Russian activists go to jail to defend their constitutional rights

by Tim Shenk

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, chair of Russia’s oldest human rights organization. / Creative Commons license

On the 31st day of every month that has 31 days, Russian human rights activists stage a silent demonstration in a public square in Moscow.

They stand quietly and peacefully, each wearing a badge that says “31” — the number of the article in the Russian constitution that guarantees the right to peaceful assembly.

Then, they are arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

“It’s absolutely obvious that the powers that be are trying to intimidate people that go to meetings,” explains longtime human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva.

Alexeyeva, 82, is chair of Russia’s oldest human rights organization, Moscow Helsinki Group, and a veteran of the Soviet Union’s dissident movement. Despite her high profile, she was arrested for participating in the demonstration on Dec. 31, 2009.

Alexeyeva spoke about the state of human rights in Russia to a class on “Human Rights in Post-Communist Eurasia” on Feb. 8 at the School of International and Public Affairs. She said that human rights are not violated as systematically as they were under the Soviet Union but that Russia remains an undemocratic country in which the rule of law is not respected.

The right to freedom of assembly is a case in point. According to Alexeyeva, Russian law does not permit the government to prohibit demonstrations, but the police use regulations and spurious charges of disorderly conduct to prevent demonstrations.

“With each year, the rift grows wider between the law itself and the way it is being applied in reality,” Alexeyeva said.

More broadly, the Russian government curtails free expression through control of the media, manipulation of political parties and restrictions on nongovernmental organizations. Journalists are beaten and sometimes murdered, and these crimes are rarely prosecuted. Only an “enlightened minority” of Russians uses the Internet, and government-controlled TV is the main source of information for many people.

Alexeyeva said the lack of free information makes it difficult to raise awareness about human rights violations. For example, Russia’s internal affairs ministry issued a secret order authorizing the police to shoot protestors if they resist arrest. Such authoritarian rules can make democracy seem like a distant dream.

In fact, many Russians are suspicious of the idea of democracy because they associate it with the poverty and chaos their country experienced after the fall of the Soviet Union. However, Alexeyeva said there is significant support in Russian society for human rights.

“The support for the political opposition is almost close to zero but the support for human rights defenders is high,” she said. “People understand that they are the people that do defend their rights.”

Even the Russian government gives rhetorical support for human rights. Alexeyeva serves on a presidential council on human rights that meets twice a year with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Medvedev recently made public comments about the need for Russia to respect human rights.

All this gives Alexeyeva grounds for cautious optimism.

“It’s good that Medvedev has voiced his opinion in favor of human rights, but he also says things in the opposite direction,” she says. “I have the feeling that in the last one or two months, something started to move in the public opinion (in favor of human rights) and I hope that will influence Medvedev.”

Alexeyeva said that greater authoritarianism in Russia would be a global problem, setting back the worldwide cause of human rights. However, she sees cause for hope in the growth of human rights ideas in Russia.

“I do think if no catastrophe takes place, in 10, 15 or 20 years Russia will be democratic,” she said.

Alexeyeva’s lecture was sponsored by the Harriman Institute.

Published in RightsNews Volume 28, no. 2, April, 2010.
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