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15 JANUARY 2010 OLYMPIC BLOCKADE

13 January 2010 Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights supported the initiative of residents of village Matveevka, Domodedovo city.
Remind, the initiative group of the residents sent address to the President of International Olympic Committee Mr Jacques Rogge in connection with the facts of massive violation of their human rights and freedoms during the preparation for Olympic Games in Sochi 2014.
13 January 2010 the press-service of Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights prepared newsletter and distributed via email for Russian and foreign mass-media and human rights organizations by request of the initiative group of village Matveevka.
Also Association press service got the information that a lot of many foreign mass-media and human rights activists had not received complain for Mr Jacques Rogge: e-mails returned marked errors or allegedly removed without reading.
Associations press-service found that messages were not received German defenders, the British lawyer's community, MEPs, and this fact was confirmed by the recipients themselves.
In addition, some Russian journalists faced with the pressure in connection with publication of the articles about the complain of initiative group of residents of village Matveevka
Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights considers the electronic blockade as an attempt to prevent the dissemination of the information about initiative of Russian citizens to move Olympic Games of 2014 outside of Russia, also this fact can be considered as an attempt to stop to bring documents to the International Criminal Court and the police in Switzerland.

13 JANUARY 2010 OPEN CLAIM FOR SUPPORT RESIDENTS OF MATVEEVKA

President of International Olympic Committee
Mr. Jacques Rogge

Dear Mr. Rogge,

Association of Russian Lawyers for Human rights expresses its concern in connection with flagrant violations of human rights and freedoms of residents of village Matveevka of Domodedovo city of Moscow Region in Russia during the preparation for Olympic Games in Sochi  2014.
We inform you, 04 September 2009 without any warnings and any agreements with residents of Matveeka, Municipality of Domodedovo city and Moscow regional authorities, Russian Government through its constructing companies began its own works of expansion of the high-speed highway M4 "DON" on 52nd kilometer to establish the Item tools at this site of the highway. The highway was planned to expand from two lanes to eleven at the expense of the plots which are privet property of the residents of Matveevka.
The builders had destroyed a single environmental boarder between the highway and the village, then the workers tried to demolish the private homes with the people inside.
Matveevka residents whose lives and property were in danger took to the streets.
In response to residents the builders referred to the decision of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about need to expand the highway M4 "DON" on the 52nd kilometer in connection with planning increase of vehicular traffic to the place of Olympic Games 2014 year.
We note that all the houses and the plots are private property of the citizens. The real estates according to the legislation registration as a private property of the citizens at federal, regional, and municipal bodies.

13 January 2010 MATVEEVKA RESIDENTS REQUIRE TO MOVE WINTER OLIMPIC GAMES IN SOCHI 2014 OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA

the photo of the vehicles headed to the homes and tried to begin to destroy it

The Residents of Matveevka village of Domodedovo city appealed  President International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge to move Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 outside of Russia.
Action Group of  Matveevka residents believes that Russian authorities continue to violate human rights and freedoms of peaceful assembly and  protest that  reflected in the bill of the Russian Government  about aggravated punishment for blocking the highway up to two years imprisonment.
The Residents of Matveevka village  warned Jacques Rogge that He being informed about crimes committed by Russian authorities in the name of  Olympic Games the residents  have the  rights to appeal Swiss Federal Police and the International Criminal Court against authorities of  IOC too  in the event of continuing of violation their rights and freedoms .
Also, Action Group of  Matveevka residents invited Mr Rogge to visit  personally Matveevka village for  listening the victims, their families, meeting with the residents of the village seeing  the damages caused during the preparing for Olympic Games in Sochi of 2014.

Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights addressed President International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge with its own appeal for supporting rights and freedoms of residents of Matveevka.

12 JANUARY 2010 Kurdish Human Rights Project

KHRP Issues Joint Statement Concerning the Arrest of Mr Muharrem Erbey, Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (ЭHD)

KHRP together with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, and The Law Society of England and Wales have issued the following co-signed statement expressing grave concern over the arrest and detention of Mr Muharrem Erbey, Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD), and President of the IHD’s office in Diyarbakir. The statement is as follows:

In the very early hours of the morning on Christmas Eve 2009, lawyer Mr. Muharrem Erbey – Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey ( Эnsan Haklarэ Derneрi or ЭHD) and President of the ЭHD’s branch office in Diyarbakэr, was detained by Anti-Terror Units of the Diyarbakэr Security Directorate as part of an operation launched simultaneously in 11 provinces of Turkey, in which more than 80 people were detained. The stated reason for Mr. Erbey’s detention was his alleged membership of the Kurdish Communities Union (Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan or KCK), which is said to be a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He was subsequently arrested the following day and is currently being held in Diyarbakэr D-Type prison awaiting trial.

02 JANUARY 2010 WHAT WILL BE REMEBERED NEW YEAR of 2010 IN RUSSIAN HISTORY?

A regular opposition protest "March of Dissent” was held in central Moscow’s Triumphalnaya  square on 31 December, 2009 several hours before New Year .
Activists coalition of Other Russia, Solidarity and other civil movements were trying to speak at the rally in front of a monument to Vladimir Mayakovsky .
About 500 activists attended at the rally, more than 50 people were detained.
Rallies for defense of Article 31 of Russian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of peaceful assembly, are held every 31-th of the month at 18:00 on Triumphalnaya Square in Moscow.
Among those who were detained one of the organizers of the rally, a chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseyeva was. 82-year-old human rights activist was detained at the beginning of the event.
According to Radio Liberty, “Lyudmila Alekseyeva said that she was in costume Snow Maiden as promised earlier”.
During the arrest police officers pulled her out from the crowd almost knocking, but the people around helped Lyudmila Alekseeva to stay on her feet. After being detained by phone Alexeyeva said: "I did not understand the motive of the detention. I did not say a word on the square”.
Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights considers that the illegal detention of Lyudmila Alekseeva and other civil activists is Russian authorities' failure of act as a guarantor of constitutional rights.
Association’s activists believe that the cruel pressure against civilian and opposition activists demonstrates the instability of the current Russian political system.
www.rusadvocat.com

13th December 2009 ELDH Statement for the Right to Self-Determination of the Sahrawi People

 

Professor Bill Bowring, President (London)

Professeure Monique CHEMILLIER- GENDREAU, Présidente d’honneur (Paris)

Thomas SCHMIDT (Rechtsanwalt) Secretary General (Duesseldorf)

Last September the ELDH Secretary General, Thomas Schmidt, visited the refugee camps of the Sahrawi

People in South-West Algeria, near Tindouf. He had extensive discussions with the families of Sahrawi

people who had been detained and subjected to forced “disappearance” in the zone occupied by Morocco.

He also spoke to the Sahrawi Human Rights association AFAPREDESA, to members of the exiled

Government, and to the exiled Constitutional Council.

For the last 35 years around 160.000 Sahrawi people in the refugee camps, as well as several hundred

thousand Sahrawi in the part of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco, have been denied by Morocco the

exercise of their right to self-determination. They are entitled in international law to a referendum that would

give them the possibility to vote for the independence of Western Sahara. The Kingdom of Morocco has

ignored numerous resolutions of the UN Security Council, as well as the Advisory Opinion of the International

Court of Justice of 1975. The Court held that it had not “found legal ties [to Morocco or Mauretania] of such a

nature as might affect the application of resolution 1514 (XV) in the decolonization of Western Sahara and, in

particular, of the principle of self-determination

through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the Territory.” (para 162, Opinion of 16

October 1975). Morocco’s actions are therefore unlawful in international law.

20 AUGUST 2009 TANKS AGAINST THE CARDBOARD AX

"The symbolic cut off corrupt authority head"

Voronezh, May 2007

03 AUGUST 2009 CORRUPTION AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN RUSSIA

Russian Anti-Corruption Civil Society Center “Clean Hands” conducted the independent monitoring of present position of Russian civil society.
According to the monitoring, one of the evils corroding not only state bureaucratic system but also civil society is corruption.
Corruption in civil society is due to the same reasons as in State bodies - socio-economic, cultural, political reasons.
We remind that the following grants of various Russian and foreign sources have been provided in 2009 to develop democracy and human rights in Russia:
- European Commission - 4 684 557 euro;
- Public Chamber of Russian Federation - 1 billion 500 million rubles (50 million $)
- United States - 29 million dollars.
There is a fundamental difference between funding of foreign and domestic sources: ratio of funding of Russian sources and quality, efficiency of the real civil activities is easier to control, in this case theft up to one third of grants. Grants provided by foreign organizations are much more complicated to control. As a result, theft of foreign financial grants up to 90% and foreign (International) organizations receive regular standard reports of pseudo activities, actions, pickets. “Grant thieves” that specializing in getting foreign grants is easy to detect. Such organizations are noisy with comments about little reason and safe reasons, participate at conferences where only invited members of these organizations.
Practically all of their proposals and initiatives are populist - the real work is not done.

30 JULY 2009 Russian Anti-Corruption Civil Society Center “Clean Hands” 1 year

Dear Ladies and gentlemen,
30 July 2008 at the media center of the newspaper “Izvestia” Russian Anti-Corruption Civil Society Center “Clean Hands” was opened officially. At the press conference the aims and objectives of “Clean Hands” were declared.
The first time in Russian history twenty-four-hour anti-corruption hotline +7 (495) 968-30-44 was announced.
During last year we have got 8 215 complaints about corruption   including calls, mails, telegrams, e-mails, faxes and personal consultations. The vast majority of victims of corruption restored their rights with the “Clean Hands” support.
During our work we use three classic methods:
- Attraction of civil society attention i.e. Clean Hands which analyzes the evidences of corruption in an allegation. If facts of corruption are proved materials send to the next stages;
- Attraction of mass media attention to the evidences of corruption. It is may be a press-conference, a special report etc (see mass media mentions);
- Urging the state to respond to our allegation with evidences of corruption;
The results of one year work of Russian Anti-Corruption Civil Society Center “Clean Hands» are presented in the annual report “Corruption in Russia”, that was published on 01 July 2009 at Kiev, Ukraine.  
“Clean Hands” continues its work in Russia.

Not be silent about the facts of corruption!
Call now! +7 (495) 968-30-44, (495)923-34-98 (twenty-four-hour hotline))
Working languages are: Russian, English.


Always remember, corruption can be overcome by combining the votes of citizens, the positions of independent mass media and a real Government anti-corruption policy!

29 JULY 2009 REGULAR ATTEMPT OF ELIMINATION OF BAR INDEPENDENCE IN RUSSIA

On 28 July 2009 Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation suggested a new initiative concerning position of Russian lawyer. Alexander Konovalov a Minister of Justice plans to introduce a system of regular mandatory retesting of all Russian lawyers - the professional re-examinations are invited at least once every 5 years.
- The initiative of Ministry of Justice is the regular attempt to eliminate the independence of Russian Lawyers, - Evgeny Arkhipov a Chairman Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights said. - In practice, we face with different methods of pressure against many Russian lawyers especially at regional and local level. For example, if lawyer advocated victims of seeking of officials or law enforcement, he suffers a falsification of criminal case against him, or he is deprived of Lawyer Status or he becomes a victim of violence and even killing. A striking example is the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov in down town of Moscow. Alexander Konovalov’s proposal is unconstitutional and violates international rules and standards which guarantee the independence of all lawyers in the World. The attempt to adopt   «professional examination» every 5 years for Russian lawyers follows to the result that the most independent, principled lawyers will not be able to pass the specified test and will lose their status.
Everybody remembers the pressure against the lawyer Karinna Moskalenko, when the Ministry of Justice initiated a procedure of deprivation of her lawyer status.
Thus, according to this proposal, a lawyer who reached 70 years of age must pass professional examination every 5 years.
Also this initiative affects the most reputable lawyers - Reznik, Kucherena, Padva etc.,

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Robert Kaminsky – a mayor of Svobodny had been under four falsified criminal cases. The mayor had been removed from office. He restored all his rights now;
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Tatiana Vdovina from Saransk Her son was had been killed by youth group in Night club. Only one murderer was sentenced to 15 days of arrest. The sentence was quashed.
Boris Barelyuk – an entrepreneur from Moscow his business had been under corruption pressure. He restored rights. His business is developing now;
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