C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000276
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2017
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREF, PREL, PINR, RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN-CHECHEN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY ORDERED
LIQUIDATED
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Alice Wells.
Reasons 1.4 (b and d).
1. (SBU) Russia's Supreme Court on January 23 upheld a lower
court ruling ordering the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society
(RCFS) liquidated based on its executive director's earlier
conviction for "extremist" activity. The court deliberated
for about 30 minutes before announcing its decision. To our
knowledge, this is the first NGO ordered liquidated under
laws that bar those convicted of extremism from active
participation in the leadership or involvement in
non-governmental organizations. RCFS Executive Director
Stanislav Dmitrievskiy was convicted in February of inciting
racial hatred and given a suspended sentence, based on the
publication of statements by Chechen separatist leaders in
the group's newspaper in 2004.
2. (C) Dmitrievskiy told EMBOFF who observed the hearing
that the decision was expected. RCFS' work in reporting
human rights abuses in Chechnya would continue, via two new
NGOs that were recently successfully registered: the Nizhniy
Novgorod Foundation for Promoting Tolerance, based in Nizhniy
Novgorod, and Tolerance, based in Chechnya. Dmitrievskiy
said he and his colleagues would also try to register RCFS in
Finland and have already moved the NGO's assets out of Russia
to avoid having them seized in Russia.
3. (C) COMMENT: Dmitrievskiy and his colleagues never made
any attempt to conceal his continued involvement with RCFS
after his conviction. While acknowledging that RCFS had
remained committed to its ideals and worrying about the
precedent that a liquidation could set, some of our human
rights contacts questioned the wisdom of the path RCFS chose
to take, suggesting that liquidation was almost inevitable.
In addition to our observer, the European Commission
Delegation, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, and Portugal
sent observers, as well as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International. END COMMENT
BURNS