Front Line is concerned following the ongoing intimidation and harassment of human rights defender Ms Anastasia Denisova. Anastasia Denisova is President of Youth Group for Tolerance “ETHniCS” (YGT “ETHniCS”), a member of the Coordinating Council of International Youth Human Rights Movement, an employee of Human Rights Centre “Memorial”, and co-coordinator of the ”Green Alternative” group in the region of Krasnodar. YGT “ETHniCS” monitors manifestations of xenophobia and the situation of ethnic minorities of the Krasnodar region.

Further Information

On 12 October 2009, officials from Krasnodar Economic Crime Department and the commercial firm “SPECTR” broke into Anastasia Denisova's rented office, reportedly to search for counterfeited copies of software. However the address in the complaint which provoked this search did not coincide with the address of the office, and the suspected computers did not belong to YGT “ETHnICS”. After confiscating three system units, officials demanded that Anastasia Denisova sign an obligation to report to the police station the next day. When she refused to sign, Economic Crime Department officials tried to take her by her hands and take her to the police station in a gray OPEL without number plates, allegedly in order to verify her identity. The officials eventually left without her.

In October 2009, Anastasia Denisova was prevented from traveling to a Human Dimension Implementation Meeting held in Warsaw, to which she was invited by OSCE/ODIHR. Before her flight from Krasnodar International Airport she was subjected to a search at customs for approx. 15 minutes which included the examination of all items in her backpack. A representative of the Service of Aircraft Security then demanded that she return to the airline desk to check in her hand luggage. Despite declarations by both a representative of Austrian Airlines and the head of the shift at the passport control service that the laptop would definitely be damaged and that it was the first time they had ever heard such demands, the security representative insisted and showed them “internal instructions”. After the Austrian Airlines official confirmed that they have no special transportation service for fragile objects and the security representative repeated that he would not let her pass through, Anastasia was unable to go to Warsaw.

In October 2009, the official newspaper “Kubanskie Novosti” ('News of Kuban') published several negative articles on local NGOs. In an article devoted to YGT “ETHnICS” and Anastasia Denisova, "Time to finish the the clownery”, the author stated that the human rights monitoring issues edited by YGT “ETHnICS” were “inciting ethnical hatred”.

In August 2009, Anastasia Denisova along with a photo-journalist were returning from a trip to Abkhazia when they were stopped for 7 hours by customs officers. Anastasia’s luggage was searched for any electronic information drives (laptops, disks, USB sticks, etc), and in their absence the customs officers and Russian border officers questioned her for several hours about her human rights activities. The photo-journalist accompanying her was searched, and more than 20 GB of information were copied from his laptop and confiscated.

Recently, the institute where Anastasia Denisova taught English to students, refused to prolong her contract after four years of employment. Moreover, she was reportedly questioned about her civil rights activities for a Professor of Kuban State University, where she is currently undertaking post-graduate studies.

YGT “ETHnICS” has been restrained in its activities since 2007, when it was investigated simultaneously by the Federal Registration Office, Federal Tax Service, and the bank inspection. Activists of the groups sent complaints about infringements made by Registration Office during these check-ups and won a court trial about the illegal demands of the Tax service. However, for three years now the organisation has been restricted in its work and operations due to legal procedures and a freeze of their bank account.

Front Line believes that the limitation of freedom of movement and intimidation of Anastasia Denisova is directly linked to her work in the defence of human rights, in particular her work with YGT “ETHnICS”. Front Line sees this as part of a pattern of on going harassment against Anastasia Denisova. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Anastasia Denisova.

Front Line urges the Russian authorities to:

1. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the harassment against Anastasia Denisova, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards ;

2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological security and integrity of Anastasia Denisova ;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in Russian Federation are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.