Observers will be supported financially – Newspaper Kommersant No. 217 (7418) dated 11/23/2022

The State Duma approved in the second reading amendments to the law “On public control over ensuring human rights in places of detention.” The document regulates the activities of public monitoring commissions (POC) – regional human rights groups that protect the rights of those arrested and convicted, interacting with the prosecutor’s office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Penitentiary Service and the TFR. The government proposes to compensate members of the PMC for current expenses and introduces the possibility to exclude human rights activists who do not visit prisoners from commissions.

The government of the Russian Federation introduced amendments to the legislation on the PMC in the spring. The changes, as Kommersant reported (see issue dated April 5), relate, among other things, to the adjustment of requirements for non-profit organizations that nominate their candidates to the POC. For example, the “term of carrying out human rights activities” required for the nomination of NPO employees to the composition of monitoring commissions is reduced from five to three years. Interlocutors of “Kommersant” have previously often called the five-year restriction a “filter” that restricts human rights activities.

It should be reminded that PMCs were established in 2008 to “monitor the observance of the rights of prisoners in places of detention.” Their representatives can visit not only pre-trial detention centers and colonies, but also detention centers for foreign citizens, police departments and mental hospitals. The PMC, depending on the subject, includes from 5 to 40 people. In October 2022, one of the most massive rotations of members of the POC (takes place every three years) ended in Russia (see Kommersant on September 29) – it took place in 43 subjects. The results of the campaign drew criticism from human rights activists: Kommersant’s interlocutors, in particular, noted the “unprecedented” number of representatives of law enforcement agencies in the composition of the PMC.

Any public associations, except for political parties, religious denominations and NGOs from the registers of foreign agents, can nominate a candidate for the PMC. The new amendments propose to expand the list of organizations to include associations, unions, foundations and autonomous non-profit organizations (ANOs). By the second reading, the list of nominating organizations was to be supplemented by religious associations. Alexander Kholodov, deputy chairman of the commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation on security and interaction with the PMC, explained: “The ROC is actively engaged in the re-socialization of prisoners, but it does not have the right to nominate people to the POC, and priests get there through nomination from other organizations.” However, it follows from the text of the draft that religious organizations were not included in the list.

Candidates to the POC are approved by the Council of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, but the chamber does not have the right to exclude people from the POC. It is proposed to change this point by giving the council of the RF OP the right to exclude from the commissions those human rights activists who do not attend pre-trial detention centers and colonies. According to the current wording of the law, the powers of a member of the PMC can be terminated either on his own initiative, or “in the event of a gross violation of the code of ethics of the POC,” notes Alexei Melnikov, executive secretary of the PMC of Moscow, a member of the HRC. “The amendment should increase the efficiency of commissions,” Mr. Melnikov explained to Kommersant.

Another innovation concerns the costs of travel, communications and printing of documents of human rights activists – now the members of the PMC take care of them. According to the document, it is proposed to compensate for the expenses of the RF OP. “The work of members of the PMC is not paid, gasoline, food and accommodation, too. For example, in Khabarovsk, where the colony can be 900 km away from the center, this compensation amendment is very important,” says Alexei Melnikov.

The government’s amendments also introduce provisions on the independence of the POC from state authorities, local self-government, state and municipal organizations. The document fixes the “inadmissibility” of interference by political parties, international and foreign organizations in the field of activity of the commissions. Political parties are also prohibited from nominating candidates for PMC members. “Party representatives cannot be objective in their human rights activities when it comes to their opponents or supporters,” Mr. Melnikov is sure. “Politics, rallies, elections, legislation are their platforms, let them work for them. The PMC is an independent body, it works in the interests of the law and citizens in places of detention.”

Maria Starikova