United Kingdom – United States – Uzbekistan* COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS: THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTER – HUMAN RIGHTS WITHOUT FRONTIERS – MENTAL DISABILITY ADVOCACY CENTER Maria Gaidar and Ilya Yashin, and numerous journalists were detained. There were also reports of detentions of activists who were traveling to Moscow from different regions in the days prior to the protest. In some cases those apprehended were held for longer periods of time (up to 8 hours) than sanctioned by Russian law regulating pre-trial detention. Many of those detained were subsequently charged with administrative offenses.

The opposition rally organized in St. Petersburg on 15 April also resulted in detentions and police brutality. Several opposition representatives were detained on their way to the rally, in some case immediately upon arriving in the city. Moreover, while the rally was allowed to take place under close watch by riot police, clashes ensued as groups of protesters subsequently sought to begin a march through the streets of the city, which had not been authorized by local authorities. Dozens of people were reportedly hit with batons, pushed to the ground and forced into police vans and some rally participants were taken into custody for allegedly chanting anti-constitutional and anti-government slogans. Among those detained and administratively charged was Eduard Limonov, whose unregistered National Bolshevik Party is part of The Other Russia coalition.

International human rights standards oblige authorities to refrain from imposing undue restrictions on peaceful assemblies, such as restrictions on where an event can he held without weighty grounds, and to ensure that dispersals of assemblies and forceful measures against assembly participants are used only as a last resort and are strictly necessary and proportional to the aim sought – also in cases when an assembly has not been authorized.2 In connection with the weekend’s rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg, these standards were clearly not complied with. In addition to violating international standards, the restrictive approach adopted by Russian authorities vis-à-vis peaceful opposition marches is likely to be counter- productive by contributing to furthering resentment with the regime and to encouraging measures to challenge government imposed restrictions on the legitimate expression of dissent.

The IHF has previously raised concern about the violent dispersal of so-called marches of dissent organized by The Other Russia in St. Petersburg and Nizny Novgorod in March 2007.3

For more information:

Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, +43-1-408 88 22 or +43-676-635 66 12; Henriette Schroeder, IHF Press Officer, +43-676-725 48 29

2 For more information about international standards protecting the right to peaceful assembly see guidelines published be The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), at http://www.osce.org/odihr/item_11_23835.html 3 See IHF statement on freedom of assembly to OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting held in Vienna on 29-30 March 2007, at http://www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=58&d_id=4384, and IHF, “Russian Federation: Newspapers Seized and People Detained in Connection with the Planned ‘March of Dissent’ in Nizhny Novgorod, 22 March 2007, at http://www.ihf- hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=58&d_id=4381

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