Picket in defence of the right to collective hunger strikes

INFORMATION AGENCY ‘FOR HUMAN RIGHTS’
All-Russian Public Movement ‘For Human Rights’
125009, Moscow, Maly Kislovsky Lane, tel./fax (495) 609-92-14, tel. (495) 691-62-33
Building 7, structure 1, room 21 E-mail: [email protected]; http://www.zaprava.ru/

ON TUESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS COMMENCE SOLITARY PICKETING OF THE STATE DUMA IN DEFENCE OF THE RIGHTS OF PRISONERS TO COLLECTIVE HUNGER STRIKES

On 20 and 21 September, well-known human rights activists will picket the State Duma against the adoption of a law banning peaceful collective protest actions by prisoners.

The action will take the form of rotating solitary pickets, which do not require authorisation. Picketing will take place from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on the Okhotny Ryad side.

On 20 September, the picket will include: Svetlana Gannushkina, member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights; Valery Borshchev, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and Chairman of the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission; Lev Ponomaryov, Executive Director of the ‘For Human Rights’ Movement, and others.

As is known, on 22 September, the Security Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation will consider the government draft law No. 597884-5 ‘On Amending Articles 76 and 116 of the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation’, the second part of which introduces a ban on collective hunger strikes and collective self-harm — the only peaceful protest actions available to prisoners. In the event of approval by the Committee, the first reading will take place on 5 October.

In the event of the adoption of this draft law, mass hunger strikes and self-harm in places of detention will, in themselves, become criminally punishable acts.
Even in Soviet times, collective hunger strikes and self-harm were not considered malicious violations of the regime (Article 62 of the Corrective Labour Code of the RSFSR).

At present, there is a year-on-year increase in cases of mass hunger strikes and prisoners inflicting wounds upon themselves, which testifies to the deteriorating situation in places of deprivation of liberty.

The adoption of the proposed law will lead to a catastrophe regarding human rights compliance in places of deprivation of liberty, depriving prisoners of the last means to stop arbitrariness, mockery, and torture.

Human rights activists, public figures, writers, and scientists have already appealed to deputies with an Appeal calling for the rejection of the draft law (http://zaprava.ru/index.php?option=com_petitions&view=petition&id=113)