Human rights activists demand protection of migrant workers and Muslims of St. Petersburg from police brutality

On February 12, 2013, an open letter from members of human rights organizations addressed to the authorities of Russia and Tajikistan was published. The reason for writing the text of the letter was the mass detentions of Muslims and labor migrants in St. Petersburg on February 6, 7 and 8, 2013, accompanied by police brutality.

“ One gets the feeling ,” the text says, “ that migrant workers are outside political and any legal protection, becoming hostages of the host state, which uses their vulnerable position for the purposes of both foreign and domestic policy, while the protection of the state, of which they are citizens, although included in formal interstate agreements, in reality turns out to be ineffective .”

Human rights activists demand “ a thorough investigation of all cases of arbitrariness, unlawful deprivation of liberty, violence during detention, violation of the rights of children and their parents, both by specific law enforcement officers and by the heads of all departments responsible for planning and conducting a special operation in St. Petersburg and in other regions ,” calling on the authorities of Russia and Tajikistan to “show maximum attention to what happened.”

Let us recall that on February 8, 2013, 271 people were detained in “Apraksin Dvor” in St. Petersburg, including citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Egypt, and people from the North Caucasus. The arrests were carried out as part of the investigation of criminal cases under Part 2 of Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public calls for terrorist activities using the media) and Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement of hatred or enmity).

​Sources

• Appeal of human rights activists to the authorities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan // Memorial. 2013. February 12.