Russian Federation: Burning of the office of human rights organisation, Mothers of Dagestan
Source:
Frontline The office of the human rights organisation, Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights (MDHR), burned down on the night of 19 August 2009, resulting in the destruction of all office equipment.
The chairperson of MDHR, Ms. Svetlana Isaeva, has told Front Line that she believes that the office was “intentionally set on fire.”
MDHR is an non-governmental organisation created in 2007 by the parents of persons who have disappeared in Dagestan. MDHR documents cases of enforced disappearances in this Republic of the Russian Federation. Front Line previously raised the case of a defamation campaign against MDHR in the Russian media on 6 February 2009.
On 17 August 2009, two days prior to the fire at their office, MDHR had sent a complaint to the Public Prosecutor concerning the arson attack on a Muslim shop in Makhachkala. Svetlana Isaeva has told Front Line that “the fire in our office could be the response of the Prosecutor's office to our query.”
According to officials in Dagestan, the fire at MDHR was caused by a short circuit. On 20 August 2009, the Sovetsky district Department of Internal Affairs refused to accept a complaint lodged by the members of MDHR that a short circuit in the office was unlikely since nobody had worked in the office for the past two weeks and that all of the electrical equipment had been switched off.
Front Line is concerned that the burning of the MDHR office may have been intentional and directly related to the activities of the organisation in the defense of human rights in Dagestan. Front Line fears for the physical and psychological integrity of all members of MDHR. Taking into consideration the recent killings human rights defenders in Chechnya, the destruction of the office of MDHR may form a part of pattern of attacks against human rights defenders and human rights organisations in the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation.
Front Line calls on the authorities in the Russian Federation to:
1. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the allegation that the office of Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights was intentionally burned, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;
2. Guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of all members of Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights;
3. Ensure that all human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, carrying out their legitimate work in the defence of human rights, are able to operate free of restrictions and reprisals.
20 August 2009
Source: Frontline
