This post originally appeared on the blog of Greenpeace International.
Today, we brought a case at theEuropean Court of Human Rightson behalf of theArctic 30,who spent two months in Russian jail for a peaceful protest to save the Arctic.
The 30 individuals are requesting “just compensation” from the Russian Federation, and importantly, a statement from the independent Court saying that their apprehension in international waters by Russian agents and subsequent detention were unlawful.
The European Court has the power to hold Russia to account for the months of uncertainty theArctic 30faced in Russia. While held in detention centers they lived with the fear that they could spend years locked up for a crime they did not commit. The European Court has jurisdiction over matters involving alleged human rights violations committed by Russia. In many casesRussia(pdf)has been found liable for such violations and ordered to compensate victims. Ultimately, this case aims to ensure Russia lives up to its human rightscommitments.(pdf)
TheArctic 30were abducted and forcibly detained by armed Russian agents following a peaceful protest against oil drilling in pristine Arctic waters. During theprotest,two unmarked inflatables appeared from the Russian Federal Security Service vesselLadoga, each manned with at least three Russian State agents in balaclavas with weapons. The Russian agents threw ropes at the propellers of the Greenpeace inflatables. The lines hit some of the activists. The agents proceeded to threaten the activists with guns and knives. Several of the Greenpeace inflatables were punctured.
Once the protest ended, the activists,returned to the Greenpeace ship, theArctic Sunrise, with the exception of the two brave climbers who were apprehended by Russian agents near the platform.
The Russian agents’ violent response breached the activists’ rights tofreedom of expression. It will have a chilling effect on future peaceful protests aimed at protecting the Arctic.
What followed was a gross violation of the right toliberty.The next day, armed agents of the Russian Federal Security ServiceboardedtheArctic Sunrisefrom a helicopter and detained the individuals on board. TheArctic Sunrisewas in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation in the Pechora Sea and outside of the Russian-declared three nautical miles’ exclusion zone around the oil platform, Prirazlomnaya, which was the target of the protest.
While the Greenpeace ship was being towed to a Russian port by the Russian Authorities, theArctic 30were detained onboard without charge for more than five days. TheArctic 30were threatened with weapons if they did not follow the orders of the Russian agents. They were searched and locked in their cabins or other premises on theArctic Sunrise. All communication devices were taken from them. No movements were possible without the authorisation of the Russian agents. The authorities provided unfounded legal grounds for the detention only after arriving at a Murmansk port. All 30 were charged with piracy.
Theirordealbecame even worse.
The activists were locked up in some of Russia’s most notorious detention facilities for more than two months. This is despite the fact that the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation issued a ruling half-way through their time behind bars that the ground for detention, piracy, was determined to be an improper charge, and a decision was made to reclassify the crime to hooliganism. The activists remained behind bars for another month, until finally being released on bail.
On Christmas Day 2013, the Investigative Committee officials informed theArctic 30that their hooliganism charges were dropped as a result of a recently adopted amnesty decree. They were finally free to return home to their families.
TheArctic 30are not criminals. They are peaceful protesters, journalists, and environmental human rights defenders. Weanticipate that ultimately the European Court will order Russia to compensate the 30 and declare that their rights to freedom of expression and liberty were violated.
