HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONCLUDES NINETY-SEVENTH SESSION

30.10.2009 | UN | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
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... With respect to the sixth periodic report of the Russian Federation, the Committee welcomed the adoption in 2008 of the National Plan on Countering Corruption. It remained concerned about allegations of large-scale, indiscriminate abuses and killings of civilians in South Ossetia during the military operations in August 2008, and that, to date, the authorities had not carried out any independent and exhaustive appraisal of serious violations of human rights by members of Russian forces and armed groups there. The Committee requested detailed information on developments in all cases of criminal prosecutions relating to threats, violent assaults and murders of journalists and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation between 2003 and 2009. ...
Following its examination of the sixth periodic report of the Russian Federation, the Committee welcomed judicial reform measures, including the establishment of the National Working Group on Judicial Reform and the adoption in 2009 of the Law “On the securing of access to information on the activities of the courts of the Russian Federation”; the adoption in 2008 of the National Plan on Countering Corruption and the enactment of the Federal Law on Counteraction of Corruption; the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, in September 2009; and the ratification, in 2008, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
The Committee nevertheless was concerned about several aspects of the 2006 Federal Law “on Counteracting Terrorism”, which imposed a wide range of restrictions on Covenant rights; had broad definitions of terrorism and terrorist activity; and lacked procedural safeguards or judicial or parliamentary oversight. In that connection, the Committee was concerned about the large number of convictions for terrorism-related charges, which might have been handed down by courts in Chechnya on the basis of confessions obtained through unlawful detention and torture. It also remained concerned about allegations of large-scale, indiscriminate abuses and killings of civilians in South Ossetia during the military operations by Russian forces in August 2008, and that, to date, the Russian authorities had not carried out any independent and exhaustive appraisal of serious violations of human rights by members of Russian forces and armed groups there. Similarly, the Committee was concerned about ongoing reports of torture, extrajudicial killing and secret detention in Chechnya and other parts of the North Caucasus by military and other State agents, that the number of disappearances and abduction cases in Chechnya had increased in the period 2008-2009, and regarding allegations of mass graves in Chechnya and reports of collective punishment for relatives of terrorist suspects, such as the burning of family homes. Among recommendations, the Russian Federation was urged to take stringent measures to put an end to enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, other forms of ill-treatment and abuse committed or instigated by law enforcement officials in Chechnya and other parts of the North Caucasus; and to provide information on investigations launched, convictions and penalties. It should consider amending the Criminal Code in order to criminalize torture as such; and take all necessary measures for a fully functioning independent human rights monitoring body to review all places of detention and cases of alleged abuses of persons while in custody, ensuring regular, independent, unannounced and unrestricted visits to all places of detention.
The Committee was also concerned at the alarming incidence of threats, violent assaults and murders of journalists and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, which had created a climate of fear and a chilling effect on the media, and regretted the lack of effective measures taken to protect the right to life and security of those persons. The Committee requested detailed information on developments in all cases of criminal prosecutions relating to threats, violent assaults and murders of journalists and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation covering the period between 2003 and 2009. Other remaining concerns of the Committee were the continued prevalence of domestic violence in and the lack of shelters available to women; an increasing number of hate crimes and racially motivated attacks against ethnic and religious minorities, as well as reports of racial profiling and harassment by law enforcement personnel; the significant number of persons with mental disabilities who were deprived of their legal capacity and the apparent lack of adequate procedural and substantive safeguards against disproportionate restrictions in their enjoyment of rights; overcrowding in prisons; and that media professionals continued to be subjected to politically motivated trials and convictions.
Stichworte: Georgien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #