Lawyers discuss how to protect various rights
How can human rights defenders satisfy the public’s demand for justice?
17.02.2025
Article published on the Russian Federation’s Civic Chamber oprf.ru website
A panel discussion on a new type of Russian human rights defender took place on the third day of a Federation’s Civic Chamber seminar held on 16 February. Participants raised a number of issues which, in their view, warranted particular attention from lawyers.
Yulia Belekhova, Chair of the Committee of Families of Defenders of the Fatherland (CFDF), explained how its free legal advice is organised and the challenges their lawyers face.
Around 18 professional advocates and lawyers work at CFDF’s main office, offering free assistance to help resolve problems related to monetary allowances, pay and bonuses, as well as responding to queries within the framework of family and criminal law.
Belekhova emphasised that the work of her lawyers and advocates differs from what their colleagues are used to in everyday life. It’s not enough to be professional, you also need to be a psychologist and able to handle emotional stress.
“People send us two, three or four pages filled with emotion about perceived injustices. Or it’s a telephone conversation during which a person spends 30 minutes explaining everything that’s happened to them. Some psychologists cannot stand the strain. Recently, one of our employees left us, saying she couldn’t take it anymore. We have to deal with people’s anguish and painful emotions, much of which is justified. Today, there is only one demand – for justice”, she said.
“It is hard to turn down a person’s demand if it has no legal basis”, said Belekhova. It’s no less difficult for our work when the necessary procedures introducing a new bill have not yet been finalised, with complainants already demanding its implementation. Just such a reaction was sparked by Decree No. 1110 issued on 26 December last year “On monthly social payments to children of certain categories of military personnel” which relates to payments to the children of those who are either missing in action or in captivity.
“This is only a Decree not a framework for how it is meant to work in practice. People then start contacting us. There is no financial support for these families. Their monetary allowance is suspended so they receive nothing, nor is there any news of the servicemen. It’s unclear what should be done. There is a huge amount of information out there and we say, look, the Decree hasn’t been formally adopted yet. Naturally, this annoys a lot of people”, said Belekhova.
Georgy Volkov, Deputy Chair of the Civic Chamber’s Commission on Security and Cooperation with the Federation’s Public Defender’s Office, spoke of his creation of a new human rights organisation: the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC). His idea was supported by Vladimir Putin during a meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights held last December. The Committee will work in the Russian Federation to protect the rights of its citizens. There are also plans to develop an international agenda with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.
According to Volkov, membership of the NHRC will include representatives from public councils and bodies involved in human rights issues. Among these are the Federation’s Prison Service, the Justice Ministry and the Prosecutor General’s Investigative Committee.
“We will propose agreeing a formal working relationship to ensure that the requests and the issues we raise are discussed at senior level. Such a practice already exists and I’m sure they will be able to meet us halfway”, said a member of the Federation’s Civic Chamber who introduced the discussion.
Legislation is another work area for the NHRC. A working group established by the Justice Ministry will deal with the alignment of State regulatory acts and federal laws. There are also plans to create a specialist information hub. Information partners have already come forward, including major news agencies, said Volkov.
“In fact, we already have the necessary tools. Our main task is to defend human rights. People need to be aware that in addition to civil society institutions responsible for protecting these fundamental rights, there is now a non-Government organisation that will be able to draw problems to the attention of State agencies”, he said.
Discussions then turned to an increase in the distribution of drugs among young people. The general consensus was that there should be more focus on preventative measures to deal with their access to drugs rather than punishment for distributing them.
Alex Melnikov, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, noted that teenagers and women involved in drug distribution are acquitted more often than adult men.
In closing, members of the Civic Chamber put forward proposals on the issues discussed during the seminar and on improving their work in general. In particular, it recommended monitoring implementation of the federal “On Probation” law in the regions.
Irina Yakovenko, a member of the Civic Chamber’s Commission on Demography, Protection of the Family, Children and Traditional Family Values, drew attention to the need to develop integrated proposals for the public oversight of issues affecting the provision of an accessible environment, as well as improving access for less able-bodied people to rail travel.
