Russia: Journalist and Human Rights Lawyer Slain in Double Murder
Russia: crimes without punishment (indexoncensorship.org)The crime is compounded by the knowledge that Russia has a culture where impunity reigns – and murderers are rarely brought to justice. Even in the case of a journalist as famous as Anna Politkovskaya, after a rare two-year murder investigation it is the alleged accomplices who are on trial - while the murderer remains at large.
Stanislav Markelov was well known for his work as a human rights lawyer, particularly in Chechnya. Markelov represented the family of 18-year-old Kheda Kungayeva, who was murdered by Yuri Budanov - the first senior officer to be convicted of human rights abuse during the Chechen campaigns. Markelov had announced that he would be challenging Budanov’s early release last week.
Those who are brave enough to expose human rights abuses in Russia risk their lives. Over the past few months, victims have included Umar Israilov, a Chechen who claimed that he had been tortured by President Ramzan Kadyrov and had filed a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights. He was shot dead in Vienna last week. Last November, Mikhail Beketov, a local newspaper editor, was assaulted in the Moscow suburb of Khimki and left in a coma. Beketov had been a fearless critic of the local administration. Last summer, Magomed Yevloyev, who owned the website Ingushetia.ru and also bravely exposed abuses, was shot dead in a police car as he was being taken away for questioning.
Previously:
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya murdered
Jasmina Tešanović: "I heard they are making a movie on her life."
the latest
latest episodes
From Riga to Vilnius to this, Russia are flexing their muscle again.
there is no "Rule of Law" in Russia at the moment... it's purely "Might is Right"... and heaven help anyone who stands against it...
Russia isn't the only state where criminals have gone unpunished. At least they're honest about it I guess.
A friend's necrology on Anastasia Baburova (the post misspells her last name) paints a picture of a spirited, idealistic young woman. Apparently she ran after Markelov's shooter and attempted to stop him: not necessarily a smart move but without a doubt a courageous one.
Her livejournal in google translate:
http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffile-028.livejournal.com%2F&sl=ru&tl=en&history_state0=
It's unclear why Stanislav Markelov is described as a human rights lawyer. The case of Kungayeva was a pure criminal case - a military officer committed a crime - broke the law (no legal ambiguity here), was convicted by an ordinary russian criminal court, was put in jail.
Spirit spirit, what's your point? He was well known already before his death for representing victims of police & military brutality and campaigning against the war in Chechnya and for civil liberties, among other causes. How does he not deserve to be called a human rights lawyer? What are your requirements?
For more on Stanislav Markelov, there's this English necrology.
Here is another story on Anastasia "Skat" Baburova.
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2009anastasia-baburova
And also her blog (for those who read Russian)
http://file-028.livejournal.com/
2 flipa
Lawyers which work from existing civil/criminal framework, especially if they are not challenging the laws and representing the families of victims are not usually called human rights lawyers. For example: there is a lot of cases of police brutality in the US, but I don't see that lawyers working on such cases are called "human rights lawyers"
spirit_spirit,
You've mentioned several times what you think a human rights lawyer is NOT. What do you think a human rights lawyer is?
2 Antinous
I think that a human rights lawyer is a lawyer who challenges the whole system and laws/regulations supporting it, because of human rights violations. For example I consider lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees and actively challenging legal basis for the torture camp as human rights lawyers. In the same time I don't consider a lawyer going after a single cop/military officer who commited ordinary crime as a human rights lawyer
I think that a human rights lawyer is a lawyer who challenges the whole system and laws/regulations supporting it, because of human rights violations.
But what about when the existing laws are not enforced? What about when the government appears to send out hit men to assassinate opponents? When the legal system and the government that controls it not only supports but carries out the crimes, how can you take such a narrow definition?
2 Antinous
> But what about when the existing laws are not
> enforced?
Are you talking about some specific cases or making some hypothetical points? In the famous case of Budanov (most famous Markelov's case) the case went through the police, the office of a prosecutor, to a court and ended in jail time for Budanov. Can you point out a similar case for Guantanamo guard, or some coalition soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan? Just to compare Russia to US or UK?
> What about when the government appears to send > out hit men to assassinate opponents?
Could you point out why it appears to you so? Markelov wasn't an opponent to the government in any real sense. Even if you assume that the government wanted to silence him, why to kill him in such a way, sparking global attention? Former KGB can do much better than that
> When the legal system and the government that
> controls it not only supports but carries out
> the crimes, how can you take such a narrow
> definition?
In his famous cases Markelov went against specific individuals, not the system. In the case of Budanov, Budanov commited the crime himself, nobody ordered him to do it
spirit_spirit, you say "...are not usually called human rights lawyers" - but I dispute this. The best-known human rights lawyers that I can think of - and Markelov was one of them - do work mostly within the existing civil/criminal framework. What sets them apart is the fact that they choose (and specialize in) cases where power (political, military) has been systematically abused to oppress minorities or dissidents. Human rights cases.
In addition to this, many of these lawyers do promote human rights in other ways: challenging unconstitutional practices, campaigning for change, all that. Markelov did all this, too. (He also defended, for example, detainees in Chechnya's secret prisons, challenging their legal basis; how does this not match your Guantanamo example?)
But the point is that the accepted definition of the term is wider than the one you propose. If you think that this is wrong, fine; but I think you're mistaken in saying that your definition is the "usual" one.
2 FLIPA
> What sets them apart is the fact that they
> choose (and specialize in) cases where power
>(political, military) has been systematically
> abused to oppress minorities or dissidents.
> Human rights cases.
Here you miss the picture when you are talking about opressing minorities/dissidents. For example in the case of Budanov, he beleived that the young woman he killed was a sniper who killed soldiers. It wasn't a case of opression of dissidents or minorities. If you look at other cases you will see the similar picture
> In addition to this, many of these lawyers do
> promote human rights in other ways: challenging > unconstitutional practices, campaigning for
> change, all that.
Then you can call 80% of population of Russia "human rights lawyers". Most of the people were unhappy about war in Chechnya and wanted to end it
>(He also defended, for example, detainees in
> Chechnya's secret prisons, challenging their
> legal basis;
Could you give me a link supporting that statement?
spirit_spirit,
Here you miss the picture when you are talking about opressing minorities/dissidents.
No. Just because one person that Markelov defended was not, according to your standards, a victim of a human rights violation, doesn't mean that none of his clients were.
For example in the case of Budanov, he beleived that the young woman he killed was a sniper who killed soldiers.
So this army colonel kidnapped a Chechnyan 12-year-old, then saw her 18-year-old sister and kidnapped her instead, and during an unofficial "interrogation session" strangled her? Oh yes, she was allegedly raped too, although Budanov was never convicted of that. And you believe his story of merely wanting to neutralize someone whom he erroneously believed to be a sniper?
spirit_spirit, what's your reason for defending Budanov?
Could you give me a link supporting that statement?
See the obit link I posted earlier, there's some details, you can google on from there.
well, spirit "two sheds" spirit, it is engaging that you exact such precision in the correct labelling of those who fight for the Good, but can you explain perhaps what that has to do with your second shed?
> No. Just because one person that Markelov
> defended was not, according to your standards, > a victim of a human rights violation, doesn't
> mean that none of his clients were.
Could you provide links, in order to be more specific?
> So this army colonel kidnapped a Chechnyan 12-
> ... spirit_spirit, what's your reason for
> defending Budanov?
Where did you see me defending Budanov? He is a convicted criminal, I'm not defending him in any way. I just pointed out that he acted alone, not as a part of bigger machine such as Guantanamo Bay. You have criminals commiting crimes like him all over the world. In which country murders and rapes don't happen?
> See the obit link I posted earlier, there's
> some details, you can google on from there.
I only found links related to kidnappings, not "secret prsions"
boing boing, the blog watched by every government.
Quibble over definitions, but the fact remains Russia is being run by a murderous mob of former KGB operatives, who are in cahoots with an international Russian mob of criminals. These people are involved with everything from gun running, prostitution and white slavery, drugs, internet porn, bot-nets and identity theft, gambling, and of course murder. Nothing can be accomplished without murder.
WWIII will probably be a war between Russian gangs/government and everyone else.
Oh, and by the way they not only have The Bomb, but also the delivery systems.
I see. Are these "secret prisons" then, in one of your sheds?
fair and balanced
http://larussophobe.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/editorial-on-the-trail-of-lira-tskhovrebova/
More on Skat at Infoshop:
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2009anastasia-baburova
"Crimes without punishment"? Like illegal wars, unconstitutional spying on citizens, torture of prisoners, stuff like that? Methinks the Russians aren't the only ones with this problem of crime without punishment. It's going to be hard for them to match 1,000,000+ civilian deaths in Iraq!
Pointing fingers, it's not for the guilty!
Pointing fingers, it's not for the guilty!
Of course, we all recognize the indisputable and inalienable fact that nobody anywhere on earth should ever be held accountable for any crime until the United States and each of its citizens, resident aliens and holders of student and tourist visas are perfect. It's really important to make sure that we never, ever feel any compassion for the actual subject of the post until we as readers have been transformed into blameless celestial beings of perfect virtue. Because that would be wrong, evil and bad.
It's mind-boggling that there are people like Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Barburova who were brave enough to speak out against human-rights abuses even though they knew by doing so they were drawing targets on themselves. Talk about profiles in courage.
no one is dead so long as their name is spoken!
I only found links related to kidnappings, not "secret prsions"
You missed this, for example:
"For he was practically the only Russian lawyer who worked on controversial cases in Chechnya itself. Until quite recently, Stanislav had acted as defense counsel for Magomedsalakh Masayev, who had sued the Chechen authorities over his lengthy detention in an illegal prison. In August of last year, Masayev was disappeared. That is how things go."
I just pointed out that he acted alone, not as a part of bigger machine such as Guantanamo Bay. You have criminals commiting crimes like him all over the world. In which country murders and rapes don't happen?
In other contexts, if an army officer and three of his men during their off hours kidnap and murder an innocent youth, the word used is "death squad", and yes, it's a human rights issue. Sure rapes and murders happen, but when the rapists and murderers are army officers, and they themselves admit that their crimes are a sort of an mercenary extension of their day job, it's not a regular civilian case. If Russia wants to pretend that it's an isolated case and there's nothing unusual about that - by for example granting Budanov parole - then the rest of the world has a pretty good reason to call Elza Kungaeva's death a human rights case.
From Wikipedia:
"A resolution adopted in April 2000 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights called for Russia, among other things, to establish a national commission of inquiry to investigate such crimes, but Russia has not fulfilled the resolution's requirements."
M:
Pointing fingers, it's not for the guilty!
Can't we, you know, just agree that rendition & torture & detentions without trial are wrong whether they're practiced by the US or Russia? Or any other government, for that matter. I thought we were over having to pick one of those two sides.
I should stop feeding the extremely suspicious troll, but here's an article on Stas and Skat that might be interesting to everyone:
Russia: Crimes Without Punisment
Checnya's secret prisons and Markelov's work on them:
HRW: Torture Victim Abducted in Chechnya
Organising for Anti-fascism and Anarchism in Russia is exceptionally dangerous. We're in an exceptionally good position in the west in comparison.
How about a test? Post more articles critical of the Russian government/mob and see how long it takes for bb servers to be attacked. Just be careful, they have some of the best in the world working for them. Then bb will be up close and personal with a real zombie horde, the Bot-Net.