Paul
Goble
Staunton, August 24 – Many Russians
believe that the anonymity policemen and Russian Guards feel in the uniforms they wear when
moving against protesters gives the siloviki the feeling that no one will be
able to identify the individual officers responsible and hold them accountable.
Indeed, they suspect that is one of the reasons the siloviki dress as they do.
But a new law proposed by Senator
Vladimir Lukin, the former human rights ombudsman, would end that anonymity by requiring
that all officers wear clearly visible numbers on their uniforms, something he
says will remind them of their “personal responsibility” to stay within the law
(asozd.duma.gov.ru/main.nsf/(Spravka)?OpenAgent&RN=782284-7
and snob.ru/society/v-gosdumu-vnesli-zakonoproekt/).
Russians have begun calling for such
a measure since the first massive protests in Moscow earlier this summer were
violently suppressed (snob.ru/society/deanon/
and pravnomer.ru/). Not surprisingly, there is resistance, with
the Russian Guard saying its commanders want to clarify whether Lukin’s
proposal threatens the security of its officers.
Boris Vishnevsky, a Yabloko member
of St. Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly, responds that “this project doesn’t
threaten” the security of the Russian Guard. Rather it strips them of their
anonymity and thus makes it easier for their victims to seek redress in the
courts (echo.msk.ru/blog/boris_vis/2488831-echo/).
No one should be able to escape
responsibility “for any illegality, for any beating of peaceful citizens, for
any mockery” of them. For such things,
the police and the Russian Guard “must answer: Personally. According to the
law, and not have any chance of hiding being masks” or uniforms that keep their
victims from being able to identify them,
Vishnevsky says that he introduced
legislation on this point in the northern capital two weeks ago and sent a copy
of his proposal to Lukin who has drawn from it.
Holding the Russian siloviki accountable
is an obvious first step toward transforming Russia into a legal state. But
there are more needed, and in the North Caucasus, some of those are being
proposed: Activists there are calling for those involved in the illegal prosecution
of Martin Kochesoko to be held accountable as well (natpressru.info/index.php?newsid=11718
and
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