Whether foreigners or political prisoners – regimes like Russia, Belarus and Iran use them for repression and blackmail. How can dictatorships be dissuaded from using them as hostages?
He is treated like a criminal, housed in the high-security wing of a Moscow prison, three locks secure his cell, and he was led away to the court hearings in shackles, accompanied by several guards and a watchdog.
Her husband could hardly walk. After two poison attacks by the Russian regime, numbness was spreading in his legs, Yevgenia Kara-Mursa said bitterly at an event in Berlin. Her husband Wladimir was sentenced in April to 25 years in a prison camp for alleged high treason. The fact that he also has a British passport did not help him. She fears that he will not survive imprisonment. It is just one of countless political prisoners under dictatorial rule. In neighboring Belarus there is no sign of life from some of the prisoners, some of whom are also internationally known.
targeting foreigners
Foreign nationals are just as little safe. The US journalist Evan Gershkovich from the “Wall Street Journal” is currently awaiting his verdict in a Moscow prison. He faces up to 20 years in prison for alleged espionage. He was arrested by employees of a counterintelligence department of the domestic secret service FSB. This apparently specializes in stalking foreigners, as the Wall Street Journal found out. She is said to have been involved in the arrest of Americans Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan.
People with German citizenship are also imprisoned in Russia, Iran and Turkey. The Federal Foreign Office warns of “arbitrary arrests” in Russia and Turkey, where entry bans and exit bans are also threatened. The Turkish law enforcement authorities apparently kept extensive lists of people residing in Germany “who can become the target of law enforcement measures even without adequate preliminary investigations,” according to the ministry’s website.
The warning for Iran is serious: “In the recent past, there have been a large number of arbitrary arrests of foreign nationals.” There is a concrete danger of being “arrested, interrogated and sentenced to long prison terms”.
An office for the wrongly imprisoned?
In addition to repression against one’s own population, it is about blackmailing other governments. The British investor Bill Browder, who was once a successful businessman in Russia until he came into conflict with the circle of power around President Vladimir Putin, speaks of “state kidnappings”. In 2013 and 2017 he was sentenced in absentia to prison for tax evasion. However, Interpol rejected the Russian wanted warrants against him. Browder’s auditor, Sergei Magnitsky, died in prison in 2009 after being denied medical treatment.
Browder works with Kara-Mursa’s wife Yevgenia to draw international attention to the fate of her husband and the other prisoners and to secure their release. “State hostage-taking” is a growing trend worldwide, Browder said in an interview tagesschau.de. He sees a solution in the opening of offices dedicated to arbitrary detention, like one in the United States. This department, attached to the Department of State, evaluates the cases of US citizens in foreign prisons. If they are wrongfully detained or held hostage, the US government may direct additional resources toward their release.
During a stay in Berlin, Browder and Yevgenia Kara-Murza spoke to members of the Bundestag and proposed a debate in the Bundestag, which Browder said they met with support. The CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter thinks the idea is understandable, especially in view of the suffering of political prisoners and their families. Nevertheless, he is skeptical: countries like Iran have practically made “hostage diplomacy” into a business model. If the EU or national states responded, the unjust regimes would be de facto legitimized.
The powers and structures of the German authorities would have to be adapted to the changes in the international security environment, says Foreign Policy Officer for the Greens, Robin Wagener. “Nevertheless, I do not currently see any need for additional structures in this area,” said the Federal Government’s coordinator for intersocietal cooperation with the Southern Caucasus, the Republic of Moldova and Central Asia.
entry bans and frozen accounts
Kiesewetter assumes that only pressure will bring about a change in behavior in unjust regimes. Sanctions against repressive elites have proven to be effective. Such measures are imposed, for example, within the framework of Magnitsky Laws.
Their introduction in the USA, other countries and the EU goes back to the commitment of the imprisoned Kara-Mursas and Browders. They are directed against those responsible first for the death of Browder’s accountant Magnitsky, then also against those responsible for other human rights violations. The sanctions allow entry bans and the freezing of accounts of these people.
The high sentence of 25 years in prison for Vladimir Kara-Mursa can be read as an act of personal vengeance: The judge who imposed this prison sentence is on the US Magnitsky List.
criminal persecution
The German judiciary can also take action against those responsible in dictatorships. The basis is the principle of universal jurisdiction according to paragraph 1 of the International Criminal Code. It enables the federal prosecutor’s office to initiate investigations into illegal state structures in the event of crimes against humanity.
This is the path Gazelle Sharmad is taking. Her father Jamshid, a German citizen, was sentenced to death in Iran on charges of terrorism. She therefore filed a complaint in Karlsruhe against one person from the secret service apparatus and seven public prosecutors and judges. It is supported by the organization “European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights” (ECCHR).
“As a result, we do not necessarily expect arrest warrants to be issued. Our concern is that structural investigations are initiated or that such investigations are deepened if they already exist,” explains lawyer Patrick Kroker from ECCHR. This enables preparation for personal investigations to be carried out later, which can result in arrest warrants. The systematic collection and securing of evidence is important for this.
A similar approach is already being taken in the case of Syria, where preliminary investigations have been conducted since the end of 2011. As a result, the federal prosecutor’s office issued at least one arrest warrant for a high-ranking member of the Syrian secret service, according to Kroker. He believes that such legal action against crimes of this magnitude is a “sharper sword” than personal sanctions, although the two can also be combined.
financial criminals, agents and killers
However, this takes time, which many prisoners do not have because, like Jamshid Sharmad or Vladimir Kara-Mursa, they are seriously ill after being mistreated. Even if he is against “hostage diplomacy,” Kiesewetter says prisoner exchanges should be allowed in individual cases. A variety of convicted criminals would be eligible, such as convicted financial criminals or agents. He refers to the growing number of exposed Russian spies. However, many “high quality” agents have already been expelled from the USA and the EU states.
“On the other hand, I think convicted murderers are more difficult,” says Kiesewetter, referring to the Russian, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the “Tiergarten murder.” It also plays a role in which prisoners Putin has an interest and for what reasons – if obtaining a release could, for example, strengthen loyalty in the security apparatus or among oligarchs and elites. Experts see precisely this as reasons why Putin is determined to get the Russians released, possibly in exchange for the journalist Gershkovich.
Browder is also against replacing such criminals: “He’s a murderer. If he gets free, he’ll just keep killing for the Russian state and possibly endanger even more lives.” He is working with his comrades-in-arms on a list of arrested Russian spies that they would suggest for an exchange.