{"id":7020,"date":"2013-05-16T08:30:22","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T08:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memorial.spb.ru\/?p=7020"},"modified":"2013-05-21T19:05:31","modified_gmt":"2013-05-21T15:05:31","slug":"human-rights-defenders-ask-un-experts-to-witness-for-the-defense-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/news\/human-rights-defenders-ask-un-experts-to-witness-for-the-defense-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Human rights defenders ask UN experts to witness for the defense in court"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 7, 2013, Saint-Petersburg. Antidiscrimination centre (ADC) \u201cMemorial\u201d has appealed to the UN Committee against Torture with a request to witness in its defense in a court case against it which will consider whether ADC should be registered as a \u201cforeign agent\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d, which defends the rights of victims of discrimination, became the third Russian non-commercial organization facing an administrtaive court case concerning alleged violations of the trems of operation by a non-commercial organization which acts as a foreign agent (Article 19.34 of Russian code for administrative violations). Human rights report sent by ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d to the UN Committee against Torture was qualified as \u201cpolitical activity\u201d following the enactment of the so-called \u201claw on NCOs as foreign agents\u201d even though the report was sent before the law went into effect. This report featured information on arbitrary police actions against Roma people, labor migrants and civil rights defenders. It was prepared for the 49th<\/sup> session of the UN Committee against Torture which was held in Geneva on November 8-13, 2012.<\/p>\n

ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d called on the representaticves of the UN Committee against Torture, who participated in considering the report and preparing recommendations to the Russian Federation, to take part in court hearings against NCOs as a witness for the defense and claim the legal right of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d and its directior Olga Abramenko, who has presented the report to the 49th<\/sup> session of the Committee, to cooperate with the Committee and have its own point of view concerning arbitrary police actions against vulnerable minorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court case against ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d could become a dangerous precedent and put in danger the operations of all other human rights defenders in Russia\u201d, Olga Abramenko, director of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d, stated.<\/p>\n

Human rights defenders have also appealed to the special reporter on the right to free peaceful assembly and association, as well as to special reporter on the situation of human rights activists, calling them to denounce reprisals against NCOs for spread of information and preparing legal recommendations. Similar appeals are now being prepared to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which has specifically recommended to the Russian government in February this year not to place a tag of \u201corganization serving as a foreign agent\u201d onto the NCOs dealing with the violation of rights of national minorities, and to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is expected to consider report on the rights of children in the Russian Federation in June 2013 (the latter report also includes a report by ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d on the discrimination of certain groups of children).<\/p>\n

Background information