Paul
Goble
Staunton, July 8 – The capitulation
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to the Russian
Federation has taken place and, unfortunately, “with the active support of many
Russian human rights activists, many but happily not all, Yan Rachinsky, the
president of Memorial, says.
It seems to me, he continues, that
“this is not a tactical disagreement but somethngmuch more serious, comparable
in fact to the crisis of 1993, when again the issue of ends and means is at the
center of things and when people must decide whether it is permissible to
sacrifice basic principles in order to achieve a desired result” (ej.ru/?a=note&id=33942).
“In 1993, the question was whether
it was permissible to violate the Constitution and dissolve parliament in order
to build a bright future. Today, it is whether it is worth discrediting PACE
and European values in order to preserve for citizens of the Russian Federation
the opportunity to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.”
Memorial before the decision at PACE
expressed its opposition to giving in to Moscow there. In response, a number of
other Russian human rights activists issued a joint Memorandum in which they urged
PACE to restore Russia to membership so that Russians would continue to have
access to the European Court for Human Rights.
Rachinsky gives a devastating point
by point rebuttal of their arguments, a model of the kind of argument that
needs to be made when good people succumb to the carefully scripted siren song
of Moscow propagandists and assume that what they are doing is a pragmatic
compromise rather than an unprincipled concession.
Among Rachinsky’s numerous points
are the following:
·
The
authors of the memorandum speak about “a wise compromise” but in fact no mutual
concessions were involved. PACE conceded everything; Russia conceded nothing.
·
The
authors say that no one should give in to blackmail before they do just that.
·
They
assert that the withdrawal of Russia from the Council of Europe “would have
irreversible consequences to the extent that it would put an end to the
difficult struggle of Russian society for their country too become part of
Europe, on the basis of common norms and values of democracy, the supremacy of
law, and respect for human rights.” Moscow has no plans to leave the Council of
Europe and the struggle for rights in Russia is independent of that fact.
·
The
Memorandum says that Russia has a right to be present to express its position
as if Moscow had no other means of doing so besides being at PACE.
·
The
authors assert that the sanctions were introduced somehow in violation of the
rules, but the violation of the rules of the body occurred when Russia was
readmitted. “If one strictly follows them and the obligations undertaken by
Russia on entering the Council of Europe, Russia should simply have been
excluded as a result of its seizure of foreign territory and aggression toward
Ukraine.” The sanctions PACE in fact imposed were only of a “palliative”
nature.
“Today, thanks in part to the authors of
the memorandum and other supporters of concessions, there are neither harsh measures
nor palliatives in place. The sanctions of PACE really are less effective than
one would like but is possible that” softening of eliminating them altogether
“will make them more effective?”
“To say that the PACE sanctions were an
imitation of a struggle could only those who are carrying out ‘a real struggle’
or who want to propose specific paths for this.” And those who think Russia
will do anything but ignore any decisions it does not like are deluding
themselves in the extreme.
And finally, with regard to the European
Court of Human Rights, Rachinsky says that “beyond question this is a valuable
and useful instrument.” But he adds,
“one must have entirely lost a sense of reality to say” as the authors of the
memorandum do that the situation in Russia has become better over the last 20
years because of the court. That is far more optimistic than anyone familiar
with the situation on the ground can be.
The
situation after PACE’s unfortunate action, Rachinsky argues, is that in order
to ensure that Russian citizens will continue to have access to the European
Court, PACE “capitulated before the boldness of the Russian authorities whose
ultimatum was completely fulfilled.”
“And although in the Memorandum of the
Russian rights activists it is said that “the elimination of all limitations
for the Russian delegation in PACE would be unprincipled,’ the exaggeration of
the role of the European Court has led to an inglorious end.”
“Hope that the capitulation would not be so complete did
not prove out. Words about the unprincipled nature of the decision taken were
not spoken after the capitulation. This
decision shows the whole world,” Rachinsky continues, “that any violation of
international law can remain not only without punishment but even moral condemnation.”
And that
has real and immediate consequences, the head of Memorial says. “For the
Russian authorities, the capitulation of PACE means carte blanche for
continuing its repressive policy inside the country and its aggressive one
outside.”
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