Paul
Goble
Staunton, May 1 – The Helsinki Commission of the US Congress convened
an emergency meeting to hear testimony from leading experts on how the Kremlin
has corrupted a United Nations agency and put pressure on the Republic of
Guatemala to imprison a Russian industrialist and his family who ran afoul of
Putin allies.
These actions, members of the commission
and those testifying said, represent a deeply disturbing example of the Kremlin’s
“long arm of injustice,” one that has not only landed Igor Bitkov, his wife and
child in prison but that threatens the international system by fundamentally corrupting
an international organization charged with fighting such actions.
The hearing and the presentations of
both the members of the commission and those testifying before it are available
at csce.gov/international-impact/events/long-arm-injustice. They make for disturbing reading and are another sign
Vladimir Putin has no respect for international law, the charters of
international organizations, or the rights of Russians or anyone else.
And
they are also a sign of something else: Putin and his minions are convinced
that they can get away with such actions because many in the West do not appear
to be paying attention to them and because few in the West are prepared to
impose the kind of punishments on him and his regime that might get him to change
course.
The
Helsinki Commission is to be commended for this effort, and one very much hopes
that by shining the bright light of official attention on this ongoing Putin
crime that the Bitkovs will finally be freed and that the international community
will work to ensure that Moscow is not able to pervert justice internationally
or in any particular country in the future.
The
Bitkov case has a long and complicated history. (For background, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-bitkov-case-dangerous-sign-of-times.html,
windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-bitkov-case-continuing-putin-crime.html,
windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/10/putin-and-bitkovs-justice-denied-as.html
and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2018/01/russian-injustice-for-bitkovs-continues.html.)
At present, Bitkov is serving a
20-year sentence in Guatemala for supposedly hiding his identity but in fact
for crossing a Putin ally who sought to steal the company he built. His wife and
daughter have also been sentenced for 19 years and 14 years respectively. Under
Guatemalan law, if appeals fail, he won’t be given parole until he has served
his entire sentence.
As far as Putin is concerned, Bitkov
has compounded his “crime” against the oligarchs by writing articles exposing
the criminal nature of the Putin regime. (See windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/08/putin-economy-based-on-theft-cant.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/10/putins-destruction-of-entrepreneurs.html.)
But Bitkov and his family have
committed no crime except in the Orwellian imagination of the Kremlin. They
must be freed and freed now – and new safeguards must be put in place at the
United Nations so that Putin can’t extend his long repressive arm into other
countries to strike out at his personal enemies under the guise of legality.
*******
*******
A group of prominent experts on combatting
corruption and representatives of major international bodies involved in that
issue, including Sarah Chayes, Louise
Shelley, Francisco Villagran de Leon, Claudia Escobar, Jodi Vittori, Michael
Loughnane, Thomas Creal, and Thomas Pogge as well as organizations like Impunity Watch, Freedom
House, Transparency International, Global Financial Integrity, Oxfam America, Washington
Office on Latin America (WOLA), CEJIL (Center for Justice and International
Law), Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), Latin America Working Group (LAWG),
Guatemala Human Rights Commission, CARECEN DC and Pax Advisory, challenge the
conclusions offered at the Helsinki Commission hearing discussed above.
Excerpts from their letter to the commission
follow:
As
organizations and experts working on anti-corruption and rule of law issues we
write to express our deep concern that unfounded allegations of Russian
interference in the work of the International Commission against Impunity in
Guatemala (CICIG) are threatening to undermine the legitimacy and credibility
of one of the most successful mechanisms for combating corruption and organized
crime in the Western Hemisphere.
CICIG’s
efforts in Guatemala have been critical to the successful dismantling of
criminal networks, reducing criminality, tackling corruption, and bolstering
the investigative capacity of local institutions; it is in the U.S. interest to
continue the bipartisan political and financial support to CICIG that Congress
has provided for the last decade. The
International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) was created in
2007 at the request of the Guatemalan government and with the support of the
United Nations to investigate and dismantle parallel security groups that continued
to operate in the country after the end of the 36-year internal armed conflict.
In
contrast to other international mechanisms, CICIG is an independent
investigative body that operates under Guatemalan law and relies on the local
justice system. This novel setup means Guatemala is not simply outsourcing its
justice system but relies on the expertise of CICIG to work hand-in-hand with
the country’s prosecutors and police, helping to build their capacities in the
process. Thus, it aims to bolster, rather than supplant, the capacity and
legitimacy of national institutions.
The
Bitkov family was arrested as part of that investigation, and accused of
serious criminal offenses, including purchase of fake identities and documents
from Guatemalan immigration officials.
There
is no evidence that the Bitkov family was charged as a result of interference
on the part of the Russian government in this case. The case ought to be
evaluated on its merits. While the Guatemalan criminal justice system certainly
needs to be improved, and the Bitkov’s attorneys can dispute the details of
their case, unfounded allegations about Russian interference only empower those
in Guatemala that are seeking to derail the advancements achieved over the last
ten years in tackling the corruption, insecurity and crime that drive many Guatemalans
to migrate.
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