Human rights memorandum to President Medvedev. Human rights memorandum to President Medvedev. Among its many concerns — erosion of freedom of expression, association and assembly in Russia, the situation in the North Caucasus, domestic violence — Amnesty singles out the plight of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev and Vasily Aleksanyan.


Following your inauguration as President of the Russian Federation, and your statements in support of personal freedoms and the rule of law, Amnesty International is taking this opportunity to present to you its key concerns relating to human rights in the Russian Federation.

Amnesty International is deeply concerned at entrenched problems relating to human rights in Russia. There have been positive developments over the past several years, for example the reform of the criminal and criminal procedure codes, some improvement in prison conditions, prosecutions of some police officers for abuses amounting to torture, and also the moratorium on the death penalty has been maintained. Nevertheless, overall a number of serious patterns of violations persist and in some cases have worsened in recent years. Amnesty International has highlighted these issues in recent reports, and provided recommendations for action by the authorities.

Amnesty International believes that you, President Medvedev, should take action on the following issues, in accordance with the recommendations below, in order to achieve lasting, substantive improvements in terms of legislative, policy and administrative change.
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Fair trial concerns

We note the admissions you have made that Russian courts are not truly independent of the executive and legislative branches. We welcome your stated aim to work towards eliminating corruption and executive pressure on judges, and for the courts to be independent. As an organization we have raised concerns that there are grounds for concern that criminal charges against some individuals have been politically motivated, and that in many cases international fair trial standards have not been met.

Amnesty International has repeatedly raised concern with the government of the Russian Federation regarding violations of the right to a fair trial of former head of the YUKOS oil company, Mikhail Khodorkovskii, and his associate Platon Lebedev. Both men are awaiting a second trial amidst fears that procedural violations may result in the trial failing to meet international standards of fair trial. Amnesty International has outlined its concerns in Russian Federation: New trial of Mikhail Khodorkovskii and Platon Lebedev must meet international fair trial standards (AI Index: EUR 46/052/2007, 7 December 2007).

During recent months Amnesty International has campaigned for the protection of the human rights of Vasilii Aleksanian, a former lawyer and vice-president of YUKOS. Over a prolonged period of 17 months after he had been diagnosed with HIV,, Vasilii Aleksanian was denied necessary medical treatment while in pre-trial detention and most likely as a result of this his health has seriously deteriorated and he developed a number of AIDS-related illnesses. Amnesty International believes that the denial of medical treatment to Vasilii Aleksanian constituted cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and may have amounted to torture. In addition, according to him and his lawyers, the conditions in which he was kept were unsanitary and may have amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Vasilii Aleksanian was transferred to a hospital in February 2008 but remains under guard.

Amnesty International also reiterates its call for a re-trial of Igor Sutiagin, a scientist who was sentenced in April 2004 to 15 years’ imprisonment for alleged high treason. Amnesty International believes that the trial was marred by violations of the right to a fair trial. Igor Sutiagin is serving his sentence in a strict regime colony, with very limited access to receive private correspondence or visitors.


Amnesty International calls on you to:

- Respect the right to a fair trial in all cases without discrimination including by ensuring the independence of the courts from the executive and access to effective legal assistance for all in the criminal justice system in Russia;

- Ensure that the right to a fair trial of Mikhail Khodorkovskii and Platon Lebedev is fully respected;

- Provide all necessary medical treatment to Vasilii Aleksanian, and investigate the failure of the authorities to provide him with prompt and appropriate medical attention;

- Release Igor Sutiagin pending a re-trial.