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HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE

“MEMORIAL”ANNUAL REPORT 2010

2HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE “MEMORIAL” ANNUAL REPORT 2010

The Human Rights Centre “Memorial”

12, M.Karetniy per.127051, Moscow, Russia

Tel.: +7 (495) 225-3118Fax: +7 (495) 699-1165

E-mail: [email protected]://www.memo.ru

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Illustrator – Oleg OrlovEditor – Larisa EreminaPublication is prepared by Daria Proshko


Brief overview of the Human Rights Centre 6

Members of the Board of the Inter-Regional Public Organization Human Rights Centre Memorial 7

PROGRAMS OF HRC MEMORIAL

“HOT SPOTS” 8

NETWORK “MIGRATION AND LAW” 10

MONITORING OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA 12

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION THROUGH INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS 14

LEGAL CLINIC FOR APPLICANTS TO THE ECTHR 16

ASSISTANCE FOR PERSONS PROSECUTED IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR POLITICAL REASONS AND PROTECTION OF CIVIL ACTIVISTS 18

HARMONIZATION OF INTER-ETHNIC RELATIONS THROUGH THE CREATION OF SMALL BUSINESS IN THE PRIGORODNY DISTRICT OF NORTH OSSETIA-ALANIA 20

New Publications. Participation in Book Fairs 22

Awards & Prizes 24

Criminal Case Kadyrov v. Orlov. Court of First Instance 25

International Visits 26

Financial statements 28

CONTENTS

HRC “MEMORIAL” | CONTENTS


RUSSIA:

AstrakhanBelgorodBryanskVladikavkazVladimirVladivostokVolgogradVologdaVoronezhGroznyGudermesEkaterinburgIvanovo

IzhevskKazanKaliningradKalugaKizlyarKirovKrasnodarKrymskKurganLipetskMoscowNazranNalchikNizhny Novgorod

NovorossijskOrenburgOrel-1Orel-2OcherPenzaPermPlyusaPyatigorskRostov-on-DoneRyazanSaint-PetersburgSamaraSaratov

SernovodskSmolenskStavropolTaganrogTambovTverUlyanovskUrus-MartanUfaKhasavyurt CheboksaryChelyabinskShakhty

GEOGRAPHIC REACH

HRC “MEMORIAL” | BRANCHES


POST-SOVIET SPACE:

KazakhstanKyrgyzstanTurkmenistanUzbekistan


The Human Rights Centre’s mission is to promote general respect and observance of hu-man rights and fundamental freedoms both in the Russian Federation and in other states. The Centre pays special atten-tion to the most serious and massive violations of these very rights and freedoms. The HRC Memorial has vast experience of work in human rights de-fense in Russia.

The HRC Memorial sets the following aims and tasks: observing of human rights and fundamental freedoms execu-tion; giving publicising and giving reliable information about considerable violations of human rights and fundamen-tal freedoms; attracting the attention of public governmen-tal and international institu-tions to these kind of violations; conducting and supporting of research aimed at the study of serious human rights vio-lations; assisting with obser-vance of humanitarian law and the peaceful resolution of conflicts under the conditions of military conflicts; assistance with the adoption by power

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE

holding structures of legal acts correspondent to international rules in the domain of human rights observance; theoretical and practical enlightenment of human rights and humanitar-ian law.

The Human Rights Centre Memorial is governed by the Board elected by the Centre’s members. The Board elects its Chairman and appoints the Ex-ecutive Director.

The HRC Memorial has six programs functioning within its frameworks:• “Hot spots”;• Network “Migration and Law”;• Monitoring of Human Rights Violations in Central Asia • Assistance for Persons Pros-ecuted in Criminal Proceed-ings for Political Reasons and Protection of Civil Activists;• Human Rights Protection through International Mecha-nisms (European Court, UNO);• Harmonization of Inter-Ethnic Relations through the Creation of Small Business in the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia-Alania.

The following functions are carried out within the scope of these programs:

• Revealing and fixating of the human rights violation facts;• Diffusion of information about human rights viola-tions – e-mail distribution of press releases, news on the web-site, press conferences, publication of reports, distribu-tion of books, etc.• Legal advice for citizens whose rights have been violat-ed;• Criminal and civil cases conduct on domestic and inter-national levels;• Preparation of reports, re-views;• Provision of analytical materials at Russian and in-ternational meetings, issuing of recommendations to public authorities.

The Human Rights Centre Memorial is a self-governed noncommercial civil organization, whose members are united by humanistic and moral principles and the aspiration to assist the defense of human rights and the formation of people’s civil dignity. The Centre was created and functions within the Historical-Enlightment, Human Rights and Humanitarian Society Memorial. It was founded and works in compliance with international law regulations, legislation of the Russian Federation and its own Charter

HRC “MEMORIAL” | BRIEF OVERVIEW


HRC “MEMORIAL” | MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

1. Vakhninia Lyudmila Vsevolodovna – member of the Expert Council under the Commissioner for Human Rights, since the end of 1980’s activist of the democratic movement, leading expert of the project “Civic initiatives aimed at the enhancement of recruits and contract military men legal status”, PhD, Biology.

2. Gannushkina Svetlana Alekseevna – mathematician, associate professor; since the end of 1980’s organizes legal and humanitarian aid to refuges, works in “hot spots” of the former USSR and Russia; head of the “Migration and Law” Network, chair of the “Civic Assistance” Committee, member of the Board of the International Historical-Enlightenment Human Rights and Humanitarian Society Memorial, member of the Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, member of the Government Commission of migration policy, member of the Expert Council under the Commissioner for Human Rights.

3. Grushkin Dmitry Valerievich – PhD, History, ethnologist, since mid 1990’s employee of the HRC Memorial, participant of numerous expeditions to the zone of armed conflict in the North Caucasus, co-author of books and reports.

4. Karetnikova Anna Georgievna – journalist, lawyer, activist of antiwar movement, member of Public Monitoring Commission of Moscow, employee of the program “Assistance for Persons Prosecuted in Criminal Proceedings for Political Reasons and Protection of Civil Activists”, member of the Writers’ Union of Russia, coordinator of Solidarity Union with political prisoners, member of the Political Council of the Moscow department of the United Democratic Movement “Solidarity”.

5. Kogan-Yasny Victor Valentinovich – activist of Memorial movement since the end of 1980’s,

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF THE INTER-REGIONAL PUBLIC ORGANIZATION HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE MEMORIAL2010in 1995 participant of numerous expeditions to the zone of armed conflict in the Republic of Chechnya, chairman of the non-governmental organization “Regional civic initiative – right to life and civil dignity”.

6. Lavut Alexander Pavlovich – mathematician, since the end of 1960’s activist of human rights movement, editor of “Chronicles of current developments”, in 1980–1986 a political prisoner in exile. Since 1990’s works in HRC Memorial, in 1995 worked of the zone of armed conflict in Chechnya; member of Moscow Memorial Board, member of the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Centre Board.

7. Osipov Alexander Gennadievich – ethnologist, affiliated researcher of the Independent Social Research Institute (Spb.), PhD, History, Institute of Sociology RAS post-doc. Since 1980’s as a researcher and human rights activist studied Meskhetian Turks. Participant of democratic movement in the USSR, in HRC Memorial was the head of the “Ethnic Discrimination in the Russian Federation” program.

8. Orlov Oleg Petrovich – chairman of the HRC Memorial Board, head of the program “Hot Spots”, member of the Expert Council under the Commissioner for Human Rights, member of the Board of the “International Historical-Enlightenment Human Rights and Humanitarian Society Memorial”.

9. Ponomarev Vitaly Anatolievich – since the end of 1980’s activist of democratic movement, Central Asia expert, journalist. In 2010 worked in the zone of conflict in Kyrgyzstan; head of the program “Monitoring Human Rights Violations in Central Asia”.

10. Rachinsky Yan Zbignevich – activist of Memorial movement since the end of 1980’s, was the head of the

Board of HRC Memorial, since 1990 participated in expeditions to the zone of armed conflict in the Republic of Chechnya; member of the Board of the “International Historical-Enlightenment Human Rights and Humanitarian Society Memorial”, co-chairman of Moscow Memorial.

11. Soboleva Daria Borisovna – sociologist, event manager for International Society “Memorial”, employee of the “Hot spots” program, secretary of the organizing committee “Russian Alternatives”.

12. Sokolov Alexander Victorovich – M.D., scientific officer, associate professor at the Russian State Medical University. Activist of Memorial movement since 1988, 1990–2000 participated in expeditions to “hot spots” of former USSR, worked in the zone of armed conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia, specialist in humanitarian law, author and co-author of a number of reports for Moscow Helsinki group and HRC “Memorial”.

13. Cherepova Olga Ivanovna – editor, translator, activist of Memorial movement since the end of 1980’s, member of Polish Commission of Memorial, member of Moscow Memorial Board, worked in “Ethnic Discrimination in the Russian Federation” program, employee of the “Migration and Law” Network; participated in expeditions studying deported nations: Crimean Tatars and Meskhetian Turks. Co-author of reports, compiler of the report on the discrimination of Georgians in Russia in 2006.

14. Cherkasov Alexander Vladimirovich – member of the Board of the “International Historical-Enlightenment Human Rights and Humanitarian Society Memorial”, member of the Expert Council under the Commissioner for Human Rights, employee of the “Hot spots” program, journalist.


HRC “MEMORIAL” | PROGRAMS

This is one of the first HRC Memorial programs that began in 1991. During the past years the officers worked in many “hot spots” which sprung up on the territory of the former Soviet Union: Nagorny-Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia-South Ossetia, Tajikistan, Moldova- Pridnestrovie, and the North Caucasus.

Currently the program is focused in the North Caucasus.

Aims of the program:• To assist with conflict reso-lution in the North Caucasus;• To reduce the level of vio-lence in this region;• To counteract to the use of conflicts in the North Caucasus for the sake of strengthening authoritarian and antidemo-cratic trends in the Russian Federation;• To fight against lawlessness and human rights violation in the course of counter-terrorism activities of the State.

To achieve these aims the HRC Memorial takes the following actions:• Provides information about human rights violations in the regions of the North Caucasus

“HOT SPOTS”

to the Russian authorities, Russian and international community, politicians, mass media, international organi-zations.• Provides information about criminal case falsification with respect to terrorist crimes.• Uses national mechanisms of human rights defense, strives for its effectiveness.

• Uses the European Court of Human Rights to provoke the Russian national legal mecha-nism of human rights defense to work more effectively.

The program has a number of projects:• “Information and Analytical Centre on the North Caucasus matters”

The program “Hot spots” is devoted to investigating human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian norms in areas of mass conflicts, which can develop or have already developed into armed conflicts. The program coordinators collect information about captives, hostages, and the deceased, and then distribute it to the relatives and concerned parties involved in exchanging prisoners, freeing hostages and the like.Oleg Orlov is the head of the program. [email protected]


Already we are aiming to establish fully operational representation in two republics, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. In Dagestan we managed over the course of a year to gather enough material to compile a report, published in 2011, on the human rights situation in the republic. The arrival of the new president Magomedsalam Magomedov gave our work a new direction, as, in contrast with the confrontation with the authorities that we experienced before, we began to positively cooperate with them. In Kabardino-Balkaria trial observation of the case of those who attacked Nalchik in 2005 continued and the body of information on other affairs was added to.

Cooperation with the Combined Mobile Groups of various human rights organisations which have been working in Chechnya from the end of 2009 has proven a very important element of our work in the republic.


• “Struggle against criminal case falsification in the North Caucasus”• “Database creation on the persons abducted in the conf lict zone of the North Caucasus”

In 2010 this program continued its work in the North Caucasus.

The year 2010 was marked by the very difficult and at times painful revival of work in the Chechen Republic after the murder of Natasha Estemirova. Work continued without her and also without several of our colleagues who were forced to flee Russia (the notification that work there would be continued was announced at the end of 2009). Unfortunately it has not been possible to fully restore representation in the Chechen Republic, because the authorities there have been purposefully creating an atmosphere of hostility around Memorial’s work.



The main task of the Net-work is to defend the rights and legal interests of forced migrants: by providing free consultations, drafting legal documents, and supporting them against administrative and judicial authorities.

In 2010, 47 offices worked in the Network. Half of them operated with support from UNHCR, while the rest worked on a volunteer ba-sis. The work of the Network made it possible to constantly monitor the situation of refu-gees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 40 regions (47 cities) of Russia, to evalu-ate the migration situation on the ground, and to respond quickly to urgent situations. Most importantly, the Net-work provided protection in court and rendered all possible assistance in cases of gross violations of the rights of refu-gees and internally displaced persons, working alongside other NGOs, Civil Society In-stitutions and Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, and government agencies. In 2010, offices were opened in Vladiv-ostok, Tambov and Kazan.

NETWORK “MIGRATION AND LAW”The Network of legal consulting “Migration and Law” was founded in 1996 with the assistance of UNHCR for refugees, forced migrants, and people who migrated inland in the regions of Russia.Head of the Network – Svetlana Gannushkina. [email protected]


April 26–28, the 29th regu-lar seminar for all Network lawyers was held in Moscow with the support of UNHCR, the Friedrich Ebert Foun-dation, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, and ECRE (the European Council on Refu-gees and Exiles). The topic of the seminar was “Interaction between the non-governmental sector and the authorities in protecting the rights of inter-nally displaced persons and migrants.”

October 28-30, the 30th regular seminar for all Net-work lawyers was held in Moscow. The topic of the semi-nar was “Problems of state-lessness and asylum in the Russian Federation.”

consultant) continued to partic-ipate in the Working Group of the Governmental Commission on Migration Policy. The Com-mission designed a bill amend-ing the laws “On Citizenship” and “On Legal Status of For-eign Citizens”. It is in the State Duma.

The bill radically changes the content of article 37 of the Law “On Legal Status of For-eigners,” which deals with the issue of legalization of citizens of the former Soviet Union,

long time residents of Russian territory whose legal status is not resolved. In accordance with the new version of article 37, from the time a person ar-rives from a former republic of the USSR and goes to the local Federal Migration Service to obtain a temporary residence permit, he cannot be forcibly expelled from Russia or sub-jected to a fine.


Legal assistance was provid-ed to the following categories of forced migrants:• Refugees with official status• Refugees without official status• People seeking asylum• Stateless persons• Internally displaced persons• Migrant workers and volun-tarily resettled persons

In 2010 Network lawyers:• Provided assistance in the form of legal advice to 17,251 refugees and internally dis-placed persons;• Initiated 2,806 lawsuits, complaints, and appeals to courts and other law enforce-ment agencies;• Provided support in 932 court cases;• Sent about 1,016 appeals to immigration services, passport and visa control, and the Visa Office, as well as 1,314 appeals to administrative authorities and other institutions; • Visited 577 temporary accommodation centres and places of compact settlement of refugees and migrants in order to study the situation and provide consultation;• Initiated 12 complaints to the European Court;• Provided other forms of as-sistance, including social, in 218 cases.

Network lawyers cooperated with other NGOs and nation-al diasporas in their regions by providing them with legal assistance, interacting with the Commissioner for Human Rights as well as with law enforcement and administra-tive authorities, and attending regional events organized by these institutions.

S. Gannushkina and M. Pet-rosyan (Network lawyer and



The program’s central work is monitoring political and reli-gious persecution in the region, especially in Uzbekistan, Turk-menistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Currently, the program’s main attentions have been fo-cused on:• Monitoring political repres-sions, • The human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan after the over-throw of Kurmanbek Bakiev’s regime, • Assistance in defending Cen-tral Asian refugees.

In the framework of the mon-itoring of political repression in the region the lists of persons who have been prosecuted for political and religious reasons in Uzbekistan are being con-stantly updated. Currently, the lists, which have been published since 1999, include informa-tion about more than 6,500 people, as well as about 1,200 people who have been declared wanted. Despite the fact that the data is incomplete, the list created by the HRC is the most

MONITORING OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA

complete and accurate avail-able to the international hu-man rights community. It is in demand both in Uzbekistan and the CIS, and at the interna-tional level, particularly when considering asylum applica-tions. This list is based on an evidence base that includes hundreds of sentences, media

publications, interviews, region-al human rights reports, etc.

Based on these materials, the report “Political Repres-sions in Uzbekistan in 2009-2010” was prepared.

Monitoring of human rights violations continues during

The program began in 1999. HRC Memorial is the only Russian human rights organization which is confidently working in Central Asia. Head of the program – Vitaly Ponomarev. [email protected]


Central Asia on questions of receiving asylum, monitoring of attempts of forcibly return refu-gees to their homeland from the CIS states, and preparing cover letters for UNHCR and migration services.

In June 2010 Memorial initiated a campaign (later joined by other organizations) in connection with the illegal arrest of 30 Uzbek refugees in Kazakhstan. In September, the program director began inves-tigation into the abduction, in Bishkek, of the son of a Kazakh religious refugee.

On December 7, Bakhrom Khamroev, a program employ-ee, was attacked and beaten by a special forces representative in Moscow. A criminal case has been initiated based on this event.

and collecting materials (documents, videos, etc.). In-terviews of refugees from Kyr-gyzstan were held in Bishkek, Moscow and Istanbul. Prelim-inary results of the investiga-tion conducted by the HRC Memorial were presented at a briefing in Warsaw on Octo-ber 1, 2010 during the annual meeting of the OSCE Human Dimension (publication of the full report is expected in 2011). In June 2010, the situ-ation estimates and recom-mendations were conveyed to President Rosa Otunbayeva at a meeting in Bishkek.

Training for Kyrgyzs human rights workers in the conflict zone was carried out in early July 2010.

A report titled, “Turkmeni-stan: Dashoguzskaya Women’s Prison” was prepared by civil activists in Turkmenistan with the assistance of the program.

The constant aim of the program’s work is consulta-tion provided to refugees from


the campaign of the fight with terrorism in Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Since spring 2010, the pro-gram has exercised monitoring of the situation in Kyrgyzstan, including documenting human rights violations connected to the large-scale inter-ethnic clashes of June 2010 in the southern part of that country.

In April 2010, after the fall of Kurmanbek Bakiev’s author-itarian regime in Kyrgyzstan, the government of that country lifted the entry ban on the pro-gram director.

In May 2010 during the amnesty, 32 participants in the “Nookatsky Action” were freed. A report on the abuses of this event was prepared by Memo-rial in 2009.

After the outbreak of ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan, the program began work in the conflict zone, carrying out interviews with witnesses of the events



Main activities of the pro-gram are:• protection of Chechen mili-tary conflicts victims’ rights – the victims of extrajudicial executions, massive bomb attacks, abductions, torture;• protection of rights of vic-tims of counter-terror opera-tions in the North Caucasus;• protection of rights of vic-tims of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment while being held in police stations or in custody;• protection against discrimi-nation on the basis of race or ethnicity;• protection of rights of per-sons who suffered from envi-ronmental pollution;• protection of foreigners’ rights in Russia;• protection of right to private and family life;• protection of right to freedom of expression and assembly;

Within the frameworks of the project in 2010 the follow-ing events were held:

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION THROUGH INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS

In Dagestan, Makhachkala a seminar was held on jury and protection mechanisms of human rights in the ECtHR. HRC Memorial invited 50 lawyers and attorneys from Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabar-dino-Balkaria, North Ossetia and Dagestan, who work di-rectly with the central office.

There was also moot court conducted on jury trial. The trainer and the judge was Sergey Pashin (the founder of the regional public asso-ciation Independent Expert Legal Council). V.Uvarov (member of the Independent Expert Legal Council) pre-sented the report “What is Material Evidence in Court?”

Lawyers of EHRAC/Memo-rial took part in the seminar “Justice: New Challenges-The Right to an Effective Remedy before an Independent Tribu-nal” which was organised by the FIDH in Yerevan, Armenia from 6 to 8 April 2010.

ПThe program “Human Rights Protection through International Mechanisms” emerged in 2000 as a joint project of the HRC Memori-al and European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, London. It is aimed at legal consulting on the preparation and lodging of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights, the improvement of profes-sional skills of lawyers, attorneys, and NGO’s, who submit complaints to the European Court.The head of the program is Tatiana Kasatkina. [email protected]


regional lawyers who directly work on the domestic level and prepare cases for the EHRAC/Memorial project.

In 2010 the program’s law-yers worked with more than 100 complaints concerning dif-ferent types of human rights violations on the territory of Russia. 23 complaints were lodged with ECtHR, 19 cases were communicated. The Court delivered 17 judgments.

Within the framework of the program twice a year a news-bulletin is issued, which contains the information and comments on selected Euro-pean Court’s judgments, discus-sions and analysis of relevant problems in the area of human rights violations and protection.

A new independent project Legal Clinic for Applications to the ECtHR was launched. The Clinic is aimed at train-ing students and young profes-sionals in bringing cases before the European Court of Human Rights.

formation office of the Council of Europe to represent its books and bulletins at the joint stand.

HRC Memorial together with EHRAC, held NGO Round Table “Taking Cases to the European Court of Hu-man Rights.” This seminar was aimed at the professional development of Russian prac-ticing lawyers and attorneys who work in partnership with Memorial.

It is important to note that the issues discussed during the seminar were related not only to the substantive rights en-shrined in the European Con-vention of Human Rights and additional Protocols, but also to some specific practical issues of bringing cases to Strasbourg, as well as to the topic of the Court’s procedure.

The seminar “The exhaus-tion of the domestic remedies in light of the recent develop-ments of the European Court’s case-law” was held in Grozny in the office of HRC Memo-rial. It was conducted for the


EHRAC lawyer Samantha Knights provided 5-day ex-tensive general and personal training for the lawyers of EH-RAC/Memorial. Personal skills development training (proce-dural issues of the Court) was followed by the group discus-sion on the implementation of the ECtHR judgments.

Lawyers of EHRAC/Memo-rial attended short courses: “European System of Human Rights Protection. The Work of the European Court of Human Rights and Execution of its Judgments” organized by Mos-cow State University of Foreign Affairs (MGIMO).

Working meeting with the representatives of Youth Hu-man Rights Movement, Trans-parency International and Higher Economics School took place. At the meeting partici-pants discussed possible collab-oration in educational projects and cooperation in working on freedom of assembly cases to be brought before the European Court. Lawyers of EHRAC/Me-morial attended the meeting.

HRC Memorial members participated in the Interna-tional Book Fair in Moscow. Memorial was invited by the of-fice of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of UN in the Russian Federation and the In-



The Legal Clinic for Applica-tions to the ECtHR is aimed at training professionals in bring-ing cases before the European Court of Human Rights. To learn the appropriate skills, law students and practicing lawyers alike are taking theo-retical courses on the principles of the European Court as well as consulting potential appli-cants on violations of European Convention on Human Rights.

The project began its work in April 2010 as a continuation of the program “Human Rights Protection through Interna-tional Mechanisms.” The deci-sion to create the project arose when the Memorial/European Human Rights Advocacy Cen-tre (EHRAC) project lawyers noted that even those lawyers with extensive experience in Russian law found it difficult to work with applications to the ECtHR. Along with that, in Russian universities the is-sues of the European system

LEGAL CLINIC FOR APPLICANTS TO THE ECtHR

for human rights protection are covered from a purely theoreti-cal point of view, even in the specialized courses.

Working in the Clinic under the leadership of supervisors,

trainees have the opportu-nity to use their theoretical knowledge to solve real clients’ cases while facing many of the actual issues and difficulties that arise when working with the ECtHR. Learning from the

The Legal Clinic for Applications to the ECtHR is aimed at training professionals in bringing cases before the European Court of Human Rights. To learn the appropriate skills, law students and practicing lawyers alike are taking theoretical courses on the principles of the European Court as well as consulting potential applicants on violations of European Convention on Human Rights.Head of the Project – Eleonora Davidyan. [email protected]


Court, its principles of admis-sibility, its tests for determin-ing whether a violation of the rights and freedoms guaran-teed by the Convention oc-curred, and its jurisprudence. After completion of the course, the interns were engaged in a moot court using real ECtHR cases, where they were divided into two groups, representing the applicant and the govern-ment. Lawyers from the Me-morial/EHRAC project were invited to play the role of judg-es. Trainees in the Clinic also had the opportunity to attend a two-day seminar, held by the Memorial/EHRAC project, and meet foreign experts.

In 2010 the Clinic operated without funding. However, next year the Clinic plans to imple-ment the full acceptance of citi-zens in order to provide them with legal assistance in dealing with the ECtHR.


experience of the lawyers in the Clinic, they develop the ability to handle difficult situations, think flexibly, and apply their knowledge in unfamiliar sce-narios. At the same time, this system provides free profes-sional consulting to citizens

of Russia and others who may have been victims of violations of the Convention on Human Rights.

In 2010 there were two courses of 12 lectures on the structure and work of the



In addition to monitoring of cases of criminal prosecution for political reasons and supporting political prisoners, since 2010 the program has also monitored the illegal harassment of civil activists in forms other than criminal prosecution. The most common forms of such harass-ment include the application of the Code of Administrative Offenses, expulsion from uni-versity, dismissal from work, putting activists under guard, restricting freedom of move-ment, illegal calls for “preventa-tive talks,” threats, etc.

ASSISTANCE FOR PERSONS PROSECUTED IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR POLITICAL REASONS AND PROTECTION OF CIVIL ACTIVISTS

Program Aims• To draw the attention of the Russian and international public to the presence of per-sons prosecuted under criminal law for political reasons in the Russian Federation;• To support those prosecuted for political reasons in the Rus-sian Federation;• To assist civil activists perse-cuted for their civic engagement;• To draw public attention to cases of such persecution.

In 2010, the program con-tinued to collect and compile

information about political repression and persecution in Russia. The program promptly responded to such cases around the country while attracting public attention towards them.

The program also organized media coverage of the harass-ment of civil activists, in-person observation of public events, and the collection of informa-tion from NGOs. The program has also started maintaining a database of harassment of civil activists. Program staff has at-tended public demonstrations in

The program for “Political Prisoners in Contemporary Russia” began its work in the summer of 2008. In November 2010, the Program received its new name and expanded its activities.Head of the program – Sergei Davidis. [email protected]


on May 31 and in support of Sergei Mokhnatkin was held at Triumph Square.• July 9: a rally with the participation of the Solidarity Movement was held in support of Andrei Erofeev and Yuri Samodurov before their trial.• July 26: a picket in defense of Yuliya Privedennaya was held.• October 30: a rally on the Day of Political Prisoners was held at the Lubyanka Stone in defense of contemporary Rus-sian political prisoners.

The program also held two charity concerts in Moscow and

St. Petersburg entitled “For Your Freedom and Ours.” They were attended by well-known cultural figures; the role of the program in their conduct was crucial.

A traditional “Sakharov May-Day”, organized by the program in 2010, was devoted to the issue of political prisoners.

The program also raised funds for the support of politi-cal prisoners at public events and concerts.

campaign of solidarity, they were released on their own recognizance.• Mikhail Pulin, convicted under Articles 165 and 282 of Criminal Code of Russia while already serving a 3.5 year sen-tence, had six months added to his imprisonment. Other per-sons also accused of belonging to the national-bolshevik party have been subjected to political persecution as well.

In 2010, together with its partner organization the Union for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, the program held a number of public outdoor and

cultural events aimed at break-ing the information blockade surrounding political prisoners in Russia. The Russian pub-lic’s involvement in activities in support of political prisoners included:• February 4: a picket in defense of detainee Alexei Di-movsky was held in Moscow.• May 19: a picket in defense of Alexei Sokolov and other political prisoners was held in Moscow.• June 16: a rally protesting police brutality against mem-bers of a non-violent protest


Moscow, including large rallies with dozens of pickets.

The program implemented a campaign of solidarity and support for those persecuted for political reasons, in particular:• Sergei Mokhnatkin, who was illegally sentenced in order to intimidate participants in the rally for freedom of assem-bly in Triumph Square on the 31st of every month.• Nikolai Petrovsky, who was unlawfully deprived of his Russian citizenship and faces extradition to Belarus, where he is being prosecuted for his critical remarks against Presi-

dent Alexander Lukashenko.• Alexei Sokolov, a member of the Sverdlovsk Public Moni-toring Commission who was convicted in 2010 on falsified charges of robbery and sen-tenced to 5 years in prison. As a result of the human rights community’s nationwide pro-test campaign, the case has be-come a symbol of human rights activists’ persecution in Russia.• Maxim Solopov and Alexei Gaskarov, two anti-fascists who were accused of participation in riots in Khimki. However due to the program’s expanded



The same program was set up in the Prigorodny district of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. The program teaches business management, while simultaneously organizes activ-ities aimed at the local popula-tion, first of all aimed at school children.

The aims of the program are:• To reduce ethnic tensions in the region through economic stabilization,• To reconcile the interests of different sections of the popula-tion;• To integrate the Ingush eth-nic minority into the general population through meetings and communication between local communities;• To restore multicultural teaching and confidence through the creation of plat-forms encouraging interaction between the Ingush and Os-setian population, targeted mainly at children, teenagers, teachers and local authorities. The objectives of the program:

HARMONIZATION OF INTER-ETHNIC RELATIONSTHROUGH THE CREATION OF SMALL BUSINESS IN THE PRIGORODNY DISTRICT OF NORTH OSSETIA-ALANIA

• The empowerment of schools as the bedrock of socialization and integration for children and young adults, contribut-ing to a reduction in ethnic segregation through teaching Ingush and Ossetian pupils in combined groups;• To make contact with the schools of the Prigorodny

district and the organization of different events aimed at increasing inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance;• Integration through econom-ic empowerment and enhanced prospects for the inhabitants of the Prigorodny district of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania and decrease in the

The program’s work began in 2007, assisted by the organization “Russian-German exchange”. In 2000 in Ingushetia, together with the HRC Memorial, the program held courses on how to set up small busi-nesses, aimed at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Chechnya. The majority of these small enterprises are now doing business and making profits for the participants of the courses.The head of the program is Julia Chardina. [email protected]


Marieluise Beck (member of the German Bundestag, mem-ber of the Greens, member of PACE), local authorities.

In December business school had sixth graduation.

On the New Year Eve a joint concert for Ossetian and In-gush children was organized.

In 2010 with the assistance of the International Fellow-ship for Reconciliation a short film contest about the life in a village and school “Come on a Visit” was held.

As a result of the program in 2010:• 399 people received training;• 25 businesses were set up; 24 of them are functioning, 50 new jobs were created;• 4 round tables took place for the representatives of local au-thorities, residents and consult-ants of study groups;• Due to the provision of new equipment, new activities ap-peared in schools (for example sports lessons, photo- and video study groups);• The quality of teaching in schools increased. There were new opportunities for interac-tion between Ossetian and Ingush children, which con-tributes to the program’s main aim of making peace between communities.

Due to the joint activities, children of different nation-alities had the opportunity to get to know each other. This experience of positive interac-tion is a key factor in creating “bridges” between different nationalities.

Also 3-mounth course “How to Become a Businessman” started.

The head of the program met with the sponsor of the program from the “Russian-German exchange”, Bishop of San Clemente a Saratov Clem-ens Pickel.

On November 19 in Kurtat village HRC Memorial and “Civic Assistance” Commit-tee organized a press-confer-ence, on which the topic of the peace-building work of these organizations in the region was discussed.

Julia Chardina told about the work of the Centre for As-sistance for small business, which taught more then 300 people during two years, 36 business-projects received support and continue to work. Computer courses and English lessons are organized in the Centre.

The participants of the con-ference: S.A. Gannushkina,


region’s dependence on federal subsidies;• To change the regional authorities’ attitude towards the problem of inter-ethnic relations and integration of the Ingush ethnic minority popu-lation.

In January 2010 an inte-gration event – creative game “Cinema” was organized for 56 pupils of Prigorodny district.

In March 2010 UNHCR conference took place in Vladi-kavkaz where the possibility of work with refugees of 1992 from Georgia was discussed.

In May 2010 ten-day comput-er courses for Prigorodny dis-trict residents were conducted.

In June 2010 a roundtable “Authorities’ Assistance to the Development of Small Business in Prigorodny district” took place.

On September 17 a roundta-ble “Crediting of Small Busi-ness in the District” was held.


HRC “MEMORIAL” | NEW PUBLICATIONS. PARTICIPATION IN BOOK FAIRS

Human Rights Centre “Memo-rial” at “NON/FICTION” 2010

At “NON/FICTION,” the 12th Annual International Book Fair for High Quality Fiction and Non-Fiction held at the Central House of Artists on December 1, 2010, a presenta-tion of books published in 2010 by the Human Rights Centre “Memorial” took place, includ-ing “Three Years of ‘Peace.’ Bulletins of the Human Rights Centre “Memorial.” Summer 2006-Summer 2009;” “Russia-Chechnya: The Chain of Mis-takes and Crimes” (reissue); “People Live Here. Chechnya: A Chronicle of Violence. Part 5” and also conducted a discussion on the topic: “North Caucasus: Years of War, Years of Peace. What are the Results?”

Oleg Orlov (Chairman of the Board of HRC Memorial) Alexander Cherkasov (member of the Board of HRC Memo-rial and expert for the HRC’s “Hot Spots” program,”) Tatya-na Lokshina (deputy director of the Moscow office “Human Rights Watch”) and Boris Du-bin (sociologist, head of the socio-political studies depart-ment of Levada-centre) took part in the discussion. Present-ers discussed the history of the origins of conflicts in the North Caucasus, of the difficult

NEW PUBLICATIONS.PARTICIPATION IN BOOK FAIRS

modern political situation in the region, of problems of the local population’s interaction with authorities and about how these issues appear in HRC publications. The central theme of discussion became the mas-sive human rights violations in the North Caucasus during the two Chechen wars and during peacetime antiterrorist opera-tions. According to the authors of the books, massive human rights violations are the main obstacle to stabilization of the situation in the region.

Human Rights Centre “Memori-al” at the Moscow International Book Fair

On September 1 the 13th

Moscow International Book

Fair opened at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre - the larg-est and most significant book forum in the country.

On the invitation of the UN High Commissioner for Hu-man Rights and the Informa-tion Office of the European Council in Russia, on Septem-ber 2 and 3 Tatyana Kasat-kina (Executive Director of HRC Memorial and head of the “Human Rights Protection through International Mecha-nisms” program) and Uma Kerimova (Project-coordinator of the EHRAC/Memorial) took part in the fair, where they presented at a joint stand on “Human Rights” the EHRAC/Memorial project and the project’s latest informational bulletin.


“People Live Here. Chechnya: A Chronicle of Violence. Part 5”Authors-Compilers: U. Baisaev, D. Grushkin.

The epigraph of this book was granted by the second President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. It’s possible that he may have prompted human rights activists from the “Memo-

rial” Society with just the idea of such work.“We cannot predict how our words will answer...”Many remember the episode in Brussels, how, in

answer to the question of a French correspondent on large-scale violations of human rights in Chechnya, our President demanded “addresses, names” and even, as I recall, pounded his fist on the table.

We thank the President – and we will be specific. Dis-cussions of genocide of the Chechen people are publicity. The information collected in this book was last minute in the Hague, in the International Tribunal. And the ashes fell into hearts (of those who have them.)

The remainders can squint their eyes a bit harder and continue to watch reports on the main federal channels about peaceful life in the republics. There is no contradic-tion in that: to continue to watch and believe - it means to close one’s eyes.

The information, gathered in this book, should have captured the attention of the General Prosecutor of the RF, but if our prosecutor becomes interested in anything, it will be, I think, the names of the book’s authors.

And to find them will be far easier than those who for years have been killing, torturing and raping in the name of the Russian Federation.

However, history goes on. Slowly, but it goes. And the facts presented in this book will be required, hopefully during our lifetime. This is a weak consolation, because murders in Chechnya, with our silent consent or direct promotion, go on every day.

The book which you have in your hands will not stop these murders, but maybe it will hurry the hour of our bit-ter insights and shame.

Viktor ShenderovichIn the fifth part, recalling events that occurred in

Chechnya from October to December 2001.

Reissue of “Russia-Chechnya: The Chain of Mistakes and Crimes”Compilers: O. Orlov, A. Cherkasov

In the preface to the first edition of this book, it was written that “In both Russia and Chechnya society must understand the tragic experi-ences of the Chechen war” (then it was still the “first.”)

It was necessary to do everything in order to prevent war. It seemed

that very little was necessary for this: recognize crimes as crimes, and criminals as criminals, and to punish them.

In both Moscow and Grozny, the “war party” won. The results are well known. Three years after the war and

one year after the publication of this book, the impossible had become the inevitable, and the “Second Chechen War” began.

This book focuses on the events of 1994-1996. The events of the preceding and following periods are discussed only so far as they are necessary for understanding the context of the First Chechen War and its place in the flow of events in the Caucasus and Russia as a whole - for this the chronicle of events was extended for the second edition. Supplements and short biographies were partly revised in the current index, it is important to understand the subse-quent fates of those who began and participated in the war.

In order to avoid endless war, we must understand its reasons. In order to break the chain of mistakes and crimes we must, link by link, return to the beginning. The chain of violence, crime and mistakes is still unbroken.

“Three Years of ‘Peace.’ Bulletins of the Human Rights Centre “Me-morial.” Summer 2006-Summer 2009”Authors-Compilers: O. Orlov, A. Cherkasov, G. Verny

This book focuses on events and processes that have occurred in the republics of the North Caucasus in the past three-plus years – from June 2006 to August 2009. The genre is unusual - it is not a thematic human rights

report. The book is not only about the human rights situ-ation, but also on related social and political issues and

problems. Collected under one cover, issues of the quar-terly bulletin of HRC Memorial, “The Situation in the Con-flict Zone in the North Caucuses: Assessment by Human Rights Defenders” highlight, as a periodical publication, not just the narrow human rights issues, but also a wider range of problems.

We began to publish these bulletins in summer 2006, and, at first sight, the time covered by this book may seem, if not arbitrary, at least random. In fact, the choice was quite meaningful. In 2006 the character of the conflict itself and all parties involved changed - in this short pres-entation we will outline the background of events. These three years of “peace” were full of their own events and meanings.

The book was presented at the Non/Fiction book-fair in December 2010.

HRC “MEMORIAL” | NEW PUBLICATIONS. PARTICIPATION IN BOOK FAIRS

ALL PUBLICATIONS FROM HRC MEMORIAL CAN BE OBTAINED FOR FREE AT OUR OFFICE, CALL IN ADVANCE AT: +7 (495) 225-3118.


Human Rights Defenders of North Caucasus Won “For Courage” Prize in Indonesia

In April “For Courage” international prize presentation ceremony took place in Jakarta (Indonesia). The laureates came from four NGO’s from different countries. Dokka Itslaev, the lawyer of Human Rights Centre Memorial in Chechnya, got the prize in the name of all human rights defenders in North Caucasus.

The prize ““For Courage” is awarded every two years by the Secretariat of the World Movement for Democracy which brings together several thousands of democracy ac-tivists, practitioners, scholars, journalists, politicians and public figures from all global regions, promoting human rights and democracy strategies.

HRC “MEMORIAL” | AWARDS & PRIZES

Memorial Gets Sergio Vieira de Mello Prize

On October 7, 2010 in Kra-kow (Poland) Society Memorial was awarded Sergio Vieira de Mello Prize*.

The Prize was awarded in recognition “of service in ad-vancing the peaceful coexistence and cooperation of societies, reli-gions and cultures”, the diploma reads.

Tatyana Kasatkina – execu-tive director of Human Rights Centre Memorial – received the diploma and the prize during

the international conference “Eastern Europe – Challenge of Modernization”.

“Thanks to Memorial, universally accessible exhibi-tions, collections of documents and special libraries col-lecting materials related to political persecution in the totalitarian communist system were created, – press-re-lease issued regarding the award ceremony. – A very im-portant area of the Society’s activity is monitoring human rights in the countries of the former Soviet Union”. During the award ceremony special mention of Memorial’s work in the North Caucasus was made.

* Following the initiative of the Villa Decius Associa-tion, Sergio Vieira de Mello Prize was established in 2003 with an aim to promote democracy and tolerance, and to pay tribute to Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN High Commis-sioner for Human Rights (2002-2003), killed in a bomb attack in the UN headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Svetlana Gannushkina Awarded Russian Cossacks’ Prize

On May 13, 2010 Svetlana Gannushkina, member of the Board of HRC Memorial, head of the “Migration and Law” Network, chair of the “Civic Assistance” Committee, member of the Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, was awarded Russian Cossacks’ Prize Faith and Service Tribute.

Svetlana Gannushkina was awarded this Prize for the protection of Russian speaking countrymen who fled to Russia from persecution in Central Asia.

“A Cossack, who had lived in Uzbekistan, fled away be-cause he was persecuted for refusal to testify against the owner of the business where he had worked as a security chief. He says that the owner was just deprived of his busi-ness by the relatives of one Uzbek senior official.

Our applicant lived in Russia without registration for a long time; he couldn’t work, marry and walk along the street. His legalization moved forward with our help but it isn’t finished yet. He got married, registered in migration body and I hope he will get a residence permit and civic rights,” - tells Gannushkina.

This Cossack is responsible for work with young people in Russian Cossacks Organization. He told his ataman (Cossack chieftain) about “Migration and Law” Network, “Civic Assistance” Committee and they decided to award human rights activists. On May 14, 2010 Eugeniy Gladkov, ataman’s comrade, Cossack colonel, awarded Gannushkina with Cross and Prize paper.

“We speak little with young people,” – says Gannush-kina. – “Maybe, we have to meet young Cossacks and to know closer each other.”


the President of the Russian Federation S. Gannushkina.

The trial has already finished in 2011. At the last court session public prosecu-tor asked the trial to find Orlov guilty and inflict a penalty of 150,000 roubles, while the representative of the victim asked the trial to sentence him to three years in general regime colony

At the final court session on June 14, 2011, Karina Morozo-va acquitted Oleg Orlov.

HRC “MEMORIAL” | CRIMINAL CASE

On July 6, 2010 accusations were presented against Orlov under of part 3, Art.129 (libel) of the Criminal Code of Russia.

On September 13 at the cir-cuit court №363 of the Kham-ovniki district of Moscow the first court session chaired by magistrate Karina Morozova took place. Lawyer Henry Reznik stood for the defense of O. Orlov. The representative of the victim R. Kadyrov was An-drei Krasnenkov.

In the course of several court sessions many wit-

CRIMINAL CASEKADYROV V. ORLOV. COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

nesses were interrogated, among them: editor of the internet portal “Caucasian Knot” G. Shvedov, head of the “Committee against tor-ture” I. Kalyapin, Grozny city mayor M. Khuchiev, press-secretary of the Chechen government and of the President A. Kari-mov, Ombudsman in the Chechen Republic N. Nuk-hazhiev, deputy director of the Moscow bureau of Hu-man Rights Watch T. Lok-shina, member of the Civil Society Institutions and Hu-man Rights Council under

On July 15, 2009 in a Memorial declaration “About the murder of Nata-lia Estemirova” Oleg Orlov declared the President of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov responsible for the murder of HRC Memorial’s em-ployee in Caucasus Natalia Estemirova.


and human rights activists for Dagestan discussed ab-ductions and disappearances, the torture of suspects in-cluding women, extrajudicial executions, brutal treatment in prisons, and the criminal investigations of independ-ent journalists. Dick Marty and members of his delegation were shown video, photograph-ic material, and documents confirming the aforementioned violations.

At the end of his trip Dick Marty wrote the report “Legal Remedies to Human Rights Vi-olations in the North Caucasus” and relevant draft resolution.

HRC “MEMORIAL” | INTERNATIONAL VISITS

PACE Delegation Visits North Caucasus

In March 2010 a delegation from the Parliamentary As-sembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) headed by Dick Marty, PACE special rapporteur and chair of the PACE Human Rights and Political Affairs Committee, visited republics of the North Caucasus.

In Ingushetia, Dick Marty and his colleagues met with representatives from Hu-man Rights Centre Memorial. The meeting was attended by locals whose friends or fam-ily members had been killed, abducted, or gone missing in 2009, either in that republic or outside, and also by relatives of those who had been convicted or were under investigation. The spokespeople unanimously declared that the government was not defending their rights and was not making enough ef-fort to find and call to account those guilty of abductions, torture, and illegal executions. The victims’ relatives said that there was no longer any hope for them that justice would be achieved in their country.

In the Chechen Republic the European parliamentarians vis-ited representatives from HRC Memorial in Grozny and met with members of NGOs. Speak-ing on the subject of his visit to the republic, Dick Marty re-

INTERNATIONAL VISITS

marked that it was about under-standing how Europe can help the Chechen people who have suffered so much. “We are here not as judges, but as members of a pan-European family. I would like to assure you that the people of Europe have been following and will continue to follow what has happened and is happen-ing in your republic,’ said Marty. Memorial members related grave violations of human rights including incidents of protracted unlawful detainments and fabri-cated criminal cases. They also spoke of the fearful atmosphere and social delinquency.

At a meeting with the PACE spokesperson, victims


PACE Delegation Visits Ingushetia

On September 2nd 2010 a delegation from the European Parliament headed by the representative for the Human Rights Subcommittee on Hu-man Rights Heidi Hautala vis-ited Ingushetia.

The parliamentarians met with Ombudsman for the Re-public of Ingushetia and also spoke with human rights activ-ists as well as with people who have suffered as a result of the actions of ‘siloviks’ and their relatives.

The representatives of the European Parliament listened with interest to all those gath-ered. The head of the delega-tion Heidi Hautala thanked the speakers for their candid discourse. She emphasised the importance of meetings such as this where it is possible to see with one’s own eyes and listen to the victims of the abuses of power. Hautala and her col-leagues promised to report what they had heard to the other members of the European Parliament.

PACE Session in Strasbourg

On June 21st and 22nd 2010 a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eu-rope was held in Strasbourg. At the session special rapporteur Dick Marty presented his report “Legal Remedies to Human Rights Violations in the North Caucasus”. Also invited to at-tend the meeting in Strasbourg were Oleg Orlov, Yekaterina Sokirianskaia (HRC Memorial employee), Igor Kaliapin (head of Combined mobile groups in the Chechen Republic), and also three citizens of the North Cau-casus who are the complainants in cases initiated for crimes committed by representatives of authority.

Both Dick Marty’s report and resolution were accepted at the meeting. For the first time since Russia’s inclusion in PACE the Russian delegation did not remonstrate against the report on the human rights situation in the North Cauca-sus. Human rights activists

consider it as very valuable and positive step.

Over the course of the ses-sion, the film “The Victims Speak”, an interview on the sub-ject of human rights violations in the North Caucasus writ-ten by HRC Memorial employ-ees, was projected onto a large screen in the PACE building.

HRC “MEMORIAL” | INTERNATIONAL VISITS

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