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Human Rights in Russia: an Overview

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Human Rights in Russia: an Overview HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIA: AN OVERVIEW HEARING BEFORE THE TOM LANTOS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 6, 2010 Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.tlhrc.house.gov TOM LANTOS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION JAMES P. McGOVERN, Massachusetts, Cochairman FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia, Cochairman JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois CHRIS SMITH, New Jersey DONNA EDWARDS, Maryland JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota TRENT FRANKS, Arizona TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin AHN “JOSEPH” CAO, Louisiana HANS J. HOGREFE , Democratic Staff Director ELIZABETH HOFFMAN , Republican Staff Director LARS DE GIER , Fellow ALLISON McGUIRE , Fellow ALISON MUELLER , Fellow LESLIE DUDDEN , Intern II C O N T E N T S WITNESSES Karinna Moskalenko, Founder and Director of the International Protection Center in Russia ................................................................. 4 Professor Paul Goble, Director of Research and Publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy ................................................. 10 William Browder, Chief Executive Director of Hermitage Capital Management Ltd. ........................................................................... 15 Tanya Lokshina, Deputy Director Human Rights Watch, Moscow Office............................................................................................. 38 Sam Patten, Senior Program Manager, Eurasia at Freedom House ........................................................................................................ 48 Nina Ognianova, Program Coordinator Europe and Central Asia at the Committee to Protect Journalists ............................................ 52 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Prepared Statement of the Honorable James P. McGovern, a Representative in Congress from the State of Massachusetts and Cochairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission ................................................................................................................... 3 Prepared Statement of Karinna Moskalenko ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Prepared Statement of Professor Paul Goble .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Prepared Statement of William Browder................................................................................................................................................ 18 Prepared Statement of Tanya Lokshina .................................................................................................................................................. 42 Prepared Statement of Sam Patten ......................................................................................................................................................... 50 Prepared Statement of Nina Ognianova ................................................................................................................................................. 55 APPENDIX Hearing Notice ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 65 Prepared Statement of the Honorable Chris Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey ................................... 66 III HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIA: AN OVERVIEW THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, TOM LANTOS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION , Washington, D.C. The Commission met, pursuant to call, at 10:06 a.m., in Room 2255, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. James P. McGovern [cochairman of the Commission] presiding. Cochairman McGOVERN. I think we ought to begin, because I have an opening statement. Hopefully by the time I finish, everybody is going to be here. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to welcome you to today's hearing on the human rights situation in Russia. I would like to thank our Commission fellows, Lars de Gier and Allison McGuire, for all their hard work to make today's hearing happen. While the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s completely changed Russia's political landscape, human rights concerns remain eerily similar. Freedom of expression, attacks on a free media and political opposition, the rule of law, religious freedom, corruption, ethnic tensions and violent crackdowns are just as relevant now as they were two decades ago. The Russian Federation remains a crucial world power of critical importance to the United States in many vital policy areas, including but not limited to nuclear proliferation issues, dealing with Iran and North Korea, disarmament agreements, global warming, the war on terror, and the international economic crisis. I therefore applaud our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for working hard to strengthen and deepen our ties with Russia and the Russian people, which reflect the important role Russia continues to play today. The fruits of this hard labor became obvious on April 8th when the President signed a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia. Despite these successes, however, much still needs to be done. When the Obama administration announced with regard to Russia that the United States was willing to hit a symbolic "reset button," I was and remain seriously concerned about how the Russian administration is reading the implications of this gesture. As I have repeatedly stated, hitting the reset button cannot suggest that we are simply walking away from the past, wiping the slate clean, and closing our eyes to history. In no area is such ignorance more delusional and dangerous than in the area of human rights, because it enshrines impunity, and impunity for human rights violations cannot be the quid pro quo for successful collaboration in other areas. Rather, human rights discourse must be an integral part of our relationship with Russia, as it should be with any other country. If the despicable slayings of human rights heroes like Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 and that of Natalya Estemirova in 2009 are not met with justice for the 1 perpetrators, and if Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov can be killed in broad daylight on a busy Moscow street in 2009, there are far greater consequence also for the Russian Federation as a whole than simple murder statistics can ever suggest. The chilling effect on human rights activists, journalists and the political opposition stifles any public criticism and dialogue between civil society and Russian leaders, whether that be on democratic reform, Russian policies in the North Caucasus or corruption, religious freedom, and the rule of law. In Russia, the human rights situation is further exacerbated by extremely weak legal institutions and by corruption, frequently targeting critics of the President or the Prime Minister. Increasingly, tax laws and politically motivated charges under other technical laws have been used in Russian courts to single out power businessmen, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev or Sergei Magnitsky because they were critical of the Russian leadership or were seen as potential rivals. Other oligarchs, who are proregime, continue to operate freely and without any scrutiny. Those who dare to publicly expose corruption or disagreement with official policies frequently risk nothing less than their lives. According to the 2009 U.S. State Department Country Report on Russia, the Glasnost Defense Foundation documented 59 journalists who were attacked, 8 of whom were killed in 2009. Reporters Without Borders reported for 2009, "Media freedom in Russia has not significantly improved over the past decade. Radio and TV news diversity is still lacking, independent media outlets are harassed by police and courts and those who kill journalists are not punished. Most recently, violence against journalists and human rights activists has increased significantly." According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a vaguely worded new press law currently under consideration further expands the reach of security agents to censor the press, ostensibly in order to combat extremism. Activists who work in the volatile North Caucasus region, such as the NGO Memorial, face similar threats to their lives. The State Department report warned that the situation there remained an area of particular concern and indicated that the human rights record had actually worsened. Regarding this volatile region, the report suggests that "local government and insurgent forces reportedly engaged in killing, torture, abuse, violence, politically motivated abductions and other brutal or humiliating treatment, often with impunity." The international community, including the United States, does not underestimate the terror threat that Russia faces. We all vividly remember the attacks on the school in Beslan in 2004 by Chechen terrorists, which ended in a bloodbath with at least 334 people dead, including 186 children, when Russian forces stormed the school. More recently, a whole spate of attacks in the first half of this year, including the March Moscow Metro bombing which killed 39 individuals, drove home again in the starkest way possible that Russia continues to face a lethal terrorism threat. Now, all of these developments command our attention. Every killing committed by powerful political circles against journalists and government critics, or by neo-Nazi
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