Authoritarian regimes cooperate to persecute opponents with the help of the tools of democratic countries – human rights defenders

Governments in many countries cooperate to violate human rights. In particular, persecute political opponents using tools developed in democratic countries. It is, first of all, about the use of the Interpol system and, for example, the Schengen information system. This was discussed during another discussion “Civilian hostages of the Kremlin: how to help people kidnapped in Ukraine?” in Solidarity Talks format, which were held alternately by the “Civil Liberties Center” (CCl) and the International Helsinki Association.

On October 19, human rights defenders from the countries of the Eurasian region discussed the strategy of fighting against the use of international organizations to violate human rights.

The main point made by the panelists is that human rights defenders must work together to counter this.

Yes, everyone agreed that Interpol and the Schengen information system often become tools for politically motivated persecution of emigrants.

Ukrainian lawyer Oleksiy Skorbach emphasized that authoritarian and dictatorial regimes use accusations of criminal offenses to persecute their opponents. He also emphasized that this phenomenon has already become widespread. He proposed to initiate the creation of a unit in the structure of Interpol, which will study the situation with human rights in the member countries of this organization. This will allow a more objective approach to the announcement of people on the international wanted list.

Russian lawyer Pavlo Ivlev called the main task of protecting people from the persecution of dictatorships to prove that there is politics in the case. This is a difficult task, and its solution requires a professional approach.

The head of the Ukrainian charitable organization “Helping Hand Plus” Anvar Derkach cited the facts of the use of the Schengen information system as a tool to persecute dissidents, in particular, for religious reasons.

Member of Swedish Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights Philip Galtsov drew attention to the lack of a common understanding among democratic countries of what national security is and how it correlates with human rights. He suggested creating a specialized coalition of organizations to help victims of politically motivated persecution. Existing human rights organizations, as practice shows, cannot effectively help such people.

The participants of the discussion supported and supplemented the idea of creating a regional network of assistance to asylum seekers for political reasons. The moderator of the discussion, a member of the Expert Council of the Center for Civil Liberties, Mykhailo Savva, emphasized that such an “international network should accumulate resources to pay for the work of lawyers and experts. Accompany people at the stage of obtaining asylum, and provide expertise on the presence of political motives for criminal prosecution. Also, develop methodical materials and propose changes to international documents on asylum issues.”

We will remind, earlier during the discussion in the Solidarity format Talks human rights defenders emphasized that the main task of human rights defenders at the moment is to protect the rights of people who ended up in Russian captivity, and to release them without conditions.