The actions of Russian authorities against participants in peaceful protest actions in Moscow and St. Petersburg were "severe" and did not correspond to the democratic values proclaimed by the government of Russia, stated US President George Bush's administration on April 16.
White House Deputy Press-Secretary Dana Perino reported that the administration is deeply perturbed by the severe crackdown on demonstrations and by the "systematic application of excessive force by authorities".
On April 14 in Moscow, Russian law-enforcement agencies detained several hundred political opponents of Vladimir Putin, who were attempting to conduct a march of protest. On April 15, participants in a demonstration in St. Petersburg were beaten and pursued by Special Forces. Perino stated that the detention of journalists during the event "was intolerable and unacceptable". State Department representative Sean McCormack indicated that the actions against demonstrators "do not correspond to democratic values to which the government of Russia has stated adherence". After noting that participants in pro-government demonstrators were permitted to freely express their opinion on the eve of opposition demonstrations, McCormack stated: "This is an explicit attempt by Special Services to restrict freedom of expression, and to deprive oppositional political parties of the possibility... of participating in the political process".
According to McCormack, in the last two weeks the USA has focused its attention on the fact that other peaceful protest actions have been broken up, sometimes with the application of force.
On April 17, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, condemned the OMON attacks on journalists at the "Dissenters' March".
On April 16, the International Helsinki Federation on Human Rights (IHF) condemned the mass detentions and use of excessive force against those protesting in Moscow and St. Petersburg. This is the part of an increasing wave of attacks to the oppositional forces in Russia on the threshold of parliamentary and presidential elections, noted IHF.
On April 15, the human rights organization "Human Rights Watch" (HRW) issued a call to Russian authorities to investigate the actions of law-enforcement agencies and to ensure protection to participants in peaceful actions. HRW observers saw paramilitary police attack several people, including an elderly man, and beat them with batons. Those holding the meeting committed no violent acts. According to the doctor from Trauma Point No. 137, 54 people came there, injured by police actions. In the "Presnenskoye" OVD where Garry Kasparov was detained, beat his supporters and dragged several men into the OVD building by their hair.
On April 16, the human rights organization "
Amnesty International " (AI) issued a call to Russian authorities to conduct a thorough, independent investigation of all statements concerning police brutality, including beatings by feet and batons, during the demonstrations in Moscow and St Petersburg, where participants protested against the government.
AI attentively followed the events in Moscow and noted illegal excess of force; arbitrary detentions of participants; arbitrary detentions of journalists covering the march; and the refusal to assign attorneys to the detainees who appeared in court.
On April 16, the movement "For Human Rights" directed a statement to the Procurator-General of Russia requesting that criminal cases be filed about exceeding of official authority by law-enforcement and administrative bodies in Moscow and Petersburg, to verify the reasons for the declaration of the 14th
and 15th of April as work days in Moscow and St. Petersburg courts and to investigate the violation of the constitutional rights of citizens to freedom of demonstration.
According to available data, in the Zamoskvorechye OVD, the law was violated by the fingerprinting registration of those detained. Minors with documents were unlawfully sent to temporary detention centers. Citizens were detained by officers in civilian clothing who didn't supply Identification documents or fulfill other legal requirements. The procuratorship did not attempt to suppress the unlawful actions of law-enforcement agencies, noted "For Human Rights" in its statement.
Source: Prima-News
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