Persecution of Human Rights Activists and Anti Fascists
In 2015, two attacks on the offices of human rights organisations in Chechnya have been reported. On January 15, office of Memorial Human Rights Centre in Gudermes, Chechnya, was raided by unidentified people, who threw eggs at its workers.
On June 3, office of the Committee Against Torture in Grozny was raided by a crowd. Police officers made no attempt to stop the attackers, and head of the republic said that the attack was provoked by human rights activists themselves.
In 2015, 25 human rights organizations were included in the list of “foreign agents” - three times more than in 2014. The following organisations were amongst the new additions: the Committee Against Torture and the Memorial-Yekaterinburg, the Memorial Scientific and Information Centre (St. Petersburg), the Centre social and psychological support and legal support for victims of discrimination and homophobia “Maximum”, Interregional Public Foundation for Civil Society Development “Golos-Povolzhye”, Centre for the Protection of Media Rights, Komi human rights commission “Memorial”, Public Fund for Civil Society Development va “Voice-Ural”, the Foundation for Democracy “The Voice”, the Glasnost Defence Foundation, the Institute of Human Rights and the Centre for Support of Indigenous Peoples of the North.
For refusing to recognize themselves as a “foreign agent,” the following organisations were fined 300,000 rubles: Golos-Povolzhye organization, the Arkhangelsk LGBT organization Rakurs (February), the Memorial Information and Educational Centre (Yekaterinburg) (in April, reduced the fine to 100,000 ), The Centre for Social and Psychological Assistance and Legal Support for Victims of Discrimination and Homophobia “Maximum”, the All-Russian Public Movement “For Human Rights” and the Sakharov Centre (March), the Media Rights Protection Centre (April), the Komi Memorial Human Rights Commission (June) , Perm Regional Human Rights centre (October), the Human Rights Institute (December). Memorial Human Rights centre in Moscow was fined 600,000 rubles for two materials posted on the website of the International Historical and Educational Society “Memorial” without the marking of a “foreign agent” (it was about the materials of the “other” Memorial, the International ), Sakharov Centre - for 400 thousand rubles (September). Three organizations: Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg, the GRANI Centre and the Kostroma Centre for Support of Public Initiatives managed to obtain exclusion from the register of “foreign agents”. Committee Against Torture and Komi Human Rights Commission “Memorial” declared self-liquidation. Virtually all organizations included in the register defend the illegality of such inclusion in the courts, and three of them announced the termination of their activities to exhaust the possibility of judicial protection. According to the research data, the expenses of organizations as a result of inclusion in the register of “foreign agents” (not including legal costs and fines) increase by an average of 273 thousand rubles per year.
On May 21, Nizhegorod City Court ruled to fine and deport one of the members of the Danish Institute Against Torture for “violating migration legislation” On the other hand, on May 7, 2015, administrative case against Civil Control human rights organisation was stopped due to lack of evidence. Ministry of Justice had previously accused the NGO of providing a false report for 2014.
