PACE adopted a resolution on Russia

October 2, 2012 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE) monitoring results Russia's obligations to the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the legal situation in Russia containing recommendations to the Russian leadership. Resolution It also talks about the problems covered by the SOVA center. In particular, the Assembly advises the Russian side pay close attention to the recommendations of the Venice Commission, which issued an opinion on the Federal Law on Combating Extremist activities and formulated proposals for its reform.

PACE insists on making significant changes to the laws, adopted in Russia in recent months and casting a shadow on democratic achievements of the country, including the law on the control of information on the network, the law on rallies and the law on "foreign agents" that infringe on fundamental human rights and hindering the development of civil society.

Assembly drew attention to the fate of individual victims, groups and organizations suffering from repressive nature of these laws. Thus, the parliamentarians demanded ending the application of anti-extremist legislation against religious communities, including Jehovah's Witnesses, and discrimination against sexual minorities with various legal instruments, as well as the unconditional release Members of Pussy Riot whose sentence they considered excessively harsh.

PACE recommended that the Russian authorities refrain from establishing excessive control over social networks and the Internet in general, filtering opposition sites or attempts to organize cyber attacks against them.

Parliamentarians stressed the need to implement urgent measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary in Russia, limiting the influence prosecutors to other branches of government. Also, in their opinion, it is necessary to limit the influence supervisory agencies on civil proceedings in favor of the courts. However, all judicial reforms must be carried out in accordance with the standards of the Council of Europe. PACE insists on the strict implementation in Russia of the decisions of the ECtHR.

The members of the Assembly expressed their conviction that all these measures are all the more necessary since, given the political situation prevailing in Russia since December 2011, the coming months should be decisive for its democratic future, and it is up to the Russian leadership to prove their commitment democratic processes gaining momentum in the country.

Sources

• Resolution 1896 (2012). The honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation. Provisional version // PACE. 2012. 2 October.
• Maria Efimova. Russia flunked at the European session // Kommersant. 2012. October 3.