The life and health of Russian political prisoners are under increasing threat: in particular, Mikhail Trepashkin, Valentin Danilov, Igor Sutyagin, Svetlana Bakhmina, Zara Murtazaliyeva, Platon Lebedev, Mikhail Khodorkovskiy, Aleksey Pichugin, Zaurbek Talkhigov, Vasiliy Aleksanyan, Boris Stomakhin, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Andrey Novikov and many others. Medicine has been used as punishment against Trepashkin, Talkhigov and Novikov; most have been tortured; Aleksandrov and Aleksanyan have gone completely blind in prison under the influence of unidentified substances.
We have asked the Strasbourg court to combine and speed up the cases of all these political prisoners. They should be subject to the criteria drawn up in 2001 by experts of the Council of Europe secretary general and to the treatment related to this status: release or a new trial that meets all the norms of fair legal process, guaranteed by Article Six of the European Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms.
In Russia any action with regard to political prisoners is possible only with the sanction of the government – either of President Putin personally or FSB Director Patrushev.
Torture is used more and more widely in Russia and with impunity, concentration camps are growing, genocide is committed, there is no justice, and lawlessness rules. We also hold Ivanov, Fradkov, Sechin, Ustinov, Medvedev and the shady satraps of Russia directly responsible for what is going on. We also accuse Kadyrov personally of the endless war and kidnapping in Chechnya. Every one of these politicians must face the Tribunal and International Court.
By ignoring human rights in favour of Russia's energy resources, every one of you is unwittingly supporting its fascist regime and the spread of totalitarianism to the West. Were it not for Russia's behind-the-scenes policy of setting the West against the East, the West's demand for energy could be satisfied by the Arab countries and the Middle East, which are now at war or preparing for war. Moreover, a number of European countries have sufficient gas reserves and are working out alternatives and, therefore, basically do not need Russia.
Aleksandr Litvinenko and our colleagues proved that the blowing up of the Twin Towers in New York, the bomb blasts on the London underground and many other acts of terrorism ascribed to Al Qa'ida were planned with the involvement of the FSB and Kremlin. Many years of trials of biological and chemical weapons have been transferred from Russian prisons, schools and the Caucasus war zone to the West. Under Putin, as under his predecessors Lenin and Stalin, the threat of terrorism at the state level has again begun to come from Russia. The poisoning of Litvinenko, the poisoning of the ex-chairman of the European Court, the murder of Politkovskaya are the work of the Kremlin leadership and the start of a chain of future terrorist attacks beyond Russia's borders.
The voters who trust their lives to the leaders of the countries of Europe and America are seriously concerned that what is happening is being hushed up and the heads of state are cooperating with the Russian government which violates conventions, human rights and commonly accepted international norms.
We expect urgent action from you for the good of the world and its people. We trust you!
Larisa Volodimerova, head of the Marexa human rights organization, member of Amnesty International, the PEN Club and writers' unions of various countries, the Netherlands
Galina Litay, public committee to protect Mikhail Trepashkin, Aleksandr Galich Club, Amnesty International, Russia
Nadezhda Banchik, journalist, member of Amnesty International, USA
Mayrbek Taramov, director of the Chechen Human Rights Centre, journalist, Sweden
Vladimir Panteleyev, political prisoner 1970-76, chairman of the Nizhnyy Novgorod Society for Victims of Communist Terror, member of the All Ukrainian Society for Political Prisoners and the Repressed, Russia
Tatyana Litay, independent journalist, Russia
Salambek Khachukayev, lawyer, political émigré, Lithuania
David Kudikov, writer, MAPP academic, winner of the Franz Kafka gold medal, Great Britain
Valeri Kalabugin, member of the Board, Estonian Institute for Human Rights
Liliya Butyrina (Mikhayeli), linguist, Israel
Anatoliy Butyrin, construction engineer, Israel
Yevgeniy Novozhilov, former political prisoner, independent journalist, Russia
Eldar Zeynalov, director of the Human Rights Centre, Azerbaijan
Sofya Freiman, pensioner, Israel
Mark Freiman, construction engineer, Israel
Genrikh Sechkin, writer, Russia
Lyubov Krupnik, mechanical engineer, Israel
Olanga Jarsky, MA, publisher of the Domashniy Almanach, USA
Khana Tsal, linguist, Israel
Phil Olsen, VT, hotel owner, USA
Anna O'Bey, MA owner of an insurance company, USA
Susan Weed, NY, writer, USA
Ananda Roze, VT, composer, USA
Karen Reed, MA, owner of an international tourism company, USA?Ufimtsev family (five people)
Boris Paramonow, Doctor of Medicine
18,000 supporters of the Movement for Khodorkovskiy -http://www.russianlife.nl/freembh.htm
Igor Hergenroether, writer, Germany
Ia Merkviladze, journalist, USA
Said-Emin Ibragimov, Président de l'association internationale « Paix et droits de l'homme », France
Musa Taipov, journalist, France
(The collection of signatures is continuing.)