HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: YEKATERINBURG VISIT OF DRL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEKATERINBURG 000054 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI RS SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: YEKATERINBURG VISIT OF DRL REF: YEKAT 30 Sensitive But Unclassified. Not for Internet distribution. ¶1. (U) Introduction: Susan Corke, DRL's EUR team leader, visited Yekaterinburg July 26-28, meeting with local human rights activists and sitting in on a blogger's class conducted by the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations. Her visit provided an excellent opportunity to catch up on local human rights issues and freedom of the press in the region. End introduction. Memorial Active but Unseen -------------- ¶2. (SBU) At the Yekaterinburg office of Memorial, our hosts commented on the usefulness of the DRL-funded training for investigative journalists. One of Memorial's goals is to raise public awareness of human rights issues but there is a limited number of journalists or media outlets willing to work in this area. Memorial's experience is that journalists who have completed the training are more willing to work with them, and more skilled in presenting the issues. In addition to interaction with media outlets, Memorial collaborates closely with schools and universities. To raise awareness of human rights among the younger generation, Memorial organizes round table discussions, conferences, seminars, cultural, and historical projects. Memorial sponsors academic competitions for students on the history of repression, and for teachers on the history of totalitarian regimes in Russia. In Krasnoyarsk, students of the faculty of history of Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical University (i.e., future teachers of history) meet with victims of Stalin's repression, providing them an understanding of the social tragedy that resulted from Stalin's policies. ¶3. (SBU) Four years ago Memorial Yekaterinburg received a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy to develop a media center. Memorial is grateful for the grant with which it purchased computers, software, and video conference equipment. Their web-site is being developed. They have turned their media center into a sort of NGO incubator. NGOs without premises may meet at the Memorial offices and access the internet. Leaders of various NGOs meet at Memorial periodically to discuss opportunities for collaboration in the region. Memorial also hopes to create a mini-museum on the premises with an exhibition on the period of Stalin's regime. Paintings by the Urals artist Belokryilov, a former GULag prisoner, will be exhibited soon. ¶4. (SBU) Describing the environment under which civil society organizations (CSOs) operate, the members of Memorial agreed that CSOs are subject to moderate pressure by authorities and law enforcement bodies. The situation has improved since 1998 when several members of Memorial were blockaded in their small office for five days. Later, the organization was evicted from its premises, ostensibly due to a need for renovation. Today the organization is simply ignored by authorities. Members are never invited to any official or informal political event and the organization is not represented in the oblast Public Chamber. Soldiers Mothers Concentrates on Individual Cases . . . -------------- -- ¶5. (SBU) In contrast to Memorial members, the head of the Soldiers' Mothers Committee in Yekaterinburg, Marina Lebedeva, is focused on individual cases rather than rights (or abuses of rights) broadly. She actively cooperates with the oblast Ombudsman for Human Rights, human rights NGOs, and political parties such as Yabloko, but has not considered approaching the Russian Ombudsman or other federal level organizations. She is very concerned about 14 soldiers who are MIA from the first Chechen war and is working to raise funds to help their mothers travel to the Caucasus to find their sons. She is also very concerned about three wounded soldiers who, she says, cannot get adequate medical care. More broadly, she commented on a violation of Russian law regarding conscripts. Although it is prohibited, new conscripts are frequently sent immediately to hot zones and then do not receive combat pay because only professional soldiers ("contract" soldiers) qualify for such benefits. According to oblast statistics, forced labor in the military is rare. Lebedeva says, however, that conscripts are still sometimes called on to construct dachas for superior officers and forced to wear civilian clothes so that observers cannot distinguish them from regular construction workers. . . . While Sutyazhnik is Concerned about Defending Broader Human Rights -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) We enjoyed a lively conversation with representatives of several human rights organizations in a meeting at Sutyazhnik offices. One of them, the Interregional Center for Human Rights (ICHR),was represented by Vladimir Shaklein, who has chaired it since its founding in 1996. Shaklein is currently assisting in YEKATERINB 00000054 002 OF 003 the case of a Volgograd journalist, Yelena Maglivannaya, who reported on the torture of Chechen prisoners in one of Volgograd penitentiaries. On May 13, 2009, she was fined R200,000 for publication of misleading information. On May 31 Maglevannaya left the country for Finland, where she is seeking political asylum. Shaklein suggested that international assistance with her case might be useful. He mentioned that the Center for Solidarity rendered great assistance to Russian human rights NGOs until its head was deported five years ago. The local NGOs want the Center for Solidarity to renew its work in Russia. ¶7. (SBU) Sutyazhnik was also founded in 1996, with help from the Macarthur Foundation. As all human rights NGOs we have contacted, Sutyazhnik has strained relations with the government. Tensions reached their peak in 2002, when the Federal Arbitration Court declared Sutyazhnik's registration invalid. After the 1999 legislation requiring re-registration of all NGOs, Sutyazhnik applied for renewal of the registration several times, but was denied due to "spelling mistakes." After its first, successful lawsuit, Sutyazhnik was re-registered; after a year, however, its registration was annulled without any notification and they were surprised to find out they have been "acting illegally" for about a year. Sutyazhnik then turned to the European Court for Human rights, which decided in favor of Sutyazhnik this year, ordering the Russian government to pay 500 euro to the NGO. Our interlocutors do not believe that the recent amendments to the Law on NGOs will provide any real benefit to NGOS as the government will still control NGO finances by making them pay income taxes on grants. Financial regulations imposed in 2006 became a great challenge for the non-commercial sector. ¶8. (SBU) Both Sutyazhnik and ICHR are involved in the case of Alexey Sokolov, a human rights activist arrested May 13 on suspicion of participation in a robbery in 2004 (see reftel). His lawyers expected that he would be released on July 13 but he was remanded to the pre-trial detention centre until August 23. At a July 31 hearing, Sokolov was released on bail, only to be re-arrested on different charges (see septel). Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations -------------- ¶9. (SBU) According to Sergei Plotnikov and Olga Zakoryukina of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, Sverdlovsk oblast has a more favorable climate for a free media than any other Russian region. Although Sverdlovsk journalists experience governmental pressure, they exploit an opening caused by the strained relations between Yekaterinburg's mayor and Sverdlovsk oblast governor. Plotnikov told us that investigative journalism is losing popularity because the local population prefers entertainment programs to hard news. Journalists also self-censure through selective coverage. Plotnikov emphasized the importance of DRL's project. He said it has helped restore the popularity of investigative journalism among the local media and that the international certificates, to be issues in the end of the project, are a great motivation for project participants. ¶10. (SBU) Plotnikov suggested that authorities will continue to use the legislation on extremism to expand control over media outlets. Investigative journalism, especially investigation of political issues, brings nothing (no money and no fame) to reporters, only problems. A number of minor incidents of harassment have caused many reporters to turn to investigation of social problems, such as conflicts with housing services agencies, environmental protection, or protection of homeless animals -- social issues which nevertheless still represent an indirect reflection of the political climate in the region. ¶11. (SBU) Plotnikov characterizes Ombudsman Merzlyakova as probably the only governmental official who remained open to interaction with media as the bureaucratic machine becomes more closed. It is more and more difficult for a journalist to talk to political leaders or government representatives. The economic crisis poses additional challenges for media: several newspapers and radio stations were forced to suspend operations due to lack of readership or advertising revenue. The crisis has also provided authorities with new a mechanism of control over media. For example, information agencies are being charged for use of unlicensed software as authorities carry out regular checks on use of unlicensed software. At the same time, high prices mean struggling media outlets cannot afford to buy expensive software from manufacturers. The regional Union of Journalists solved the problem by negotiating with the regional Microsoft office for discounts on software purchase. A Marginalized Ombudsman? -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Our final meeting was with Tatiana Merzlyakova, Human Rights Ombudsman of Sverdlovsk Oblast, who commented favorably YEKATERINB 00000054 003 OF 003 on DRL's investigative journalism training and added that she was invited to teach one session. She mentioned that modern journalists lack understanding of investigative journalism. In Russia, she said, most articles present only the government line, significantly decreasing the population's trust in mass media. United Russia and the government impose informal restrictions on what, when and how to cover stories, and editors are forced to adhere to this guidance because the businesses that own media outlets want to remain in favor. In addition, vague legislation on extremism significantly limits freedom of speech and freedom of press. Until recently, she said, the Internet was seen as a place for relatively free presentation of personal views; however, recent charges by the Ministry of Communications against the Ura.ru media agency has changed public opinion on the freedom of cyberspace. Regarding the Ura.ru case, Merzlyakova observed that the "extremist" comments were posted by a visitor to the site, not the news agency. Considering the popularity of Ura.ru in the Urals, these postings might have been placed by competitors or even government entities that wanted to shut down the site. Merzlyakova told us she had appealed to the federal Ombudsman to intervene on behalf of the agency. They are now preparing a series of actions to promote the issue of free media on the federal level. ¶13. (SBU) According to Merzlyakova, the general awareness of human rights among the population of Sverdlovsk is quite low. She believes the most serious human rights violations happen prisons. Torture of prisoners, including electric shock, and poor conditions have been the biggest issues for Merzlyakova since the beginning of her tenure as Ombudsman. She actively cooperates with counterparts in other regions to develop effective approaches to this and other problems. Merzlyakova thinks high-ranking officials disregard the office of ombudsman. Though formally recognized, it is not regarded even as an advisory institution by policy makers or law enforcement officials. Comment -------------- ¶14. (SBU) It is clear that despite some room for freer expression created by the tensions between Yekaterinburg's mayor and the oblast governor, Sverdlovsk human rights defenders and journalists experience the same pressures felt in other regions of Russia. As in other regions of Russia, authorities seek to quiet any voices that question government actions. Difficulties with registration, bogus legal cases, and financial pressure continue to be the tools of choice to keep human rights defenders and journalists in line. The praise expressed by all our contacts of investigative journalism training funded by DRL indicates the need for continued projects of this type. The experiences of the human rights organizations with which we met point to the low esteem in which human rights are held by authorities. The regional human rights ombudsmen, many of whom are active and dedicated, appear to have little or no power to protect human rights in the broad sense. Their actions appear to be tolerated so long as they intervene only on individual cases rather than on a societal level. SANDUSKY