Council of Europe Report Denounces Russian Persecution of Hermitage Partner as “Not Bona Fide Pursuit of Criminal Justice”

Press Release
For Immediate Distribution

 

 24 January 2014 – In its new report on the Magnitsky case, the Council of Europe Rapporteur has criticized the case opened by the Russian Interior Ministry against Hermitage Capital partner, Ivan Cherkasov, saying it was not a “bona fide pursuit of criminal justice.”

The criminal case against Mr Cherkasov was used as a pretext to search offices of Hermitage Capital and its law firm in Moscow, Firestone Duncan, and tounlawfully seize documents for the Hermitage Fund’s companies, which were then used to fraudulently re-register those companies into the names of previously convicted criminals. The criminals then fraudulently applied for $230 million of taxes that Hermitage Fund’s companies had paid in Russia.

Following the Council of Europe investigation, the Rapporteur, Swiss MP Andreas Gross, concluded that the case against Kameya was not a bona fide investigation.

“I conclude that the criminal case must have been opened for other reasons than the bona fide pursuit of criminal justice. One of the real reasons might well have been to justify the two “raids” on the offices of Firestone Duncan and Hermitage, during which items were taken by the investigators, which, as it is alleged, were later used in the commission of the tax reimbursement fraud denounced by Sergei Magnitsky,” says Council of Europe Rapporteur in his report.

The case alleged tax underpayment by Kameya, of which Cherkasov was general director, in spite of fact that the companies had received clean tax audits from the Russian Federal Tax Service. Sergei Magnitsky in his testimony stressed that the case against Kameya was fabricated by the Interior Ministry officers in order to commit fraud against Hermitage.

The Interior Ministry officers who were in charge of the Kameya case, Karpov and Silchenko, have been sanctioned for their role in the Magnitsky case by the U.S. government.

All appeals to close the case for the lack of evidence of any crime have been rejected by the Interior Ministry in spite of definitive conclusions by the tax bodies that all taxes had been paid in full and correctly.

Recently, Hermitage lawyers learned that the Interior Ministry appointed an expert to find evidence for continuing the case. The expert concluded that there was no basis, but his conclusions have been kept secret from Hermitagelawyers for three months. A complaint has now been filed by Hermitage lawyers against the Interior Ministry to compel them to close the Kameya case as groundless and unlawful.

For more information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia

Report “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky

New Deaths Make Ukrainians Unsure How Long Tensions Must Continue

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KYIV, Ukraine – Continued tensions sparked fatalities in Ukraine, as government and opposition leaders called a fragile truce. Meanwhile, the country’s neighbors fought over what message to send Ukraine.

Violence flared amidst anti-government sentiments that have continued in Ukraine since late November 2013. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

On 22 January 2014, clashes between activists and police ended with two dead for the first time since anti-government protests began in late November over Ukraine’s decision to back out of EU treaty talks.

Ukrainian authorities identified one of the deceased as Serhiy Nihoyan, the son of Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh. In December 2013, Nihoyan travelled from his home in eastern Ukraine to join the protests. The other man shot was a Belarusian citizen, Mikhail Zhyznewski, who joined the protest with Una-Unso, a Ukrainian far-right group. A third activist was later found dead in a forest near Kyiv, after his abduction last week.

In this light, Ukrainian opposition leaders began to observe a fragile truce, which may lead to a meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych, who asked parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the ongoing crisis.

The speaker said the session will address the opposition’s  demand to remove government officials.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko asserted that he would lead pro-EU protesters “on the attack” if elections were not called. Ukrainian media outlets report that activists took over reigional state administrations in western cities; namely, Lviv and Rivne. The governor of Lviv, Oleg Salo has been forced out of office.

On 23 January 2014, Head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso received assurances that President Yanukovych will not declare a state of emergency, after Barroso and Yanukovych spoke over the phone.

In the past week, hundreds of activists and dozens of police have been injured near Kyiv’s Independence Square.

Klitschko urged both the protesters and police cease all use of force until his talks with Yanukovych were completed. He planned three main demands to the talks:1) a snap presidential election; 2) the cancellation of the new anti-protest laws; and 3) the resignation of the government.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said opposition leaders should be “more humble” and “move away from the language of ultimatums.”

Azarov denied police responsibility for the deaths, saying that live ammunition was not carried.

The European Union promised that it would “rethink” its relationship with Ukraine if there was a “systematic violation of human rights.” Additionally, the United States accused Ukrainian officials of failing to “engage in real dialogue” and revoked the visas of “several Ukrainians who were linked to the violence.” Russia then accused the EU and US of improperly interfering in Ukrainian affairs.

To achieve peace, however, Ukraine must listen to its people above any foreign body.

For further information, please see:

CNN International – Ukraine: No Deal in Talks between Government and Protesters – January 24, 2014

Human Rights Watch – Ukraine: Police Beatings, Kidnappings in Kiev – January 24, 2014

BBC News – Ukraine Protests: Crisis Talks after Day of Bloodshed – January 23, 2014

Bloomberg Businessweek – Ukraine Opposition Urges Continued Truce – January 23, 2014

Russian Authorities Searching for “Black Widow” Suspected of Planning Suicide Bombing at Sochi Games

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

SOCHI, Russia – Russian authorities are searching for a woman they believe to be planning to carry out a suicide bombing at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Ruzana Ibragimova is suspected of plotting a suicide bombing on the Sochi Winter Games. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

Ruzanna Ibragimova, a 23-year-old native of Dagestan in the North Caucasus region, is thought to be the widow of an Islamic militant. She is deemed a “black widow”, as she is attempting to avenge her husband’s death through an attack. Ibragimova is believed to have traveled to Sochi earlier this month, somehow managing to penetrate strict security at the site of the Games. Two other females also allegedly planning to carry out suicide bombings are wanted in Sochi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is conducting one of the largest security operations in the history of the Olympics, as over 30,000 police and Russian ministry troops have been deployed to the area. Authorities have severely limited access to Sochi by the public. Wanted posters with the images of the suspected suicide bomb-plotters have been put up in the area.

The Russian government considers Islamist militants from Dagestan and the nearby republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya to be a major security threats to the Sochi Games. Security fears have been increased after two suicide bomb attacks killed 34 people in the southern city of Volgograd back on December 29th and 30th.

Several countries’ Olympic associations have been sent email threats regarding specific athletes; however most have been dismissed as not credible by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC stated that the emails seemed to be “a random message from a member of the public,” and did not pose a threat, but also stated that they would be taken very seriously.

British Olympic Association officials stated that they “receive correspondence of every type and it is not uncommon to come across something like this that lacks credibility. It is extremely important in matters such as this that everyone maintains a level head and a sensible perspective,” stated spokesman Darryl Seibel.

U.S. President Barack Obama offered America’s “full assistance” in making the Olympics “safe and secure” in a telephone conversation with the Kremlin on Tuesday, the White House stated. Two U.S. warships will be on standby in the Black Sea upon commencement of the Games on February 7th. The U.S. has also offered to supply Russia with hi-tech equipment to help detect improvised explosives.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Russia Hunts Suspected Female Sochi Suicide Bomber – 22 January 2014

The Independent – Race to Find Sochi “Bomber” Casts Chill Over Winter Olympics – 22 January 2014

Mirror News – The “Black Widow” Suicide Bomber Thought to be in Hiding in Winter Olympic Games City of Sochi – 22 January 2014

ABC News – Urgent Search for “Black Widow” Suicide Bomber, May Already be in Sochi – 20 January 2014

Syria Photographs Provide Evidence of Systematic Torture by Assad Regime

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – A team of international war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts has issued a report stating that there is “direct evidence” of “systematic torture and killing” by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

This image from the report purportedly shows ligature marks around the neck of a prisoner. (Courtesy of The Guardian)

Their report, based on thousands of photographs of dead bodies of alleged detainees killed in Syrian government custody, would stand up in an international criminal tribunal, the group says.

“This is a smoking gun,” said David Crane, the first chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and one of the report’s authors. “Any prosecutor would like this kind of evidence — the photos and the process. This is direct evidence of the regime’s killing machine.”

The bodies in the photos showed signs of starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture and killing, according to the report.

A Syrian government defector codenamed “Caesar” provided testimony and 27,000 photographs as evidence used in the report; in all 55,000 such images were brought out of the country. According to the report, Caesar worked as photographer in the military police. Once the war started, he was required to document “killed detainees.”

A complex numbering system was also used to catalog the corpses. The system allowed intelligence agencies to identify the corpses and then later to provide false documentation that the person had died in a hospital. According to the report the system may have also served other purposes such as documenting each person’s death without involving family members, proving that orders had been followed, or perhaps it was simply the way it had always been done.

The fact that all the bodies were photographed, the report’s authors say, strongly suggests that “the killings were systematic, ordered, and directed from above.”

The report was authored by Crane, Sir Desmond de Silva, former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice, former lead prosecutor against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

“Ultimately, the validity of our conclusions turn on the integrity of the people involved,” de Silva said. “We, the team, were very conscious of the fact there are competing interests in the Syrian crisis — both national and international. We were very conscious of that.”

For further information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Why Syria’s Assad enters Geneva talks in a position of strength – 23 January 2013

CNN – Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad – 22 January 2013

Reuters – Dooming the Syria talks before they begin – 22 January 2013

BBC – Syria photos may prove claims of torture – 21 January 2013

Guardian – Syria regime document trove shows evidence of ‘industrial scale’ killing of detainees – 20 January 2013