The unexplained circumstances for the precipitous decline of Navaly’s health on August 20 that have left the Russian opposition leader in a coma bear strong resemblance to numerous assassination attempts perpetrated by Putin’s regime against his critics and must be thoroughly investigated by Russian and international authorities.

We wish Alexey a quick and full recovery. We stand ready to provide any necessary support to his family and colleagues through this uncertain and frightening period.

Appeal by members of the Civic Solidarity Platform

10 August 2020

The undersigned organizations, members of the Civic Solidarity Platform, express their shock and outrage about the way the 9 August presidential elections in Belarus have been manipulated by the government.

We support peaceful protests of Belarusians against this flagrant violation of standards for the conduct of elections agreed in the OSCE. We strongly denounce disproportionate and excessive use of violence by security forces and mass detention of several thousand of protest participants across the country.

The weeks preceding the election day have been marred by systemic and systematic violations of fundamental rights and freedoms. This created no conditions for free and fair elections according to international standards. We have witnessed independent candidates illegally disqualified from running in elections. Several candidates, their supporters, and others questioning the current government policies were persecuted through penal and administrative means, and their freedom of expression was severely limited. According to Belarusian human rights organizations, 26 political prisoners were held in detention in the run-up to the elections. Independent domestic observation of the elections has been thwarted under false pretexts, and many independent observers were illegally detained. International election observation, including by the OSCE, was blocked by the authorities. Media coverage was severely restricted.

On the election day, the few independent election observers who were present at the polling stations, as well as journalists and civic activists, have reported mass falsifications. A number of foreign journalists were detained and taken to the police stations due to lacking accreditation which most of them applied for in a timely manner but received rejections. Internet and mobile connection in the country was poor since early morning of the election day and most of social media and independent news sites were blocked. By the evening, military vehicles arrived in Minsk and public transport was shut down. After the preliminary official results were announced in the evening, mass peaceful protests started in the city centers in Minsk, Brest, Mogilev and dozens of other cities across the country. Witnesses reported brutal assaults of the protestors by the riot police. They used water cannons, flash grenades, rubber bullets, tear gas, and brutal force against the protestors. Dozens of injured protesters are in hospitals; several are in critical conditions. According to the official data, at least three thousand protestors have been detained. We consider disproportionate and brutal use of force and detention of protestors illegal.

Given the developments in the run-up to the elections and on the election day, we consider these elections the most violent and non-transparent in the modern history of Belarus. Official results of the elections cannot be considered reflecting the true will of Belarusian people.

We demand that the Belarusian authorities:

• Acknowledge massive irregularities in holding the elections and publish the election results reflecting the true choice of the Belarusian people;
• Engage in direct dialogue with representatives of independent candidates to negotiate a peaceful and legal way out of the crisis;
• Immediately stop unwarranted violence against protesters, release the detained, and respect the right to peaceful assembly;
• Observe the rights of all detainees and immediately notify their families about their whereabouts and provide unhindered access for lawyers;
• Hold an independent, prompt and effective investigation of cases of violence, with maximum transparency and under international control, to end impunity on the part of the security forces;
• End the blocking of the Internet and obstructing the work of journalists.

We call on the international community, and in particular other OSCE participating States:

• Not to recognize the election outcome that has been officially announced;
• Direct urgent efforts towards de-escalation and launching a mediated dialogue on a peaceful way out of the crisis respecting the principles of international law, that would include all sectors of Belarusian society that want to engage on this basis;
• Hold an urgent discussion in the OSCE on the crisis in Belarus, and consider the invoking the OSCE Moscow Mechanism as the most relevant and expedient way to hold an internationally trusted investigation into the events in Belarus;
• Hold urgent consultations in the EU on the events in Belarus and consider relevant and adequate reaction to the possibly most violent and non-transparent elections in the modern Belarus history;
• Hold an urgent debate on the crisis in Belarus at the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council. We urge the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to take a lead in the UN Human Rights reaction to the events in Belarus and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus to produce an urgent report and present it to the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly.

List of organizations supporting the appeal:

1. Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine)
2. Center for Participation and Development (Georgia)
3. Truth Hounds (Ukraine)
4. Hungarian Helsinki Committee
5. Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement (Ukraine)
6. Public Verdict Foundation (Russia)
7. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
8. Foundation of Regional Initiatives (Ukraine)
9. Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
10. International Partnership for Human Rights (Belgium)
11. World Organization against Torture (OMCT) (Belgium)
12. Human Rights Center (Georgia)
13. Kharkiv Regional Foundation Public Alternative (Ukraine)
14. Public Association “Dignity” (Kazakhstan)
15. Netherlands Helsinki Committee
16. Human Rights Center ZMINA (Ukraine)
17. Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor (Armenia)
18. DRA – German-Russian Exchange (Germany)
19. Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Russia)
20. The Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House
21. Freedom Files (Poland)
22. Office of Civil Freedoms (Tajikistan)
23. Human Rights House Foundation (Norway)
24. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)
25. Social Action Centre (Ukraine)
26. Public Association “Human Rights Movement: Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan”
27. Swiss Helsinki Committee
28. Citizens’ Watch (Russia)
29. Norwegian Helsinki Committee
30. Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (Azerbaijan/Switzerland)
31. Human Rights Club (Azerbaijan/Switzerland)
32. Moscow Helsinki Group (Russia)
33. Public Foundation “Voice of Freedom” (Kyrgyzstan)
34. Human Rights Center Memorial (Russia)
35. OSCE Network (Sweden)
36. SOVA Center for Information and Analysis (Russia)
37. Women of the Don (Russia)
38. The Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan
39. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
40. Helsinki Association (Armenia)
41. The Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medial Rehabilitation of Torture Victims – GCRT
42. humanrights.ch (Switzerland)
43. Promo LEX (Moldova)
44. Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Slovakia
45. Free Russia Foundation (the U.S., Ukraine, Georgia, the Czech Republic)

Originally published by Civic Solidarity Platform

Photo credit: TUT.BY

We  demand immediate end to the violence and repression perpetrated by the usurpers of power against the citizens of Belarus as they exercise their inalienable right of freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and protection of a democratic form of government.

Protests in Belarus, both in the form of peaceful assemblies and in the form of strikes, as well as in other ways, are a manifestation of the fundamental and inalienable human rights enshrined in international and national legislation. The violence and use of disproportionate force against civilian residents of Belarus from the side of the current authorities constitute an international crime.

It has been determined beyond doubt that Alyaksandr Lukashenka has personally ordered the falsification of  the election results and violent dispersal of peaceful protests. Such actions constitute gross direct violation of the norms of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Constitution of Belarus.

The dire plight of the Belarusian People behooves the international community to urgently use all available instruments of international pressure, including the imposition of personal and sectoral sanctions to the appliance to international justice.

We call on  all democratic states, the international community, international organizations to:

• demand the end of the repressive acts in the Republic of Belarus;
• reestablish freedom of speech and access to information;
• bring to justice all those responsible for acts of violence and destruction of the institutions of democracy in the Republic.

Разумеется, мы не ждали ничего другого от Тверского суда – как не ждем и от городского, и от всех последующих российских инстанций. Целей у судебного иска две. Первая – дойти до Европейского суда по правам человека, где состоится хоть и нескорое, но объективное рассмотрение дела.

Вторая цель не менее важна: пролить свет на то, как принимаются репрессивные решения в нынешней системе власти. Как известно, в перечне Минюста уже 22 «нежелательных организации» – от Национального фонда в поддержку демократии до Европейской платформы за демократические выборы (один список названий неплохо демонстрирует фобии Кремля). Но до сих пор обществу не был предъявлен ни один документ, на основании которого эти решения выносились. На запрос партии «Яблоко», попытавшейся выяснить причины, из Генпрокуратуры пришел ответ, которому позавидовал бы Франц Кафка: «Предоставление информации, раскрывающей содержание деятельности иностранных и международных неправительственных организаций… неизбежно затронет права и законные интересы организаций и их сотрудников, что недопустимо».

Документы, которые мы публикуем, впервые приоткрывают дверь во внутреннюю кухню принятия решений по закону о «нежелательных» организациях. Хотим выразить благодарность адвокату Вадиму Прохорову, благодаря усилиям которого эти ценные документы эпохи удалось получить в ходе судебного разбирательства.

• Документ 1: Донос депутата Н.И.Рыжака в генпрокуратуру
• Документ 2: Письмо Центра «Э» МВД в генпрокуратуру
• Документ 3: Письмо МИД в генпрокуратуру (1)
• Документ 4: Письмо МИД в генпрокуратуру (2)
• Документ 5: Письмо ФСБ в генпрокуратуру
• Документ 6: Решение генпрокуратуры

Сами документы в комментариях не нуждаются. Здесь прекрасно всё – и донос кадрового чекиста и депутата Госдумы Николая Рыжака; и письмо МИДа о «русофобской» (sic) деятельности фонда «Свободная Россия»; и «акт оперативно-розыскного мероприятия «наблюдение» в отношении интернет-ресурса», составленный Главным управлением МВД по противодействию экстремизму; и подробная справка ФСБ на членов правления фонда, приглашенных экспертов и участников конференций, вплоть до указания дат и адресов их проведения; и обвинения в «формировании общественного мнения о необходимости смены власти в России» и «снижении электорального рейтинга президента РФ».

Наверное, нужно отметить, какие люди в нашей стране определяют «нежелательность» общественных организаций. Подписавший постановление заместитель генпрокурора РФ Леонид Коржинек в свое время покровительствовал банде Сергея Цапка. Автор справки ФСБ, начальник Службы по защите конституционного строя генерал Алексей Седов несколько лет назад стал фигурантом громкого ДТП, когда его служебный автомобиль выехал на встречную полосу (генерал опаздывал на концерт Элтона Джона). В возбуждении уголовного дела пострадавшим было отказано.

Наконец, последнее. Интересно, понимают ли авторы доносов, справок и постановлений степень абсурдности происходящего? В своих документах они пишут о «попытке прямого вмешательства американской организации во внутренние дела России» – тогда как в действительности все обстоит с точностью до наоборот. Фонд «Свободная Россия» создали и возглавляют российские граждане, добивающиеся от западных стран принципиальной политики в отношении режима Владимира Путина, в первую очередь в свете нарушений международных обязательств в области прав и свобод. Как говорится, нарочно не придумаешь.

Впрочем, об этом было сказано еще у Оруэлла. «Война – это мир, свобода – это рабство, незнание – сила».

Владимир Кара-Мурза
Наталия Арно

* Иностранная неправительственная организация, деятельность которой признана нежелательной на территории Российской Федерации (решение Генеральной прокуратуры РФ от 27.06.2019 г.)

By Spencer Royal

On June 2, 2020, Free Russia Foundation hosted a congressional discussion on the Fate of Crimean Tatars in the Aftermath of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine featuring Polina Sadovskaya, Program Director, Eurasia, PEN America; Alim Aliev, Program Director of Crimean House; Olexandra Matviichuk, Ukraine Center for Civil Liberties; and Scott Martin, Global Rights Compliance. Michael Weiss, Free Russia Foundation Director for Special Investigations, served as the session’s moderator.

During the session, the presenters discussed the current situation of Russian persecution of the Crimean Tatar community; the projects conducted by their respective to provide legal support, humanitarian relief and international advocacy initiatives; and practical recommendations for ways in which the international community can help alleviate the crisis.

Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, over 1500 violent acts perpetrated by the Russian authorities against the Crimean Tatars have been documented. They have included displacement of the community members from their homes and property, detention and imprisonment, and suppression of Tatar culture, language and free speech. While the repressive acts by the Kremlin in the immediate aftermath of the Crimean invasion had garnered great attention from the international media and policy community, the global focus on the problem has waned since. Olexandra Matviichuk noted that the arrest of 24 Crimean Tatars in 2019 failed to evoke a strong response from the international policy-maker community. Today, 70 of the 93 Ukrainian political prisoners held by Russia are Crimean Tatars. The community is continusouly terrorized by searches and raids. Accoridng to Alim Aliev, there have been over 300 documented house raids conducted by Russian Federal Security Services.

Polina Sadovskaya provided indicators of a deteriorating situation. There has been a 90% decrease in the number of independent Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian media outlets in the area since 2014. 10 Crimean Tatar citizen journalists and bloggers are currently being prosecuted for political reasons. In January, Ukrainian journalist, Taras Ibragimov, was banned by the Russian Federal Security Service from entering the peninsula until 2054. Deliberate changes to the demographics of the peninsula are also occurring. Scott Martin, citing a recent interview with the Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General, Gyunduz Mamedov, said that as of May 19, 2020, 48,000 citizens were forced to leave the peninsula and that around 73,000 Russians have resettled in this area.

Mr. Aliev chimed in with concerns over the diminishing number of schools teaching Crimean Tatar language and suppression of the Crimean Tatar culture. Mr. Aliev described attempts by the Russian authorities to establish alternative media outlets in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages advancing pro-Kremlin narratives.

The panelists stressed the critical role played by the US policy makers and legislators via official and personal resolutions and statements in keeping the spotlight on the crisis, deterring further human rights abuses and attempting to alleviate the suffering of the Crimean Tatar community (S.Res.100, S.Res.571, H.Res. 474.)

In order to encourage international attention, panelists suggested the United States could host a delegation of Crimean Tatar representatives in Washington, DC to meet with government officials, encourage celebrities and other prominent voices to speak out about this issue, and voice support for the passage of new legislation, similar to the Magnitsky Act, in Australia and the European Union. The Magnitsky Act could be used to sanction officials who persecute civil rights activists, bloggers, and journalists on the peninsula. Panelists called for direct aid to families of political prisoners; backing of various civil society organizations and independent media outlets within Crimea; and financial support to the Crimean Tatar language programs and schools.