OSCE: EU Statement on Murder of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya

Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Permanent Council No. 629

19 October 2006

EU Statement on Murder of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya

The European Union learned with deep regret about the murder in Moscow of Anna Politkovskaya, the well known journalist and defender of freedom of expression in Russia. Ms. Politkovskaya was the 2003 recipient of the OSCE Award for Journalism and Democracy. Murders of journalists - especially if they remain unresolved have a chilling effect on media freedom. We therefore call on the Russian authorities to investigate this heinous crime thoroughly and transparently, and bring its perpetrators to justice.

The freedom of expression is a fundamental principle in a democratic society. In the Permanent Council meeting of 13 July this year the EU expressed its concern at the dangers faced by journalists in the Russian Federation. We suggested that in the wake of several killings this year, a strong commitment on the part of the authorities to protect journalists from murderous violence was needed. Clearly, measures taken to that end have not yet been effective.

While the motives for the murder of Ms. Politkovskaya will not become clear until a successful investigation is completed, it is known that her work on Chechnya drew attention to the serious human rights problems in Russia. At the time of her death she was in possession of graphic and extremely disturbing video evidence of torture and other grave abuses in Chechnya. Some of this appalling material has been aired in the international media indicating an ongoing alarming situation in the region. In this context the EU calls on Russian authorities to cooperate fully with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Mr. Manfred Nowak, and to facilitate his planned visit to the Northern Caucasus region at the earliest possible date.

The EU considers that the work of Ms. Politkovskaya demonstrates clearly the invaluable role of investigative journalism in defending and promoting human rights and the values to which all OSCE participating states subscribe.

The EU was concerned to learn that on 17 October in Nazran, a picket organised in memory of Anna Politkovskaya was violently dispersed by security officials and a number of detentions made. We call on Russian authorities to comply fully with their international commitments on freedom of the assembly and respect their obligation to protect human rights defenders.

In this context the EU reiterates its concern about the harassment of the human rights defence NGO, the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, with which Anna Politkovskaya closely co-operated, and its closure by court order last week. This organization, which participated in the recent Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, has a distinguished record as a defender of human rights in Russia. The closure order should be reviewed as a matter of urgency. The EU reiterates its previously expressed concern regarding the Russian laws on NGOs and extremist activities.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this statement.

* Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process