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Social
Event of the Year for the Political Elite
By Greg Walters and Oksana Yablokova, The Moscow Times, May 27, 2004
"It's a repetition of an old story," Mitrokhin said by telephone.
"The president says the right things about poverty, health, education
and housing, and the government ends up doing the opposite. I would describe
it as a boring repetition of previous presidential addresses."
Ombudsman
Slams Justice Ministry Official
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 26, 2004
Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has sharply criticized Vladimir
Kraev, first deputy director of the Justice Ministry's Corrections
Department, for recent comments alleging that some human rights
groups have ties to criminal organizations (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
10 and 12 May 2004), "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on
24 May.
Putin
Seeks Control of Referendums
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, May 25, 2004
Andrei Ryabov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, said
the changes were another step toward creating "a predictable
political system, where the risks to the present political elite
are minimized."
Kremlin
Closes Loopholes on Holding Referendums...
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 20, 2004
President Putin submitted a draft constitutional law on the holding
of referendums to the State Duma on 19 May, Russian news agencies
reported.
Russian
human rights group wins U.N. refugee award
Reuters, April 30, 2004
"It has carried out its work in often very difficult situations
-- including in the North Caucasus -- and has earned the respect of all of
us in the international humanitarian community."
I
Am Back Where I Belong
By Yevgenia Albats, The Moscow Times, April 12, 2004
The State Duma has given initial approval to a bill that would severely
restrict the right of assembly. Shortly after the Duma vote, the
Moscow city government denied the Yabloko party a permit for a May
Day demonstration in downtown Moscow. And finally, the Moscow City
Court convicted arms control researcher Igor Sutyagin of treason
and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
Committee-2008
to Stage Protest in Russia
RIA "OREANDA", April 5, 2004
At a meeting ended on Saturday night, 3 April, 2004, the Committee
2008: Free Choice decided to join the protest action "Civil
Society -Against Police State", initiated by the YABLOKO party,
a number of remedial and ecological organizations of Russia, - journalists
were told by YABLOKO Deputy Chairman Sergei Mitrokhin.
"YABLOKO"
Supporters Stage a Picket by the Duma
RIA "Novosti", March 31, 2004
Picketers were protesting against the draft law on rallies, meetings,
demonstrations, processions and pickets, which the Duma will discuss in
the first reading.
Press
Conference with Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin
RIA Novosti, March 25, 2004
My chief impression from one month of work is that in the country
a serious and logical system should be established for out- of-court
legal defense.
Russian
Bill Curbing Mass Rallies Gains
By David Holley, Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2004
In a move that could push protests largely out
of the public eye,
Russia's lower house of parliament gave preliminary approval Wednesday
to a
law that would ban demonstrations from a wide range of places, including
areas close to highways, government buildings and diplomatic missions.
Are
Meetings a Thing of the Past?
Aleksei Levchenko, Rosbalt. Translated by Alex Anderson, Rosbalt, April 1, 2004
The Duma has adopted a very interesting new law. Deputies
have decided to
severely regulate public meetings, marches and pickets. After carefully
reading it, critics of the new legislation have concluded that the right
to
hold any mass meeting will now be in question.
Yabloko
Demonstrates Against Restrictions to Freedom of Assembly
MosNews, March 31, 2004
Activists of the Russian liberal party Yabloko held a
protest rally near the building of the State Duma on Wednesday morning.
Demonstrations
near Embassies to be prohibited in Russia
pravda.ru, March 31, 2004
Demonstrations are addressed to the authorities.
How will the authorities know about popular protests, if the demonstrations
are held in residential areas?
Yabloko
Accuses Government of Violating Constitution
Rosbalt, March 31, 2004
Yabloko says the government's new legislation
on limiting public demonstrations violates the foundation of Russia's constitution
and is aimed at eliminating civil rights which are guaranteed by Article
31 of the constitution.
Russian
Ombudsman Urges Extrajudicial Protection for Russian Residents
RIA "Novosti", March 25, 2004
Lukin also advocated the establishment
of a "single human rights zone in Russia." He recalled
that todate human rights ombudsmen worked in as few as 27 of the
89 Russian regions. Vladimir Lukin believes that it is necessary
to complete the process.
Society’s Advocate
Before the State Vladimir Lukin: I'm not quarrelling with the authorities,
I intend to make them abolish unlawful decisions
Novaya Gazeta, No 19, March, 2004
Interview with Vladimir Lukin by Irina Gordiyenko
Everything depends on your staff. Russia has learned this too well. When the democrats (YABLOKO and SPS) failed to get into the Duma, Vladimir Putin promised that their ideas and staff would be in demand. And really, thanks to Putin’s backing many YABLOKO members began entering different power structures. And Putin proposed one of the founders of the YABLOKO party Vladimir Lukin for the post of ombudsman.
Every Region Should Have Its Ombudsman
Vladimir Lukin promised to fight against the "terrible arbitrary rule of the law and enforcement agencies"
By Kira Latukhina
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March, 18
Yesterday 25 Russian ombudsmen headed by the new Ombudsman of Russia Vladimir Lukin left for the meeting with the PACE Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles in Strasbourg. Before the trip Lukin held a working meeting for his colleagues from the regions where press and representatives from the Presidential Administration were invited. This was the first public appearance of the former Deputy Speaker of the State Duma in his new post.
Ombudsman
Prepared to Fight
Interview with Vladimir Lukin by Valery Vyzhutovich, Moscow News, February 25, 2004
An ombudsman that is unduly admired
by the ruling authorities is a bad ombudsman: This means that instead
of defending citizens' rights, he simply goes through the motions. This
is definitely what I am not going to do. The ombudsman is duty bound to
tread on the authorities' pet corns.
Ombudsman
Vladimir Lukin Advocates the Creation of a Strong Institute of Human
Rights Activists in the Regions
RIA "Novosti", February 13, 2004
In addition the ombudsman said that he would focus his efforts on
the fight against "the terrible trade in human beings".
Vladimir
Lukin Pledges as Ombudsman to Focus on the Rights of Children, the
Disabled, Pensioners and Women
RIA "Novosti", February 13, 2004
Lukin, one of the founders of the Yabloko party and Russia's former
ambassador to the US, remarked that the 21st century belongs to those
countries that "are set not on power itself, but on concern for the
welfare of their citizens."
Interview
with Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin
Anchor - Natella Boltyanskaya, Ekho Moskvi, February 13, 2004
You know, Bismark said: "A Russian muzhik harnesses his horse
slowly, but rides fast." It may be bad but it is better than
the other way round, I mean the prospect of riding fast without
harnessing the horse.
Authoritarianism
Deposing 'Clan Democracy'
By Alexander Lukin, The Moscow Times, January 21, 2004
What's
happening in Russia today could be described as the consolidation of an
authoritarian regime, or in more popular jargon, the rise of a dictatorship.
Yukos
Defenders Join Annual Lubyanka Rally
By Maria Danilova, The Moscow Times, October 31, 2003
"This is a rally to commemorate the victims of Stalin's repressions.
There is no room for politics here," said Yevgeny Bunimovich, a City
Duma deputy who helped organize the event...
Yabloko
deputies say they are being held in office during search
Interfax, October 23, 2003
Sergei Mitrokhin, deputy head of the State Duma's Yabloko faction,
said that a group of detectives who are conducting a search in the
Strategic Communications Agency's office are not allowing him to
leave the building.
The
Duma Gets out of the Kremlin's Control
By Yelena Rudneva, gazeta.ru October 8, 2003
Defying the Kremlin's stance, and the government's strong disapproval,
State Duma deputies have passed a draft law on parliamentary inquiries.
A
good man murdered
The Economist (UK), April 26, 2003
POLITICAL killings in Russia are rarely political. Ten members of
the Duma, the lower house of parliament, have been murdered in the
past ten years, plus a host of sundry other officials. Though the
cases are rarely solved, most carry a strong whiff of corruption
or business disputes. But Sergei Yushenkov, a Duma member shot dead
on April 17th outside his home, was - so everyone says - clean.
The
security services know who ordered the crime and killers, but cannot
find them
By Svetlana Listopadova, Vesti.ru, April 24, 2003
...all the people responsible for these killings have been identified
and are even been sought intensely.
Yesterday,
on April 17, 2003, Sergei Yushenkov, member of the State Duma, head
of the Liberal Russia party, was murdered
April 18, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky:
He was a bright politician who was well known all over Russia.
He had his own point of view. There are a few people like him in
Russia.
His death is a huge tragedy for his next of kin. We express our
deepest condolences to his family.
Sergei Ivanenko:
I think that everybody who is not indifferent to the fate of freedom
and democracy in Russia should demand from the authorities and the
President an investigation of at least one political crime, to find
the perpetrators of the murder and people who ordered this murder.
If this does not happen, unfortunately such tragedies will be repeated.
On
the Situation in Turkmenistan and the Position of the Secretary
of the Security Council of Russia
Joint statement of YABLOKO and the Union of Right-Wing Forces factions,
the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation,
January 17, 2003
Developments over the past few months in Turkmenistan can only be
termed political repressions aimed at oppressing the opponents of
Saparamurat Niyazov and everybody who disagrees with the regime
of Niyazov's personal power.
Independent
Prison Inspections Urged
By Nabi Abdullaev, The Moscow Times, June
6, 2002
Liberal politicians and human rights activists urged
for the passage of a bill that would allow independent inspections
of prisons and visits to inmates Wednesday, saying such visits would
help root out prison abuses...Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky
said Wednesday that one reason the bill has gotten bound up in red
tape is because of the peculiarities of existing legislation, an
eclectic mix of Soviet-era laws that put the state's interests over
those of individuals and newer laws that try to respect human rights.
"This is why [the government] says the bill contradicts so
many laws," Yavlinsky said. "This bill, together with
the bill on alternative military service and attempts to implement
a ban on the death penalty, demonstrates that our legislation is
developing in between these [Soviet and post-Soviet] principles."
Yavlinsky says Russian security taps phones, bullies supporters
By David Sands, The Washington Times,
June 23, 2000
Grigory Yavlinsky, Russia's best-known
liberal politician, Thursday accused the country's internal-security
forces of tapping his telephones and trying to coerce supporters
to spy on him.
Yabloko will aid in the search for the perpetrators
and organisers of the contract killing of one of the leaders of
opposition in Karachaevo-Cherkessiya Keram Semyonov
Press release, September 24, 2001
The Yabloko party will closely monitor the investigation
of the murder (on September 17, 2001) of Keram Semyonov, one of
the leaders of the opposition movement Vozrozhdeniye (“Renaissance”)
in Karachaevo-Cherkessiya and candidate to the post of Mayor of
the city of Karachayevsk and provide assistance in urgent identification
of the perpetrators and organisers of the contract killing.
Yavlinsky says Russian security taps phones, bullies
supporters
By David Sands, The Washington Times,
June 23, 2000
Grigory Yavlinsky, Russia's best-known
liberal politician, Thursday accused the country's internal-security
forces of tapping his telephones and trying to coerce supporters
to spy on him.
Accusations that Moscow spies on party gain weight
By Michael Wines, The New York Times, June 21,
2000
Russia's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security
Service, has yet to comment on the accusation, posted on the Web
site of Russia's Yabloko Party and echoed in a scathing letter from
Yabloko's leader, the federal legislator Grigory Yavlinsky. But
the charge gained weight this week when two St. Petersburg students
who are Yabloko members claimed that federal agents tried to recruit
them as political spies -- and, when the two refused, engineered
their ejection from St. Petersburg's Baltic State Technical University.
FSB orders students to spy on Yabloko
By Vladimir Kovalyev, The Moscow Times, June 21,
2000
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Yabloko political
movement says federal agents approached two students active in its
ranks and gave them an ultimatum: Spy on Yabloko from within, or
find yourself sent off to fight in Chechnya. The students at St.
Petersburg's Baltic State University, Dmitry Barkovsky and Konstantin
Suzdal, have laid out their allegations in a letter posted on Yabloko's
web site.
Interview of Grigory Yavlinsky
ORT channel, Interviewer - Sergey Dorenko, June
17, 2000
Two students from St Petersburg have been
victimised for helping Grigory Yavlinsky in his election campaign.
One of them was expelled from the Institute of the Military Industry,
while the other was refused entrance to the examination session
and was then forced to sign a letter, stating that he had secretly
co-operated with the Federal Investigation Bureau (FSB). If he refused,
he was told that he would be sent to the war in Chechnya...
Speech of the Chairman of the Yabloko Association
Grigory Yavlinsky at the meeting in commemoration of the 80th anniversary
of Acad. Andrei Sakharov
... his most important precept was on morality
in politics. Andrei Dmitrievich realised that appealing to politicians
with a request or demand to be moral is an absolutely hopeless thing.
That is why he formulated this somewhat differently. He said that
moral positions in politics are most practical and most reasonable.
Certainly if the goal is not only personal welfare, but, at least
to some extent, the prospects for the country and its future; if
the goals include how children and grand-children will live in our
country...
Grigory Yavlinsky thinks that Andrei Sakharov's ordinances
are now buried in oblivion
Gazeta.ru May 20, 2001; 17:30
The Head of the Yabloko faction Grigory Yavlinsky
thinks that at present many of the ordinances of Academician Andrei
Sakharov are buried in oblivion.
Yabloko insists on the investigation of the assault against the
journalist Oleg Luriye
December 17, 2000
Late on December 16, 2000, special correspondent
of the investigations department of “Novaya Gazeta” Oleg Luriye
was attacked. He has over the past year investigated the Mabitex
case (Ed. there have been allegations that Pavel Borodin, at the
time head of the presidential department, received backhanders from
the company responsible for refurbishing the Kremlin). The day before
the attack Oleg Luriye had spoken on the “Vox Populi” programme
(Ed. a popular talk show on NTV) and had been extremely critical
of the Administration of the President and some oligarchs.
Human Rights Emergency Declared
By Sarah Karush, The
Moscow Times, January 22, 2001, p. 5
Prominent politicians and former dissidents joined more than 1,000
activists in Moscow this weekend to declare a national emergency
for human rights and urge a consolidated fight to protect the Constitution.
Preliminary conspiracy:
analysis of the emergency congress of human rights activists which
took place last weekend
By Mikhail Gokhman,
Izvestia, January 22, 2001, p. 3
An all-Russian emergency congress of human rights activists was
held at Hotel Kosmos last weekend. It was an "emergency"
congress, as its delegates believe that the situation with human
rights in the country is catastrophic. In his report, Duma Deputy
Sergei Kovalev mentioned a trend towards the establishment of a
new political regime in Russia... |
