Russia prevents discussion on resolution in OSCE Parliamentary Assembly - Main contents
During the Standing Committee meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE my resolution on human rights in Russia was put off the agenda. The resolution addresses a number of issues within Russia, that have already drawn the attention of the OSCE.
Russia is a well-respected member of the OSCE and has shown great efforts in the past, like the elimination of libel law and the liberalisation of laws with regard to the participation of political parties. However, recently Russia took a U-turn on the road to liberalisation. It has re-criminalized libel, amended the law on assemblies and obliged Ngo's that receive foreign money and engage in political activities to register as foreign agents. Only last week, the Russian Ministry of Justice suspended the activities of independent election monitor Golos, just for failing to register as foreign agent. Protesters, who demonstrated against the election process of 2011, where put in jail in large numbers and tried for exercising their democratic rights. And, last but certainly not least, Mr. Magnitsky, who exposed large-scale fraud, ended up dying in a prison cell and being prosecuted, even after his death.
This resolution was not put forward to condemn Russia, but to encourage its government to bring its laws and regulations in line with the OSCE framework. Over the past few years, the people of Russia have become more and more assertive. This is a natural result of a democratisation process, that all member countries of the OSCE have gone through and still go through today. These developments present real challenges. It is in the way governments deal with those challenges that they show the ability to adjust to changes in their society.
Unfortunately, the OSCE Assembly did not get the chance to discuss the resolution. It was put off the agenda of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly meeting, after the Russian delegation objected to it. According to Gazeta, a popular independent Russian online news source, the head of the Russian State Duma parliamentary delegation deputy Nikolai Kovalyov told Interfax news agency that the Russian side was able to convince his colleagues not to include in the agenda the draft resolution that contained "non-objective assessment of the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation." He called the removal of the document from the agenda "a success for the Russian delegation."
Resolutions should be debated in an assembly and not be vetoed by only a 1/3 minority, before they even have been open for discussion. My resolution was not the only one to be put off the agenda, other human rights resolutions - like a resolution on Recognition of the Yogyakarta Principles on gender equality and sexual orientation - were turned down.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly should be able to freely discuss resolutions that are put forward. There should only be a possibility to reject them after a debate, by voting and by a majority of the parliamentarians.