26 November 2012

By PERM CIVIC CHAMBER 

Perm Civic Chamber here presents a short overview of civic action success stories from across the Russian regions. Perm Civic Chamber hopes that these examples of successful action will make useful and interesting reading and provide inspiration to others for their activities. On the website of Perm Civic Chamber you will find a database of more than 1000 success stories, as well as advice on good practice and methods of work. If you would like to assist Perm Civic Chamber in finding new success stories and publicising them, please send any information and materials to palata@prpc.ru.

Police officers disciplined for hiding their ID badges during the May protests

Authors of success: Employees of the inter-regional human rights association AGORA. 

On 23rd July 2012, the headquarters of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs based in Moscow admitted that police officers violated the law 'On the police' during the street protests of 6-7th May. Officers of the Mobile Division of the Centre for Special Operations were disciplined for hiding the ID badges on their uniforms. 

For more information, see http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5342 

A man with disabilities from Ekaterinburg wins compensation from a cafe that refused him entry to his birthday party

Authors of success: Alexander Mokin, an Ekaterinburg resident, assisted by Anna Demeneva, a consultant with the Sverdlovsk Ombudsman.

On 17th July 2012, the Ordzhonikidze district court in Ekaterinburg ruled in favour of Alexander Mokin, who sought 100,000 roubles in compensation from Aleksandra Ltd for distress caused by their refusal to allow him into their cafe in his wheelchair. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5345

Single parents prove their right to land ownership in court

Authors of success: A large single-parent family from Perm with help from the NGO Large Families of the Perm Region. 

On 23rd July 2012, it was announced that single parents would be given back their places in a waiting list for grants of free land from the local council. The Ordzhonikidze district court in Perm found in favour of one of the single-parent families and ruled that the City council must reinstate them in the waiting list for land grants. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5348

Civic activist from Chuvashia proves legality of his one-man protest outside FSB offices 

Author of success: Cheboksar resident Dmitry Karuev. 

On 27th July 2012, a Justice of the Peace at Court No.7 in the Leninsky District of Cheboksar threw out an administrative case brought against Dmitry Karuev and ruled that his one-man protest does not constitute a crime under Russian law. A case had been brought against the opposition activist on the grounds that by holding up a placard with the slogan “Cheka in the Kremlin, Russia in the Shit” he had breached rules on picketing. Mr. Karuev had previously been held for three days accused of petty hooliganism in connection with this incident. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5350 

A case launched by Samara police for defamation is thrown out 

Authors of success: Journalist Saiyara Dvortsova and chair of the Samara branch of GOLOS Lyudmila Kuzmina, assisted by Damir Gainutdinov, a legal analyst at Association AGORA. 

On 25th July 2012, the Oktyabrsky district court in Samara ruled on a case brought by the Samara branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs against the editor and publisher of the Puls Povolzhya newspaper, Saiyara Dvortsova, author of article entitled Police Arrest Women and Pensioners at Samara Protest, and the chair of GOLOS in Samara Lyudmila Kuzmina. The court found in favour of the defendants. In summing up, the judge stated that all complaints brought by the police authorities were entirely groundless. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5354 

Organizers of protest “White Stream” win court case against the Cheboksar town council 

Authors of success: Protest organizer Denis Olenov assisted by Aleksei Glukhov, head of Shield and Sword, a human rights organization. 

On 27th August 2012, judge of the Leninsky district court in Cheboksar Yury Sorokin upheld a complaint brought by Denis Olenev, one of the organizers of the “White Stream” protest, ruling that the local council's decision to ban the protest was illegal. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5356

Taman residents stop construction of a methanol factory 

Authors of success: residents of the Temryuksky district in the Krasnodar Region and local environmental activists. 

On 17th September 2012, Sintez-Yug Ltd. announced in a press release that they had abandoned plans to build a methanol factory near the village of Volna. This decision was a huge victory for local residents and environmental activists, who had campaigned against the building of another industrial complex in Taman that would cause serious ecological damage and threaten the lives of local people. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5358

Rope jumpers in Vladivostok successfully argue that regional legislation is legally unsound 

Authors of success: Rope jump organizer Vasily Karpyuk with assistance from lawyer Aleksei Klyotskin. 

On 17th September 2012, rope-jumping enthusiasts gained a court ruling in favour of their claim that part of regional legislation dealing with public events is legally invalid. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5360

Public outcry halts passage of law on public gatherings in the Chuvash Republic 

Authors of success: NGOs, civic activists and internet users in Chuvashia. 

On 18th September 2012, the Chuvash State Council rejected a new law 'On providing the conditions for citizens of the Russian Federation for the exercise of their right to hold gatherings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets in the Chuvash Republic', which has raised a storm of protest among local people.

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5362 

Prosecutor General rescinds extradition order for the first time 

Authors of success: Local Kazan lawyer Ruslan Nagiev, Elena Ryabinina, head of the 'Right to Asylum' programme of the Human Rights Institute and Nadezhda Yermolaeva, a lawyer from the firm Musaev & Partners. 

On 13th September 2012, Mamir Nematov, who is an ethnic Uzbek from the Osh Region of Kyrgyzstan, was released from detention in the city of Kazan. The Kyrgyz authorities had been seeking his extradition on fabricated charges that he took part in a riot in the south of the country in June 2010. The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation overturned his own earlier decision to extradite Mr. Nematov following an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (invoking Rule 39), which required the Russian authorities to halt the defendant's extradition and provide him with temporary asylum on Russian territory. 

For more information, see: http://www.pgpalata.ru/progress/?p=5364