Council of Europe Venice Commission criticizes Russia for liquidating “Memorial”*

According to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the Russian law on foreign agents contradicts the international legal standards, and the decision to close the “International Memorial”* has become excessive punishment for administrative violations.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on December 28, the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia pronounced a decision to liquidate the “International Memorial”* (the International Historical, Educational, Charity and Human Rights Society “Memorial”) and its regional divisions, and on December 29, the Moscow City Court ruled to liquidate the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*. The execution of the above-mentioned court’s decisions should be postponed pending the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the complaint filed by Russian NGOs against the law on foreign agents, the ECtHR declares.

While commenting on the court’s decision to liquidate the “International Memorial”*, the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe in the field of constitutional law, declared that the Russian law on foreign agents was “a violation of international standards.”

In particular, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) suggests that “the punishment in the form of the liquidation of an NGO should be reserved only as a last resort for extreme cases of serious violations that threaten democracy.”

Statements in defence of the “Memorial”* were signed by Amnesty International (AI), Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the “Committee against Torture” (CaT), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

Diplomats from the Embassies of Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and the United States came to the building of the Moscow City Court on the day when the court ruled to liquidate the HRC “Memorial”*. The diplomats expressed their indignation at the court’s decision.

*The organization has been put by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on the register of foreign agents.