Medvedev discusses with UN human rights commissioner

BBC Russia

In the presidential residence outside Moscow Rosii Gorki-9, “began Dmitry Medvedev met with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

Pillay has arrived in Russia on Sunday and plans to February 19, meet with the heads of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, Health Ministry, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Justice, as well as to visit St. Petersburg and talk there with the chairman relocated to the Northern capital of the Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin.

In addition, the senior UN official is going to talk with representatives of the State Duma, the Public Chamber of the Supreme Court, and about 60 activists of nongovernmental human rights organizations.

She has already met with the Attorney General of the Russian Federation Yuri Chaika, who said that only in 2010, his staff identified about 2.5 million human rights violations.

However, as followed from his words, it was, basically, not civil, but of social and labor rights.

In the negotiations in the Gorki-9 “from the Russian side, in addition to diplomats involved Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, Presidential Adviser on Human Rights, Mikhail Fedotov, and authorized the Presidential Council on Child Rights Pavel Astakhov.

What kinds of issues are discussed at the meeting is still unknown.

Adviser to President Mikhail Fedotov in an interview Gazete.ru “on the eve of the visit Pillai did not rule out the possibility of criticism from the visitors, noting that that” criticism is always helpful. ”

Pillai has previously criticized the Russian authorities, in particular in the North Caucasus, and said that Russian law enforcement agencies are making insufficient efforts to investigate murders of journalists and human rights.

On Thursday, the UN commissioner is going to give lectures at the Moscow State Institute and the Russian People’s Friendship University.

Navi Pillay, South African citizen of Indian origin, is the fifth (the post was created in 1994), UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She has held this position since September 1, 2008, five years as a judge of the Hague Tribunal, and before that headed the UN International Tribunal for Rwanda.

This is the first visit by Pillai in Russia in its current capacity. Her predecessor in that post, Louise Arbour, visited Russia in 2005 and 2006.

Forest and methadone

Within a few hours before the meeting with Russian President Pillay activists “In Defense of Khimki Forest” presented the staff of the UN in the Laurentian street appeal to the Commissioner, which asked to raise the issue of deforestation in the negotiations.

Environmentalists say the construction of the highway from Moscow to St. Petersburg is not too late to stop, choosing an alternative.

In addition, on the eve of the arrival in Russia Pillai International Harm Reduction Association (International Harm Reduction Association), engaged in reducing the negative consequences for people dependent on drugs, as well as 16 other non-governmental organizations, writes Reuters, asked Pillai to raise during the talks with Russian officials faces the question of legalizing methadone therapy for drug addicts.

Representatives of these organizations believe that the legalization of methadone treatment helps heroin addicts and would reduce HIV incidence, which is fueled by injecting drug users.

Last Saturday, the chief medical officer of Russia Gennady Onishchenko told Interfax news agency that “Russia is against biological warfare, the main weapon which is heroin. The money that rescue from the sale of heroin in Russia financed terrorist organizations. And we still offer allow circulation of methadone – a drug that we will be imported from overseas. ”

“In the Russian reality, at the current level of legal awareness, the legalization of methadone legalization would mean all the other drugs. This is unacceptable. It will only benefit the international drug mafia,” – added Onishchenko.

The Magnitsky Case

While it is unclear whether Pillay to discuss with the Russian business lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Until his death in November 2009 in a remand prison in Moscow, he advised the fund Hermitage Capital.

In the second half of January 2011 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Russian Foreign Ministry Press denied notice of the Commissioner’s own investigation Sergei Magnitsky. But the UN has adopted in this case, the mechanism of “special procedures”.

As stated in an official statement the Russian Foreign Ministry, January 14 experts of the Council [UN Human Rights] to send to the Russian side’s official joint request to provide information about the investigation a number of cases of alleged human rights violations, including the death of Sergei Magnitsky. займ на карту hairy girls https://zp-pdl.com/how-to-get-fast-payday-loan-online.php https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php payday loan