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A Voice for the Voiceless

Russian Government Refuses to Comply with Council of Europe’s Demand to Re-Open the Sergei Magnitsky Murder Investigation for the Fourth Time

PRESS RELEASE

 

6 October 2014 – The Russian Investigative Committee has for the fourth time refused the application from Sergei Magnitsky’s mother to investigate the murder of her son in Russian police custody after he uncovered and testified about the theft of $230 million from state coffers by members of the criminal gang and corrupt Russian officials. 

The latest refusal was issued by General Major Alyshev. In his refusal, he did not address any of the arguments posed by Ms Magnitskaya’s lawyer, and simply rejected the application in general terms, stating:

“The decree to close the criminal case was checked using the case materials…This decision is lawful and justified, and no grounds are seen to cancel it.”

The rejection letter issued by General Alyshev ignored every one of the points made in Ms Magnitskaya’s complaint seeking the reopening of the investigation, including that she has been refused the right to conduct an independent medical evaluation of her son’s tissues; that none of the officials that she named from the FSB, Interior Ministry and General Prosecutor’s Office have been questioned; that the documents she requested for collection have not been gathered from state bodies; that no investigation was done into the death threats sent to Mr Magnitsky’s colleagues shortly before his killing, and that the findings of the Council of Europe’s report about the falsification, disappearance and concealment of evience have been ignored.

“Numerous facts shows that after S.Magnitsky exposed the fraudsters who stole 5.4 billion rubles [$230 million] from the country’s budget, he was repressed, and on 16 November 2009 cruelly murdered…During the next three years, investigators faked an investigation of a criminal case, and the officials mandated to supervise the investigation and its length, including Mr Veseliev, simply symbolized such supervision,” says the complaint from Ms Magnitskaya’s lawyer.

 “The nature and location of bodily injuries demonstrate that brutal violence was used against him [Sergei Magnitsky]. The body of the deceased was found …on the floor of the cell of the collection unit of Matrosskaya Tishina detention center where he was delivered for emergency medical treatment during an acute stage of his disease. It is an incontrovertible fact that unlawful acts were carried out against S.L. Magnitsky by officials of the Tax Crime Department of the Moscow Interior Affairs Department….who made false statements in reports to justify his unlawful detention. During less than a year in custody, Magnitsky was transferred 22 times between three detention centers… None of these facts have been examined in a fair, legal way, none of the guilty in these violations, in fact, crimes, have been brought to justice,” says the complaint.

“40 months have been spent by investigators to conduct knowingly partial judicial medical examinations, the conclusions of which had been artificially made to comply with a particular diagnosis to enable to close the case and not to bring to account those responsible for the death, in fact, murder of S.L.Magnitsky,” says the complaint.

In his refusal, General Alyshev also ignored the requests from Ms Magnitskaya to allow her an independent medical examination of her son’s tissues, to question Russian law enforcement officials and to heed the findings of the Council of Europe’s comprehensive international investigation into Sergei Magnitsky’s killing.

This is the fourth refusal by the Russian Investigative Committee of requests from Magnitsky’s mother to re-open an investigation into her son’s murder in custody. Previously, refusals were issued by Investigator Strizhov and senior Committee officials named А.М. Veseliev and D.V. Kolesnikov.

 

Ms Magnitskaya’s complaint said that the Investigative Committee has created a “regime of uncontrolled impunity” which is exemplified by the fact that no one has been brought to justice for the heinous murder of her son.

 

Estonia Remains Nervous About Russia; Boosts Military Presence

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

TALLINN, Estonia – Estonia is working to build up its military support in order to further defer Russia from invading like it did in Ukraine. Unlike with Ukraine, however, Estonia is receiving some help.

Volunteers in the Estonian Defense League prepare for training near Tallinn. (Photo courtesy of the Wall Street Journal)

United States heavy military equipment of the First Brigade of the First Cavalry Division has arrived today in Tapa, Estonia. This military equipment, according to the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces, includes nine US Strykers, eight Bradley fighting vehicles, and other US military equipment. This will all be used over the next three months in military drills.

In addition to the United States’s recent additions, three prior Strykers were delivered in September. The United States will also be splitting 600 servicemen from the First Brigade of the First Cavalry Division of the US Army between the Baltic states and Poland, and will be replacing the paratroopers of 173d Airborne Brigade with these new troops. Estonia has also reportedly purchased 44 Dutch 193 CV9035NL IFV’s.

Estonia is also receiving help from home, as recruitment in the volunteer unit has doubled in comparison to last year. The Estonian Defense League (“Kaitseliit”) has around 14,500 members in its fighting units, compared to around 3,800 in the professional military.

Along with more recruiting, Estonia has also combated the Russian aggressor by arresting former KGB officers alleged to have crossed into Estonian territory. Mihhail Suhoshin, 64, and Alexander Ladur, 54, are being detained on charges of resisting arrest and illegally entering Estonia. It appears that the men “may have been merely fishing,” according to Kalev Stoicescu, a research fellow and Russia expert at the Tallinn based International Centre for Defence Studies.

Lithuania and Germany have also sought to help another east European nation against Russia. Germany will be sending 200 peacekeepers, including 50 paratroopers, to Ukraine. This marks the first time German troops are being deployed to Ukraine since the Nazi invasion of the then-Soviet territory. Lithuania also plans to increase monetary aid to Ukraine, along with convincing other nations to do the same. The reason behind all of this increased aid to Ukraine is the increased fighting near Donetsk over control of an airport, along with general fighting increasing in eastern Ukraine.

Russian aggression this year has caused many problems throughout Eastern Europe, and Russia has often been the nation playing offense and making the moves. Now the border countries are not only increasing their own defenses, but finally receiving significant help from other allies against Russia.

For more information, please see:

Ria Novosti – US Armored Vehicles Arrive in Estonia for Drills – 5 October 2014

Ria Novosti – US Armoured Vehicles to Arrive in Estonia – 4 October 2014

Mail Online – Germans set to send first troops to Ukraine since WW2 – 4 October 2014

News.com.au – Lithuania puts forward plan to provide defence fund for Ukraine – 3 October 2014

The Guardian – Estonia arrests former KGB officers – 3 October 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Alarm Over Russia Draws Volunteers to Defend Estonia – 2 October 2014

IHS Jane’s 360 – Estonia to buy Dutch CV90s – 2 October 2014

 

The Syrian Commission for Transitional Justice: Syria in the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance

Syrian Commission for Transitional Justice

SCTJ Publishes a Report on Enforced Disappearance

Due to the widespread perpetration of enforced disappearance in states ruled by dictators and military regimes such as Latin America, the United Nation declared the 30th of August to be international Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance. On this occasion, enforced disappearance in Syria should be highlighted as tens of thousands have become forcibly-disappeared over the past three years. The United Nations’ International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance classifies this crime as a crime against humanity because it entails many violations of human rights, which affect the victims and their families.

The Syrian regime has systematically perpetrated this crime for decades. Hafez-Al-Assad used this crime as a method to strengthen his rule and to silence dissents. Additionally, the policy of enforced disappearance has affected the families of the victims for many years. It is estimated that about 17,000 persons had been victimized by this crime since the 1980s. The families of the victims have been suffering from systematic governmental discrimination since 1979. When the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011, the intensity and the scope of the violations committed increased tremendously to include enforced disappearance. The documented number of cases recorded since the beginning of the Syrian revolution reached more than 53,000 cases. The United Nations acknowledged in most of its reports that enforced disappearance in Syria is being used in a widespread manner as a war tactic to terrorize civilians.

The Syrian Commission for Transitional Justice (SCTJ) affirms that the widespread perpetration of enforced disappearance by the Syrian regime against tens of thousands of victims and families is considered a crime against humanity. Subsequently this violation is one of the worst and the most widespread by Syrian regime. SCTJ urges the Security Council to investigate and refer these crimes to the I.C.C. in order to hold the perpetrators accountable. In addition, SCTJ calls the Human Rights Council to address this issue and work on investigating the enforced disappearance cases in Syria.

SCTJ published a report on enforced disappearance, which highlighted that there are more than 60,000 missing persons and about 53,525 forcibly-disappeared persons in Syria, 6722 of whom were killed including 1,348 children and 1,511 women.

The above figures reflect a challenge for us and for the entire world to end this ongoing crime, to take all the necessary measures to refer these crimes to the I.C.C., to hold the perpetrators accountable, and to put an end to the impunity culture.