The
Observatory has been informed about the
liquidation of the non-governmental organisation the Sakharov
Center.
The
Sakharov
Center
was a museum and cultural center, established in 1996 in Moscow,
devoted to the protection of human rights in Russia and the
preservation of the legacy of prominent physicist and Nobel
Prize-winning human rights activist Andrei
Sakharov.
On
August 18, 2023, the Moscow City Court ordered the liquidation of the
Sakharov Center for alleged violation of the Federal Law "On
Public Associations", following a lawsuit filed by the Russian
Ministry of Justice. The court alleged that, as an organisation
registered in Moscow, the Sakharov Center’s activities should have
been conducted only in this city and that the organisation has
repeatedly violated the “Foreign Agents” Law.
The
Observatory recalls that, on December 25, 2014, the Sakharov Center
was included on the Ministry of Justice’s register of “foreign
agents”, which requires more frequent financial reporting,
mandatory annual audits and implies that any information published or
distributed by these organisations must contain a reference to the
fact that it was published or distributed by an NGO acting as a
“foreign agent”.
In
December 2022, the Tagansky district Court in Moscow fined the
Sakharov Center five million roubles (approximately 48 930 Euros) for
publishing ten videos without the “foreign agent” status label,
mandatory for all materials produced by organisations classified as
"foreign agents" under the “Foreign Agents” Law.
In
early 2023, the Sakharov Center announced
on their social media pages that the organisation was evicted from a
building in the center of Moscow. At that time, the Moscow City
Property Department notified the Center of the termination of lease
agreements for all premises, which were leased by the city to the
organisation free of charge. The updated Law “On Foreign Agents",
which came into force in December 2022, prohibits, among other
things, state support for them.
On
January 10, 2023, State Duma deputy Andrei Lugovoi sent a request to
the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for inspecting NGOs,
for an unscheduled inspection of the organisation for the period from
January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022. Based on the results of the
inspection, the Ministry of Justice’ Commission found systematic,
grave and unrecoverable violations of the requirements of the
legislation of the Russian Federation in the Sakharov Center’s
activities, such as carrying out activities outside Moscow,
dissemination of information without the label of "foreign
agent" and non-compliance of the founding documents of the
organisation with the current legislation.
On
June 6, 2023, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in
Moscow sent an administrative claim to the Moscow City Court
demanding Sakharov Center’s liquidation. Particularly, the Ministry
of Justice found eight violations of "territoriality",
including the participation of the Sakharov Center in the preparation
of exhibitions held outside Moscow by providing archive materials,
fragments of memoirs, information banners and media files.
In
2019, the Sakharov Center and its Executive Director Sergey
Lukashevsky,
became part of the Organising Committee for the Preparation and
Holding of Events to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Birth
of Andrei Sakharov, established pursuant to a decree of the Russian
President. Under the auspices of this Committee, several exhibitions
were created, including those for which the Sakharov Center was
targeted by the Ministry of Justice. At the same time, in a letter to
the heads of the regions of the Russian Federation dated July 3,
2020, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation requested
“assistance in holding an exhibition created with the participation
of the Sakharov Center on the territory of the region in question”.
Despite this, the Ministry of Justice alleged that all the activities
implemented by the Sakharov Center outside Moscow were illegal and
further argued in its lawsuit that there were “inconsistencies in
the statutes of the Sakharov Center”.
The
Sakharov Center's alleged failure to comply with the requirements of
“Foreign Agents” Law, despite the fact that the organisation had
already been fined for these violations, was also the reason for
filing a liquidation claim.
The
Observatory recalls that the legislation governing NGOs’ activities
in Russia is draconian and falls short of international standards on
freedom of association. The liquidation of Sakharov Center is an
unnecessary and disproportionate penalty for the violations allegedly
committed by the organisation, and violates Article 22 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the right to
freedom of association.
Furthermore,
according to
international standards
on freedom of association, inspections of NGOs are only legitimate if
they are justified, for instance, when there are reasonable grounds
to suspect that serious breaches of the law have occurred. The
unscheduled inspection of the Sakharov Center had no such
justification and violated international standards on freedom of
association.
The
Observatory further notes that since 2012, the Russian authorities
have adopted a series of measures to silence all dissenting voices,
including NGOs, human rights defenders, independent journalists,
media outlets or any person or group considered to be under “foreign
influence”. For NGOs, it is virtually impossible to comply with all
requirements under the “Foreign Agents” legislation, which
results in disproportionate, unnecessary and illegitimate
restrictions on their right to freedom of association, including
liquidation.
The
Observatory recalls that in December 2022, two other prominent human
rights organisations in Russia, Human Rights Center Memorial and the
International Memorial, were arbitrarily
liquidated.
On January 25, 2023, the Moscow City Court ordered the liquidation of
Moscow
Helsinki Group.
On
August 17, 2023, the First Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction
approved the decision of the Moscow City Court, adopted
in April, to liquidate the regional public organisation SOVA Center
for Information and Analysis.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the dissolution of the Sakharov Center,
which seems to be only aimed at sanctioning the organisation for its
legitimate human rights activities and its exercise of the rights to
freedom of association, assembly and expression.
The
Observatory urges the Russian authorities to immediately repeal this
decision and put an end to any act of harassment against Sakharov
Center, as well as against all human rights organisations in the
country.
The
Observatory further urges the Russian authorities to ensure in all
circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations in the
country are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any
hindrance and fear of reprisals, and to guarantee in all
circumstances the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and
association in the country, in accordance with Articles 19, 21 and 22
of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
respectively.
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