Russian Human Rights Activist Aleksei Sokolov

Amnesty International is concerned that Aleksei Sokolov may be a prisoner of conscience detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression in the course of his lawful human rights activities.

Demand a Fair Appeal for Aleksei Sokolov

Human Rights Activist Aleksei Sokolov was sentenced on 13 May 2010, to serve five years in a high security prison colony for theft allegedly committed in 2001 and for robbery allegedly committed in 2004. The court found him not guilty in another robbery he was charged with.

His appeal was to be heard on 16 July 2010 but the Sverdlovsk Regional Court postponed the hearing until 18 August 2010. The official reason for postponing the hearing was that allegedly, Aleksei Sokolov’s co-defendents did not have lawyers to represent them. However, his defence team think that the real reason behind it could be the international and media attention on the case.

According to Aleksei Sokolov’s lawyers, the Bogdanovich town court in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia based its verdict solely on the statements of the co-accused in the case who are already serving prison sentences for other crimes. During the trial, the defence lawyers pointed out that these statements often contradicted each other as well as earlier ‘confesions’ of the co-accused. One of his lawyers said that while victims of the crimes identified the other defendants in the case as possible perpetrators of the crime, none of them identified Aleksei Sokolov. The court nevertheless considered there to be enough evidence to convict Aleksei Sokolov.

Aleksei Sokolov’s lawyer also reported a number of violations of criminal procedure in the handling of the case throughout the pre-trial and trial stage.

Risk of Torture and other Ill-Treatment

Torture and ill-treatment in places of detention in Russia is a serious issue of concern to Amnesty International. Aleksei Sokolov is one of those human rights activists who campaigned against and exposed cases of torture and other ill-treatment in prison colonies and by the police in Sverdlovsk Region.

Sources close to Aleksei Sokolov have told Amnesty International that his detention conditions have deteriorated. According to reports, his diet is very meagre and, allegedly, the food that his family sends to him is being confiscated or chopped up so much that it becomes inedible. These sources also report that the length of his walks has been shortened to half an hour each day.

Human Rights Activities

Aleksei Sokolov is a founder and the head of the Russian human rights organization Pravovaia Osnova (Legal Base) which campaigns against torture and other ill-treatment of detainees in the Russian Federation. The work of Legal Base brought about several investigations against law enforcement officers on allegations including the use of torture to coerce suspects to "confess."


Aleksei Sokolov became prominent after he publicized and distributed a film about torture and other ill-treatment in a temporary holding centre in prison colony IK-2 in Yekaterinburg. The film received wide coverage, both in Russia and internationally, and led to the closure of the temporary holding centre.

He was also investigating possible corruption in some law-enforcement agencies in Yekaterinburg: some officials, according to his findings, had helped to cover up impunity in the temporary holding centre in Yekaterinburg.

In 2008 Aleksei Sokolov was appointed a member of the Public Commission for the control of places of detention and conducted a series of visits to detention facilities in this capacity. He got suspended from this position following his detention in May 2009.

In 2008 he learned that several prisoners were being pressured into claiming falsely that he had been involved in crimes including the robbery in 2004, on suspicion of which he has been in custody since 13 May 2009. Investigations into the theft in 2001 and the robbery in 2004 had been closed several times because the perpetrators could not be identified, but were re-opened shortly before Aleksei Sokolov’s arrest.

When in July 2009 the Sverdlovsk Regional Court ordered that he should be discharged until his trial, instead of being released, the police told him that he was then arrested on suspicion of another robbery committed in 2004. Later prosecution added charges of theft of metal pipes from a factory in 2001.

Shortly after his detention, police allegedly threatened to torture him because of his work in defence of human rights.

For further information, please see:

Russian Federation: Demand a Fair Appeal for Aleksei Sokolov: Further Information (Index EUR 46/016/2010), May 2010; Russian Human Rights Defender Jailed for Five Years, May 2010; Russia Must Stop Persecution of Rights Activists, December 2009.

Eritreans at risk of forcible return from Libya after detention centre disturbances

The letter most recently sent by our group was based on this news item, published at www.amnesty.org:

"Amnesty International has urged the Libyan authorities not to forcibly return around 200 Eritreans held in detention amid allegations that several prisoners were beaten by security officials after an escape attempt last week.
The Eritreans, who include refugees and asylum seekers as well as migrants, are currently held at al-Birak, a detention centre in Sabha, where they are reported to be subject to beatings and other ill-treatment."

Read the full article here.

Human Rights Defender Emadeddin Baghi

The Amnesty International Zurich English Group is campaigning on behalf of Iranian human rights defender and journalist Emadeddin Baghi. Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to grant him a fair trial and reminds the authorities that, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obliged to uphold Baghi’s right to freedom of expression and speech.

Arrest and imprisonment in December 2009

He was arrested in December 2009, the day after mass anti-government protests were held in Tehran and other cities. He was detained for over six months before being released from Tehran’s Evin prison on bail of 200 million Tomans (US$200,000) on 23 June 2010.

Though released, he now faces additional charges of undertaking "propaganda against the state" and "colluding to commit acts against national security". 

The charges relate to an interview he conducted two years earlier with a now deceased government critic and senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.

He is due to face trial on the new charges on 7 July. Several other cases are also pending against him.

Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to drop all charges against Baghi. If convicted and imprisoned, Amnesty International would consider him to be a prisoner of conscience.

Previous periods of imprisonment

Emadeddin Baghi has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his work as a human rights activist and journalist in Iran. He spent three years in prison between 2000 and 2003 after being convicted of “acting against national security” for his writings about what became known as the serial murders of dissident intellectuals in Iran in the late 1990s, which the government later attributed to “rogue elements” within the Intelligence Ministry.



He was also imprisoned in 2007-2008 after being found guilty of "printing lies" and "endangering national security" upon the publication of his book, The Tragedy of Democracy. 

 During this time, prison officials delayed granting Emadeddin Baghi urgently needed medical treatment.

He was eventually granted medical leave, but he still suffers from kidney, bladder and other problems arising from the treatment he suffered. Before his release in 2008, Baghi suffered three seizures and a heart attack. 



Human rights activities

Emadeddin Baghi was the recipient of 2009’s Martin Ennals Award for human rights. He was unable to attend the award ceremony in Geneva in November 2009 due to a travel ban imposed on him by the Iranian authorities since October 2004. He was the first laureate in the prestigious award's 18-year history to be denied the opportunity to receive his prize in person. In April 2008 he was prevented from travelling to London to pick up another award, as the British Press awards International Journalist of the Year.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Emadeddin Baghi founded two non-governmental organizations: the Association to Defend Prisoners' Rights which comiples information on torture and other abuses against detainees, and the Society of Right to Life Guardians, which campaigns against the death penalty in Iran. Judicial officials closed down the office of the Association fort he Defence of Prisoners Rights in September 2009.

Emadeddin Baghi has the courage to stand up for his conviction that the Qur'an neither condones the death penalty nor arbitrary killings and detention. He has steadfastly tried to make his views public without ever advocating violence.

He and his family have been subject to a barrage of judicial and quasi-judicial measures but the force of his argument, based on religious and academic discourse, has also earned him respect among the clerics and some of his books and articles have been published in Iran.

For further information, please see:

Iranian Rights Defender Released on Bail: Emadeddin Baghi (Index MDE 13/068/2010), June 2010, Iranian Human Rights Defender Rearrested (Index MDE 13/003/2010), January 2010, From Protest to Prison: Iran One Year after the Election (Index MDE 13/062/2010), June 2010, and Iran: Election Contested, Repression Compounded (Index MDE 13/123/2009), December 2009.

Refugee day

On the 19th of June, 175 persons have signed our petition to Justizministerin Eveline Widmer-Schlump, to stop the forced return of aslylum seekers from Switzerland to Greece.

Interested to sign the petition? Click here.

More pictures here!

International Refugee Day 2010

Please join us on Saturday June 19th at the Openair "No Country Day" Festival in Zürich to celebrate International Refugee Day (Flüchlingstag). This festival, organized by the Kantonale Fachstelle für Integrationsfrage, will focus on the social and professional integration of recognized refugees and those temporarily admitted to Switzerland.

• Sign our petition to Eveline Widmer-Schlump to stop the forced return of aslylum seekers from Switzerland to Greece.
• Come visit our booth at the festival and learn more about Amnesty International’s work on refugees and how you can get involved.

Where: Landesmuseum, Zürich

When: Saturday the 19th of June 2010

What time: 12:00-18:00

We look forward to seeing you!

AmnestyInternational-Universal Human Rights Declaration

Treated like waste: Roma homes destroyed, and health at risk, in Romania

About 75 Roma people – including families with young children – have been living in metal cabins and shacks next to a sewage treatment plant since 2004. They were moved to the area, deemed unfit for human habitation, from a crumbling building in the centre of Miercurea Ciuc in Romania.

They were told the move was temporary, and for their own safety. After more than five years, and various court cases, the continued violation of their right to adequate housing – among a host of other rights – is beginning to feel very permanent.



Last meeting (April 8th) we signed a letter to the Mayor of Miercurea Ciuc, Romania.

In the letter we expressed our worries about the current housing conditions and we urged the Mayor the following:

• a meaningful consultaiton with the Romai community, at the sewage plant and the garbage dump, with the purpose of finding adequate housing;
• a plan for the integration of Romani in the community of Csikszereda;
• the end of all forced evictions.

Thank you to those who signed.

If you want to know more, go here.