(Moscow) - French and German leaders should use their meetings with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia on October 18 and 19, 2010, to challenge Russia's human rights record and urge the Kremlin to foster safe working conditions for human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said today.
Medvedev, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany will come together in Deauville, France, for a preparatory meeting before the upcoming G-20 Summit.
"In the last two years, the Kremlin's upbeat talk about human rights has improved Russia's international standing," said Anna Sevortian, Russia office director at Human Rights Watch. "Sadly, though, the human rights climate in Russia remains very hostile."
Key human rights concerns include intimidation and attacks against human rights defenders, torture and enforced disappearances in the counterinsurgency campaign in the North Caucasus, and improper restrictions on freedom of assembly and freedom of association, as detailed in a
memorandum prepared in advance of the twice-yearly human rights consultations between the European Union and Russia scheduled for November 2010.
Human rights defenders working to end impunity for abuses in the North Caucasus are especially vulnerable to harassment, the memorandum said.
"The Deauville meeting coincides with the criminal libel trial of Oleg Orlov, one of Russia's most prominent human rights defenders," Sevortian said. "Now is the time for Merkel and Sarkozy to tell Medvedev that criminal libel chills free expression, and that the charges should be dropped."
Orlov, chairman of the Memorial Human Rights Center, faces a three-year prison sentence for saying that Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, bore political responsibility for the murder of the organization's researcher in Chechnya, Natalia Estemirova, on July 15, 2009. His trial, which started in September, is now in its fourth week. Orlov made the statement on the day Estemirova was murdered.
Human Rights Watch also urged Sarkozy and Merkel to press Medvedev to ensure that there is a thorough and transparent investigation into Estemirova's murder.
The Human Rights Watch memorandum describes bureaucratic harassment and unfounded criminal lawsuits aimed at intimidating nongovernmental organizations, journalists, and activists working on controversial issues.
"President Medvedev needs to hear that this kind of harassment is completely inconsistent with his modernization agenda for Russia," Sevortian said.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/10/15/russia-sarkozy-merkel-should-raise-rights-issues-medvedev?print
