Human rights
Greens are concerned about Russian human rights organizations
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visits the human rights center of the organization “Memorial” in Moscow (Russia) and is guided through the archive by the director, Irina Lasarewna Scherbakowa. Photo: picture alliance / Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
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The Russian organization Memorial campaigns for political prisoners and the observance of human rights – to the annoyance of the government. Memorial is now threatened with “liquidation”.
According to party leader Annalena Baerbock, the Greens are very concerned about the threatened closure of the Russian human rights organization Memorial.
This is one of the most renowned human rights organizations internationally, said Baerbock of the German Press Agency in Berlin. «The organization must not become the next victim of arbitrary criminalization. With this step, Russia would move further away from the European canon of values, ”warned Baerbock.
“We are resolutely against the politically motivated crackdown on Memorial and the criminalization of civil society engagement,” said the Greens chairwoman. Your party assured the organization and the democratic civil society of Russia of its solidarity. The Council of Europe in Strasbourg also turned against the threatened end. “The closure (…) would deal another devastating blow to civil society,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić.
The Russian judiciary announced on Thursday that the Supreme Court would decide on a “liquidation motion” from the General Prosecutor’s Office on November 25th. The Memorial Society, founded in 1987, spoke of a “political decision” without a legal basis. To the annoyance of the Russian leadership, the organization campaigns for political prisoners, for example. Human rights activists complain about increasing authoritarian tendencies and the persecution of dissenters in Russia.
The Russian judiciary accuses Memorial of repeated violations of the Foreign Agents Act. The organization has been fined several times for failing to identify itself as a foreign agent. The law stipulates that recipients of payments from abroad can be referred to as “agents”. Many journalists are also affected.