Deputies called on the Human Rights Commissioner of Russia to withdraw the approval of the current candidacy for the Karelian Ombudsperson

Press Release, 11.11.2020

Deputies of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia Emilia Slabunova and Ivan Gusev introduced amendments to the second reading of the bill “On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Karelia”.

Yabloko’s MPs emphasise that their amendments are targeted at strengthening of the institution of the Human Rights Commissioner. In particular, they propose that when nominating the Ombudsman consultations on his/her candidacy should be held with human rights organisations, there should be a mandatory requirement for the regional Ombudsman to permanently reside in the Republic of Karelia, the Ombudsman should also have opportunity to take part with an advisory vote in the meetings of the regional legislative and executive authorities on the issues connected with protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, and in the event of their mass-scale violations, the Ombudsman should immediately make a report at the meeting of the regional parliament.

According to Emilia Slabunova and Ivan Gusev, it is necessary to raise the status of the Ombudsman: the law should fix that the Ombudsman has his/her own staff, is a republican state body, and also has the rights of a legal entity.

In addition, the deputies of the Yabloko faction appealed to the Ombudsman for Human Rights in Russia Tatyana Moskalkova with a request to withdraw the approval of the candidacy of Larisa Boychenko for the post of the current Karelian Ombudsman for plagiarism in the report on the human rights situation in the Republic in 2019.

It should be noted that all the regional parliaments are adjusting regional laws on Ombudsmen to the federal law, due to the fact that Federal Law No. 48 “On Ombudsmen for Human Rights in the Subjects of the Russian Federation” was adopted in March 2020.