AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

Alexander Nikitin, a Russian engineer working for a Norwegian ecological foundation, was released from prison on 14 December 1996 pending further investigation of his case. Although released from prison, Nikitin remains charged with high treason through espionage for which he faces the threat of the death penalty. In addition, his passport remains confiscated and he is not permitted to leave St. Petersburg. His case is being reviewed by Procurator General Skuratov in Moscow who will decide whether or not the case will be dropped, or if more material will be requested to make the decision.

Nikitin was arrested on 6 February 1996 as part of what has been referred to as a "Russian Federal Security Services (FSB) offensive against the environmental movement." His arrest is based on secret decrees to which he is not allowed access and stems from his work for the Norwegian Ecological Foundation Bellona.

Russia's Deputy General Procurator, Mr. Katushev, ordered Nikitin's release after meeting with his lawyers. He transferred the case from the Procurator's office in St. Petersburg to the General Procurator's office in Moscow. He also had the case sent back to the FSB in St. Petersburg for further investigation, because he deemed that the evidence presented was not enough for a law suit. Although the order for Nikitin's release was made on 11 December, he was not released until 14 December after repeated requests from Nikitin's lawyers and Mr. Katushev.

The report, "The Russian North Fleet - Sources of Radioactive Contamination," that led to Nikitin's arrest, was released on 18 April. The Bellona office in Murmansk was again searched by FSB agents on 22 April and other environmentalists working for Bellona reportedly continue to be harassed and threatened with imprisonment. The report remains banned in Russia.

The arrest of Alexander Nikitin is in violation of Article 42 of the Russian Constitution, which prohibits secrecy in matters that may constitute hazards towards the environment or the health of human beings. In addition, it is contrary to human rights provisions enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Russian Federation is a state party. They include:

United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

• Everyone has the right to liberty and security of the person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention...(Article 9); and
• Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers...(Article 19).

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Right:

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile (Article 9);
• Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his own country(Article 13,2); and
• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression...(Article 19).

(Sources of information on this case are the Moscow Human Rights Research Center, The Bellona Foundation, Web site: http:www.grida.no/ngo/bellona/nikitin.htm, and "The Toronto Star," Tuesday, December 17, 1996)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes, or airmail letters:

• requesting that the charges against Alexander Nikitin be dropped immediately and unconditionally on the grounds that they stem solely from the legitimate scientific work that he was conducting for Bellona;
• calling on the Russian authorities to provide a full and detailed explanation of the charges against Nikitin; and
• indicating that actions against environmental research can only make the environmental cleanup of Russia more difficult.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

Mikhail Barsukov
Director General of the Russian Federal Security S
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
g. Moskva
Federalnaya Sluzhba bezopasnosti
Rossiyskoy Federatsii
Generalnomu direktoru Barsukovu M.
RUSSIA
Salutation: Dear Director General

Col.-Gen. Anatoly Kulikov
Russian Federation Minister of Internal Affairs
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
117049 g. Moskva
ul. Zhitnaya, 16
Minsterstvo vnutrennikh del
Rossiyskoy Federatsii
Ministru Gen.-polk. Kulikovu A.
RUSSIA
fax: 011 (7095) 230-25-80
Salutation: Dear Minister

Yuriy Skuratov
Procurator General of the Russian Federation
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
103793 g. Moskva K-31
ul. Dimitrovka, 15a
Prokuratura Rossiyskoy Federatsii
Generalnogo prokurora Skuratovu Yu.
RUSSIA
fax: 011-7095) 925-1879; 011 (7095) 292-88-48
Salutation: Dear Procurator General

COPIES SENT TO:

Boris Yeltsin
President of the Russian Federation
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
g. Moskva
Kreml
Presidentu Rossiyskoy Federatsii Yeltsinu B.N.
RUSSIA
Fax: 011 (7095) 206-5173


Evgeny Primakov
Russian Federation Minister of Foreign Affairs
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
121200 g. Moskva
Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl., 32/34
Ministerstov inostrannykh del
Rossiyskoy Federatsii
Ministru Primakovu Ye.
RUSSIA
Fax: 011 (7095) 230-21-30


Ambassador Yuli M. Vorontsov
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20007


Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering
Embassy of the United States of America
APO/AE 09721
Fax: 011 (7095) 4261/4270

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