Опубликовано 20.07.2004	версия для печати	обсудить на форуме

RUSSIAN To: members and staff of NGOs and international organizations outside of Russia, members of diplomatic community, members of academic community, media workers, members of ex-pat community in Russia, people who care about human rights. From: Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Moscow), "Public Verdict" Foundation (Moscow), Information and Analytical Center "Sova" (Moscow), and Interregional Group "Human Rights Network" (Ryazan and Moscow) Re: request to sign an appeal to President Vladimir Putin of Russia concerning murder of Nikolay Girenko, Russian scientist, anti-fascist and human rights defender July 7, 2004 We ask you to join a letter writing campaign and add your signature to hundreds of signatures of women and men from Russia and other countries collected under an appeal to President Vladimir Putin of Russia concerning the murder of Russian scientist, anti-fascist and human rights defender Nikolay Girenko. Mr. Girenko was killed by a gunshot through a door of his apartment in St Petersburg on June 19. His many years of courageous work against extreme nationalists and neo-nazi groups as an expert and public figure make us believe that the murder was committed by his opponents. The assassination was aimed to both silence Mr Girenko's voice and deter other anti-racist activists. It is the first political assassination of a human rights defender in modern Russia. A wave of racially motivated violence has flooded Russia in the recent months. Coupled with systematic racist propaganda, discriminatory law enforcement practices, and government inaction in prosecuting racist crimes, it has brought the country to a brink of large scale human rights abuse and social strife. We believe it is high time to demand that Russian political leadership takes active and consistent steps to combat racial hatred and extreme nationalism. We started collecting signatures under a letter to President Putin calling for a proper and thorough official investigation into the murder of Nikolay Girenko and into other crimes motivated by ethnic, racial or religious hatred, in the Internet on June 24. In just four days, 721 signatures were collected, mostly from human rights activists, and delivered to the Kremlin. However, this number is way too small in proportion to the threat posed by neo-fascism. We decided to extend the timeframe of the letter writing campaign until July 15. We appeal to colleagues in Russia and other countries to both sign the appeal and forward it to other people through your networks, e-mail address books, via media and other channels. The text of the letter to Vladimir Putin follows below. You can join the campaign filling out the form below. If you have the problems with web, please send an e-mail to <info@publicverdict.org>, putting "letter to President Putin on murder of Nikolay Girenko" in the subject line and providing your name, occupation (or organizational affiliation), e-mail, city, and country in the body of the message. We will not include your e-mail in the list of signatures submitted to the addressee and will not make your name and other personal information public. We appreciate your support and solidarity. On behalf of the initiative group, Andrey Blinushov, director, Interregional Group "Human Rights Network" (Ryazan and Moscow) Yuri Dzhibladze, president, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Moscow), Julia Sereda, deputy chair, Ryazan Human Rights Society "Memorial" Natalia Taubina, director, "Public Verdict" Foundation (Moscow), Alexander Verkhovsky, director, Information and Analytical Center "Sova" (Moscow). Stop neo-fascism in Russia *please, fill out all fields in this form OPEN LETTER TO RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Name:     first name family name Email: Address: City: Postal code (Zip code): Ocсupation or organizational affiliation: Country: select... 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Spain Spratly Islands Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tromelin Island Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Wake Atoll Wallis and Futuna West Bank Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Another country: How did you find out about the action? by e-mail by a search engine by a link from an Internet forum from a newspaper from TV/radio other Open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the murder of academic and human rights defender Nikolay Girenko To: Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation Moscow, 24 June 2004 We, members of human rights NGOs working to combat racism, xenophobia and discrimination in Russia, members of other civil society groups, journalists, researchers, workers of culture, citizens of Russia and other countries, are writing to you with regard to the murder of Nikolay Girenko in his home in St. Petersburg on 19 June, 2004. This is the first known political murder of a Russian human rights defender. Mr. Nikolay Girenko was the country's leading expert on issues of extreme nationalism and racism. For many years, he successfully testified as expert in dozens of legal cases against racist and nationalist groups. The circumstances of his murder and all that we know about Nikolay Girenko as a person makes us convinced that this murder could not be other than politically motivated. Mr. Girenko's active and successful involvement in anti-racist trials, as well as his public statements make us believe that this activity was the only reason behind his murder. The truth, of course, is to be determined by court. To avoid delays in bringing the case to court, we urge the Prosecutor General to supervise the progress of investigation. However, even today, Girenko's murder is perceived by the public as revenge by fascist groups for his anti-racist activism. This perception is shared by those who sided with Mr. Girenko as well as those who sided with the fascists and extreme nationalists exposed by Girenko in his expert statements. In other words, the political murder of the academic and anti-fascist activist has already become a public fact which requires an appropriate response. What kind of response are we expecting from you, Mr. President, as the Guarantor of the Constitution prohibiting incitement to racial, ethnic and religious hatred? We do not believe it would be sufficient just to say once again that 'such things' should not be tolerated by our society. It has been said a lot of times; however, 'such things' persist and have now culminated in the murder of an academic for his consistent position as a citizen. On the other hand, the experience of recent years suggests that widely advertised decisions to toughen repressive policies do not work, while the legal means already available to the Russian government are hardly ever used to restrain various types of hate mongers. Admittedly, Russian society is profoundly affected and infected by racist ideas and discriminatory practices, and this problem cannot be resolved overnight. There is a need, however, for consistent efforts to address it. In particular, extreme forms of ethnic hatred, such as ethnic violence, systematic racist propaganda, discriminatory law enforcement practices, and official policies enabling discrimination must be targeted effectively and consistently, in accordance with domestic law and international treaties. Combating these offences which violate fundamental constitutional principles should be declared the government's priority and supervised by the country's highest political leadership. Terrorism as organised violence is a threat to national security; another threat is the usual precursor of terrorism - wide dissemination of anti-constitutional ideas and related spontaneous violence. Mr. President, you know as well as we do how threats to national security need to be addressed, so we refrain from any specific recommendations. However, as citizens and experts concerned over human rights, we are convinced that addressing a threat should not involve undue restriction of rights and liberties; we also believe that such restriction is not necessary. Political will coupled with consistent application of existing laws can effectively contain the rise of extreme nationalism and neo-fascism in the country. We urge you to enforce the law, and we are willing to assist authorities in these efforts. We demand a proper and thorough official investigation into the murder of Nikolay Girenko and into other crimes motivated by ethnic, racial or religious hatred. We will not include your e-mail and address in the list of signatures submitted to the addressee and will not make your name and other personal information public. Counter of people in the action: 1120 Forward the link to a friend e-mail:

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