MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

16.12.2008

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Vittorio Agnoletto
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
on the recent attacks against human rights defenders in Russia

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B6-0630/2008

B6‑0636/2008

European Parliament resolution on the recent attacks against human rights defenders in Russia

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its previous resolutions on the human rights situation in the placeplaceRussian Federation;

A)  Whereas Russia is a member state of the Council of Europe that has committed itself to fully respecting human and citizens' rights;

B)  Having regard to the second anniversary of the murder of the widely respected independent investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose brutal killing has not yet been fully investigated and solved;

C)  Whereas numerous attempts on the life of human rights defenders have been registered from July to October 2008, including the Ingush opposition member Akhmed Kotiev, human rights defender Zurab Tsechoev, human rights activist Dmitrii Kraiukhin from Orel city, human rights activist Stanislav Dmitrievski from Nizhni Novgorod;

D)  Whereas on August 31, 2008, the owner of an Ingush independent website, Magomed Evloev, was killed while having been taken into police custody;

E)  Whereas a leading Russian human rights lawyer, Karinna Moskalenko, who has successfully represented the cases of 30 Russian citizens in the Strasbourg human rights court, fell victim in mid-October to an attempted poisoning by mercury deposited in her car in Strasbourg;

F)  highlighting the situation of human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers working in the North Caucasus, many of whom have in recent years been subjected to threats, harassment, abuse and on occasion enforced disappearance;

G)  Whereas investigators and judicial authorities of the placeplaceRussian Federation have failed, so far, to demonstrate their full commitment to identifying the perpetrators of those crimes and bring them to justice;

H)  Considérant que plus de 150 personnes ont été interpellées le 14 décembre 2008 à Moscou et à Saint-Pétersbourg lors de manifestations de l'opposition à l'appel de l'ancien champion d'échecs et dirigeant politique Garry Kasparov;

1)  Expresses its concern about numerous attacks on the lives of human rights defenders in placeplaceRussia, including lawyers who are representing citizens' rights;

2)  Attend des autorités judiciaires et politiques russes qu'elles s'engagent davantage dans la recherche des auteurs de ces crimes afin qu'ils puissent être jugés;

3)  Urges the Russian authorities to end impunity for violence against human rights defenders and the media;

4)  Urges the Russian authorities to ensure on all levels that justice will be done in regard to the murder of Anna Politkovskaya; notes that two years after the killing, her murderers are still at large and there has been no independent investigation into those who may have ordered the killing;

5)  exprime sa vive préoccupation quant à la répression des manifestations à Moscou et Saint-Pétersbourg ce 14 décembre ainsi qu'à l'arrestation de dizaines de militants; rappelle aux autorités russes la nécessité que soient garanties la liberté d'expression, de manifestation et d'organisation de tous les partis politiques russes et des organisations de la société civile de ce pays;

6)  Charge son Président de transmettre cette résolution au Conseil, à la Commission, au gouvernement et parlement de la Fédération de Russie.