english
русский
E-Corner
Files
Photo
Video
Impressum
About Us
Projects
News
Membership
Working / Expert Groups
Board
Secretariat
General Assemblies
Opinions and Ideas
Policy Papers
Statements
Job Opportunities
Media Kit
Call for Immediate Release of Participants in Peaceful Protests against Corruption in Russia
29.03.2017
Statement by the Steering Committee of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum

Download the statement

 

The Steering Committee of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum is concerned about the reaction by Russian authorities to the peaceful protests against corruption, which took place on 26 March 2017 in numerous regions of the Russian Federation.

On 26 March 2017, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities across Russia to join peaceful protests against corruption. Of 80 demonstrations, only 21 had formal permission from local authorities. The denial of permission for such public events is per se in violation of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, fundamental rights of citizens as guaranteed inter alia by the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Articles 29 and 31[1]).

In the course of the peaceful demonstrations, police detained about two thousands of citizens throughout the country – including in Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Moscow, Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Samara, St. Petersburg, Tambov, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and other cities. The authorities’ actions against the demonstrators not only were in violation of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, but often accompanied by excessive use of force and appeared to be quite random in nature, as among those arrested were people who were not a part of the protest.

The legal violations continued in police stations, where detainees often waited for hours to be questioned or were secretly transported without a lawyer to another police station. In many cases, detainees were kept in police stations till court hearing and had to spend one or even two nights in custody without hot meals, sleeping in turns. There are cases, when time for detention without court decision exceeded 48 hours. In addition, the authorities did not always respect the legal provisions related to minors, such as the obligation to make immediate calls to parents and interrogation in the presence of parents. Finally, the courts hearing administrative cases have already sentenced dozens of people to 7, 10, 15, and even 25 days in custody, many others are still waiting for court consideration.

The Steering Committee of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum calls on the Russian authorities to immediately release the participants in peaceful protests and to ensure the unconditional observance of their rights. We urge the Russian Federation to fully respect fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. We also ask international organisations, in particular the Council of Europe, to monitor the developments in the aftermath of the 26 March protests and request the Russian Federation to comply in full with its obligations under international agreements.

29 March 2017

 

Contacts:

Natalia Taubina, Steering Committee of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, Public Verdict Foundation, Moscow, Russia, tel.: + 7 495 951 12 01, e-mail: nata.taubina@gmail.com  

Simon Cosgrove, Steering Committee of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, Rights in Russia, Ilminster, United Kingdom, tel. + 44 7760 37 67 72, e-mail: sc-csf@rightsinrussia.org

 


[1] See http://www.constitution.ru/10003000/10003000-4.htm 

 

 

Back
EU: "Cosmetic changes" offered by Poland fail to address rule of law // 18.04.2018

"The Polish government is trying to convince the EU that it has changed its ways. But this alleged compromise does nothing to diminish the real threat that reforms to the judiciary pose to the ...

[more]

Hundreds of activities organised by the UNITED network during the European Action Week Against Racism 2018 // 18.04.2018

During the European Action Week Against Racism 2018, more than 200 activities have been reported. More than 300.000 people have been reached on Facebook and more than 50.000 people have been ...

[more]

The problem of implementation of the Freedom of Worship in Russia in 2017 // 18.04.2018

SOVA Center for Information and Analysis submits its regular annual report on the freedom of worship in Russia. In 2017, the state policy on toughening the regulations of new religious ...

[more]

2017 Call for Civil Society Submissions // 17.04.2018

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) publishes hate crime data every year on 16 November. This provides an overview of hate crimes reported by governments and ...

[more]

EU Health Award for NGOs Working to Prevent Tobacco Use // 12.04.2018

The European Commission dedicates the fourth edition of the EU Health Award to initiatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that contributed or are contributing to a higher level of public ...

[more]