Russia's controversial return | Europe | '
Russia has regained its right to vote in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). For the corresponding resolution, a clear majority of members of this body voted on the night from Monday to Tuesday.
In April 2014 – after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea in violation of international law – the Russian delegation had lost its right to vote, and some offices of the Council of Europe were no longer allowed to be clothed by Russians. In response to pressure from Strasbourg, Moscow turned the money to the Council of Europe. Since June 2017, Russia has suspended its contributions. A sensitive blow, because until then, the country had contributed about nine percent to the Council of Europe budget.
Now there is a compromise: Russia pays off the contributions and receives back its voting rights and other powers in full. The text of the resolution does not mention the Crimea problem.
Human Rights Court as the last hope of ordinary Russians
The decision of the Council of Europe is very controversial and caused a tangible scandal. The Ukrainian delegation left the hall in protest, threatening to suspend its participation in the Parliamentary Assembly. Criticism also came from other sources, such as the Baltic States. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius spoke of a "serious blow to the credibility of the Council of Europe". And Estonia's President Kersti Kaljulaid tweeted: "None of the reasons why Russia has been deprived of voting rights has disappeared."
The Council of Europe has decided to resume Russia by a large majority
Paradoxically, many Russian human rights activists and Putin critics can live with the compromise. They say the alternatives to this decision are all worse. Had there been no agreement this summer, the Council of Europe would have to deal with the complete expulsion of Russia from the organization. Because the rules say, after two consecutive years without membership fees a member may be excluded. "If Russia were to leave the Council of Europe, it would undoubtedly be a big blow to Russian citizens," said Tatjana Lokschina, program director for Human Rights Watch in Russia, in a ‘ interview. Because then the country left the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). "Thousands of Russians who can not obtain justice in their homeland submit their complaints here," says Lokschina.
The well-known Russian human rights people Soy Svetova
Today, the ECtHR is "the only working court in Russia, if one may say so," said Soya Svetova, a well-known Russian human rights activist and journalist, to ‘. ECtHR judgments are a small restoration of justice. Withdrawing, Soya Svetova believes, would greatly change Russia. "In fact, we would be thrown back in the old Soviet times, with only the Iron Curtain and the death penalty missing," said Svetova.
More expensive compromise for the Council of Europe
In Strasbourg too, Russia's whereabouts in the ECtHR's jurisdiction was an important argument for the supporters of the resolution: after all, in 2018 most of the complaints brought before the ECtHR came from Russia. But the Kremlin, complains Kirill Korotejew of the Russian human rights organization "Agora", pursues a "rational strategy" of deliberate weakening of the ECtHR. The Russian Constitutional Court ruled in 2017 that Russia should only accept judgments of the ECtHR if they do not violate the Russian constitution. For example, Moscow has ignored a Strasbourg verdict according to which Russia would have to pay compensation totaling 1.9 billion euros to the former owners of the smashed oil company Yukos. A compensation from budgetary resources contradicts the principles of equality and justice, the court's reasoning.
Under these conditions, according to Korotejew, the European Court of Human Rights in Russia is not a real body for the enforcement of human rights, but "more of a kind of accountant" who, while denouncing cases of human rights violations, can hardly help injured parties.
Opponents of the compromise include the renowned Russian human rights organization "Memorial". "There are supposed to be changes to the sanctions, even if there are changes in the situation in Crimea, but the Russian authorities have not responded to the demands of the Council of Europe," said Jan Ratschinskij, the chairman of Memorial, in the ‘ interview , "Why should the sanctions be lifted now?"
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