UPDATE ON UNITED CIVIC FRONT ACTIVIST'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 003805

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR RS
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON UNITED CIVIC FRONT ACTIVIST'S
HOSPITALIZATION


Classified By: Charge d'affaires Daniel A. Russell. Reason: 1.4 (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) A Consulate St. Petersburg officer in Murmansk has
confirmed the substance of media accounts that United Civic
Front activist Larissa Arap has been involuntarily committed
to a psychiatric hospital in the Murmansk region. Arap was
apparently hospitalized by local psychiatric authorities
unhappy with the bad publicity about practices in their
institutions generated by an earlier media account for which
she was a source. At the request of Human Rights Ombudsman
Vladimir Lukin, the head of the Independent Psychiatric
Association has assembled a panel of experts that was
scheduled to travel to Murmansk August 2 in order to
investigate the case. End summary.


2. (U) During August 1 meetings in Murmansk, a Consulate St.
Petersburg officer confirmed media accounts that United Civic
Front (UCF) activist Larissa Arap was involuntarily committed
to a psychiatric hospital in Murmansk on July 5, then
transferred on July 26 to a psychiatric hospital in the town
of Apetity, about 300 kilometers from Murmansk, following a

July 18 district court ruling.


3. (U) UCF representatives said that Arap had been
institutionalized July 5 while obtaining medical documents
necessary to renew her drivers license. UCF and members of
Arap's family believe she was committed because she had been
quoted in a June 8 article on abuse in psychiatric hospitals
entitled "Madhouse" and published by the opposition group
"Other Russia" on the occasion of its June 12 "March of
Dissent" in Murmansk. UCF told the Consulate that doctors in
both the Murmansk and Apetity hospitals had referred to the
article as if it were in some way related to Arap's
hospitalization.

4. (U) Arap had earlier been committed to a psychiatric
institution, in 2004, after she had sought treatment from a
doctor at her local clinic, reportedly for stress she was
experiencing as chairwoman of her neighborhood's housing
cooperative. UCF claimed she was at that time
institutionalized for about two months, again allegedly
against her will.


5. (U) Arap's lawyer has reportedly appealed the district
court's ruling to the Murmansk regional court. Her husband
has filed a complaint with the district prosecutor's office.


6. (SBU) Arap's institutionalization has been the subject of
dozens of articles in national and local newspapers, and has
sparked an outcry by the Russian human rights community. In
response to appeals by UCF and others, Human Rights Ombudsman
Vladimir Lukin on July 30 asked the President of the
Independent Psychiatric Association Yuriy Savenko to assemble
a panel of experts to investigate the Arap case. Panel
representatives reportedly departed Moscow August 2 for
Murmansk.

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Comment
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7. (C) All of the information we have so far on this case
comes from the UCF. Dr. Savenko, who is well known to the
Embassy, is an excellent choice by Lukin to try to establish
the facts in this case. Based on our limited information,
the mistreatment of Arap appears to be the work of local
psychiatric authorities, unhappy with the bad publicity about
practices in their institutions generated by the June 8
"Other Russia" article. That said, questions remain about
Arap's hospitalization two years ago, which no one is
claiming to have been politically motivated.
RUSSELL