RUSSIAN FEDERATION
| CASE N° RUS/01 - GALINA STAROVOITOVA |
Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 192nd session
(Quito, 27 March 2013)
The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Referring to the case of Ms. Galina Starovoitova, a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, who was assassinated on 20 November 1998, and to the resolution it adopted at its 190th session (April 2012),
Recalling the following information on file provided over the years, most recently on 9 October 2009, chiefly by the State Duma, regarding the investigation and judicial proceedings:
- In June 2005, two men, Mr. Akishin and Mr. Kolchin, were found guilty of Ms. Starovoitova’s murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison by the St. Petersburg City Court, which, in its judgment, concluded that the murder had been politically motivated; in September 2007, two others were found guilty of complicity in the murder and sentenced to 11 and 2 years in prison respectively; four other suspects were acquitted and released; there are open national and international arrest warrants for three other individuals,
Recalling that Ms. Starovoitova was a prominent Russian human rights advocate and had denounced instances of high-profile corruption shortly before her assassination; recalling also that, in November 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed “its concern at the alarming incidence of threats, violent assaults and murders of journalists and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, which has created a climate of fear and a chilling effect on the media ...”, and urged the Russian Federation “to take immediate action to provide effective protection and ensure the prompt, effective, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation of threats, violent assaults and murders and, where appropriate, prosecute and initiate proceedings against the perpetrators of such acts”; recalling further that many States made similar recommendations during the Universal Periodic Review of the Russian Federation’s compliance with its human rights obligations before the United Nations Human Rights Council (February 2009),
Recalling the information that Mr. Sergey A. Gavrilov, a member of the Russian delegation, provided to the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians at the hearing held during the 126th IPU Assembly (Kampala, March-April 2012):
- It was very difficult to identify the masterminds behind Ms. Starovoitova’s murder, which had to be seen in the context of her political activism; after it became possible, in 2006, for convicts to obtain reduced sentences in exchange for cooperation in providing essential information about unresolved crimes, Mr. Kolchin had cooperated to help advance the recently resumed investigation into Ms. Starovoitova’s murder; as a result, the authorities had been able to identify Mr. Mikhael Glushchenko, a former member of parliament and a businessman involved in large-scale criminal activities, as the presumed mastermind; Mr. Glushchenko was now a formal suspect in the investigation into Ms. Starovoitova’s murder and had been found guilty of extortion and sentenced to a long term in prison, which he was currently serving;
- The State Duma was fully committed to shedding light on and establishing accountability for Ms. Starovoitova’s murder and had set up an anti-corruption and security committee that was monitoring the case and enquiring of the Prosecutor General’s Office about further developments; it should be possible to communicate further information on the investigation and proceedings to the IPU in the coming months,
- Wishes to receive information on any judicial developments in the case since the Committee’s meeting with a member of the Russian delegation during the 126th IPU Assembly (Kampala, March-April 2012);
- Trusts that the pursuit of justice in this case continues to make progress towards identifying the mastermind(s) behind Ms. Starovoitova’s murder; reaffirms its conviction that the State Duma’s continued interest in the case of a former colleague killed for having exercised her right to freedom of speech is critical to helping ensure that justice is done;
- Looks forward to receiving information about further developments in the investigation, the start of trial proceedings and the continued monitoring of the case by the State Duma, in particular its specialized committee; is particularly interested to know if the results obtained thus far in the investigation show whether Mr. Glushchenko masterminded the crime on his own or with the help of accomplices;
- Requests the Secretary General to bring this resolution to the attention of the parliamentary authorities and the source;
- Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and to report back to it in due course.
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