Week-ending 19 November 2021
This week attention has remained focused on the fate of the Memorial organisations – the International Memorial Society and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, both of which are facing lawsuits brought by prosecutors to close them down. The General Prosecutor’s Office has brought a suit against International Memorial Society to close the group for labelling violations under the ‘foreign agent’ law; Memorial Human Rights Centre is facing a similar suit brought by Moscow prosecutors, but with the additional charge of ‘justifying’ terrorism and extremism. In a public statement more than 60 Russian scholars, including members of the Academy of Sciences and the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Centre, called on the authorities not to close down Memorial. In a joint appeal, Mikhail Gorbachev and the editor in chief of the Novaya gazeta newspaper Dmitry Muratov said attempts to close Memorial have ’caused anxiety and concern in the country, which we share.’ Dunja Mijatović, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, added her voice to the chorus of international objections to the moves by the Russian authorities, saying in a powerful statement: ‘I am dismayed to learn that the Human Rights Centre Memorial is also under a liquidation procedure on the grounds of their legitimate work being considered as justification of extremist and terrorist activities. Instead of harassing and stigmatising human rights NGOs, the Russian authorities should co-operate with them and civil society at large and create a safe and enabling working environment. They should therefore discontinue the liquidation proceedings against International Memorial and the Human Rights Centre Memorial. I intend to raise these issues with the Russian authorities as a matter of priority.’
RFE/RL, 13 November 2021: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused Russian authorities of attacking freedom of expression by trying to shut down one of Russia’s most venerated human rights groups and demanded that they quit using a controversial law on “foreign agents” to persecute and intimidate society. Blinken’s remarks, via Twitter, follow reports of a two-track campaign by Russian prosecutors to close down the widely respected Memorial Human Rights Center and International Memorial.
FIDH, 15 November 2021: The Observatory has been informed about the risks of liquidation of the non-governmental organisations International Memorial and the Human Rights Center “Memorial” (HRC Memorial) in Moscow. On November 11, 2021, International Memorial received a notification from the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation informing them that the Prosecutor General’s Office filed a lawsuit against the NGO. In the lawsuit, the Prosecutor General’s Office requested the liquidation of International Memorial on the ground that the NGO systematically violated Russia’s ”Foreign Agent” law, in particular, the requirements to label all their materials.
RFE/RL, 16 November 2021: “We consider this assault by the prosecutor’s office to be just one of many actions by the authorities in recent times that are systematically intended to suppress the institutions of civil society, among which Memorial occupies a leading position,” reads a November 12 statement by Moscow’s Sakharov Center.
RFE/RL, 16 November 2021: A group of leading Russian scholars has called on the authorities to reconsider a move aimed at shutting down one of Russia’s most respected human rights groups — Memorial. More than 60 Russian scholars, including members of the Academy of Sciences and the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center, said the announcement last week by Memorial that it had been notified by Russia’s Supreme Court that prosecutors had filed a demand to dissolve the group over systematic violations of “foreign agent” legislation “is an attempt to deprive the nation of its memory.”
Front Line Defenders, 16 November 2021: On 11 November 2021, the International Historical and Human Rights Society ‘Memorial’ (International Memorial) received a notice from the Supreme Court of Russian Federation, stating that the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation filed a motion to permanently shut down the association citing systemic violation of the “foreign agents” law. The court hearing is scheduled for 25 November 2021. On the same day, Human Rights Center “Memorial” (HRC “Memorial”) received a confirmation that the Prosecutor’s Office in Moscow filed a motion to the Moscow City Court to permanently shut down the HRC Memorial; the date of the hearing is not yet confirmed.
Human Rights in Ukraine, 17 November 2021: In its latest attempt to crush the Memorial Human Rights Centre, Russia has used a new and very dangerous weapon, with major implications for occupied Crimea. In its application to the Moscow City Court to have Memorial HRC dissolved, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office claimed that the NGO’s materials contain “elements of the justification of extremism and terrorism”. The material in question would appear to be Memorial’s list of political prisoners and its reports on individual cases, where Russians, Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainians are imprisoned as Jehovah’s Witnesses or for alleged involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir. While at present Russia is using this weapon very selectively, it could become a widespread form of terror against all of those who speak out against mounting religious persecution.
Human Rights Watch [Tanya Lokshina] , 17 November 2021: Throughout Russia’s contemporary history, Memorial has been the backbone of the country’s human rights community. It has been the epicenter of Russian civil society, the protector of memory about Soviet repression and post-Soviet human rights abuses, and a go-to place for critical thinkers, artists, academics and others concerned about the future of their country.
Dunja Mijatović, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, 19 November 2021: As various Council of Europe bodies, including the Secretary General and my Office, have repeatedly stated, the “foreign agents” law falls short of international and European human rights standards and should be repealed as a matter of priority. Applying it to shut down Memorial groups serves as another illustration of its use as a tool of reprisals against civil society and human rights defenders. In addition, I am dismayed to learn that the Human Rights Centre Memorial is also under a liquidation procedure on the grounds of their legitimate work being considered as justification of extremist and terrorist activities. Instead of harassing and stigmatising human rights NGOs, the Russian authorities should co-operate with them and civil society at large and create a safe and enabling working environment. They should therefore discontinue the liquidation proceedings against International Memorial and the Human Rights Centre Memorial. I intend to raise these issues with the Russian authorities as a matter of priority.
RFE/RL, 19 November 2021: Two Russian Nobel Peace Prize winners have issued a joint appeal for authorities to drop a bid to close one of Russia’s most venerated human rights groups — Memorial. In a joint statement on November 18, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, and the editor in chief of the Novaya gazeta newspaper, Dmitry Muratov, said attempts to close Memorial have “caused anxiety and concern in the country, which we share.”
