Posts Tagged ‘ECHR’
Mother of dead Russian lawyer Magnitsky makes plea to ECHR
The mother of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in November 2009 while being detained in a Moscow prison cell, has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to declare that Russia has violated the European Convention of Human Rights in relation to Magnitsky’s death.
The claim, which was filed on Wednesday 17 October on behalf of Natalya Magnitskaya by the Open Society Justice Initiative, claims that Russian law enforcement agencies perverted the criminal justice system to silence Magnitsky after he stumbled upon what he believed was a cover-up by Russian state officials to embezzle an estimated $230m (£144m) from the Russian treasury.
Magnitsky, a lawyer at Firestone Duncan in Moscow, was initially detained in November 2008 on suspicion of assisting his client, UK-based investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, to allegedly evade around $17.4m (£11m) in taxes. The lawsuit alleges that Magnitsky was denied medical treatment and was beaten by prison guards just prior to his death.
The claim asks the Strasbourg court to find Russia guilty of violating six articles of the European Convention of Human Rights, which includes articles relating to torture, unlawful detention, retaliation against whistleblowers and the denial of right to life.
“It’s a hugely significant case as it is emblematic of unfortunately how much human rights violations pervade the justice system in Russia and the dangers of those who try to expose these violations and the abominable pre-trial conditions that they’re subjected to,” James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative and the lead public interest lawyer working on the case, told The Lawyer.
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Magnitsky Case Goes to Strasbourg Court
The mother of Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption lawyer who died in pretrial detention in 2009, has filed a complaint in the European Court of Human Rights.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Natalya Magnitskaya by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a George Soros-founded human rights group, accuses Russian law enforcement agencies of manipulating the criminal justice system to silence her son after he exposed a $230 million tax fraud involving Interior Ministry officials.
“Sergei Magnitsky was wrongly detained and tortured because he unearthed evidence of grand theft at senior levels of the Russian government, then refused to back down,” said James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative and the lead lawyer on the case.
“Though Mr. Magnitsky’s courage was unusual, his fate is not. His case shines a spotlight on the corruption and abuse which pervade Russia’s justice system,” he said in an e-mailed statement.
The complaint, filed Wednesday, says Magnitsky’s death was the result of deliberate abuse while he was moved between five Moscow detention centers over the course of a year. It says he was persistently denied medical treatment for a life-threatening illness and was beaten by guards just before he died.
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An agenda for Putin’s first 100 Days
A comprehensive human rights agenda for Russia should be adopted this summer and then carried through to prove Putin is serious, says human rights group
Four years ago – when Dmitry Medvedev was taking over as the president of Russia – an international correspondent asked me for one word to describe Vladimir Putin’s 2000-2008 presidency. I came up with three, “so-called stability”. Despite all the patriotic rhetoric lately, not many in Russia expect that Putin’s new term will bring another six years of “stability”. No one wants turbulence, of course, but unresolved political, social and human rights issues are growing increasingly visible and pressing. Adopting a 100-day agenda focused on these unresolved issues would be a good start.
The Russian election cycle never fails to surprise. News about the president and prime minister’s plans to swap seats in 2012 led to a major political awakening in the country. The biggest crowds since the 1990s showed up on the streets of Moscow and other large Russian cities. Now the “swapping scenario” is close to its end. Yet, in a sign that Russia’s restive mood continues, another opposition protest in Moscow – with estimates of up to 60,000 participants – took place on May 6. The protest was marred by violence from some of the protesters and an excessive and indiscriminate use of police force in response. According to the Interfax new service, 436 people were detained; while other independent sources provided names of almost 650 detainees. Detentions of peaceful protesters on the Moscow boulevards continued on May 7 and May 8.
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Cameron Council of Europe Visit a Waste of Air Miles
The Prime Minister’s flying visit to the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly today is mission undeliverable, even if many may feel Cameron has a good case. But the way he has pandered to the worst atavistic elements of the Europhobe right and the clamour of the off-shore press for retributionist punishment of prisoners means he will hardly get a hearing.
A simple solution to the issue of prisoners voting rights, for example, would be to do what the French do which is to empower judges to add an additional sentence of loss of civic rights for those imprisoned for serious crimes. This is in conformity with ECHR judgements. Switzerland, the dream nation for anti-EU Tories, has allowed its prisoners to vote for 40 years as have all the more civilised European nations.
Britain has eight, just 8, cases before the ECHR but the real problem is the 100,000 plus cases from Russia. One answer may be to suspend Russia as it was clearly an error to let Russia join the Council of Europe in 1996 when the country had made no effort and still makes no effort to introduce rule of law. The death of Sergei Magnitksy, lawyer of a British firm, in gruesome circumstances in a Russian prison highlights the contempt Russia’s kleptocratic rulers have for legal norms.
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Human Rights court awards damages to sick Russian prisoners
The European Court of Human Rights has awarded three seriously ill Russian remand prisoners a total of 38,000 euros following lawsuits against the Russian authorities for poor treatment in pretrial detention centers, according to a ruling published on the court’s website on Tuesday, RAPSI news agency reported.
The issue of poor medical treatment in Russian pretrial detention centers has become increasingly controversial following the high-profile deaths in custody of Hermitage Capital Management fund legal adviser Sergei Magnitsky in November 2009 and Vera Trofimova, a defendant in a fraud case, in April 2010.
The Strasbourg court said the petition was filed by Armen Arutyunyan, Teymuraz Sakhvadze and Vladimir Vasilyev, who were charged with serious crimes including murder and attempted rape.
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Limiting Russia’s Sovereign Democracy
Ever since Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Vladislav Surkov introduced the term “sovereign democracy” in 2006, senior government officials have claimed that the West does not have a right to meddle in Russia’s domestic affairs, particularly regarding human rights issues. But according to the post-World War II paradigm governing international law, gross human rights abuses are a global concern, regardless of where they occur.
Russia’s interpretation of national sovereignty is back in the spotlight after the Western coalition started bombing Libya last month. Although the military intervention was approved by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, with Russia abstaining, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin likened it to medieval crusades and said the West should not interfere in “internal political conflicts.”
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