Russia (bbabo.net), - How to prove to the world community that genocide is taking place in the DNR and LNR? How to save a person who has cleared the road for free from judgment? How to improve the quality of laws? Ensure the supply of medicines? How to return the delayed salary and obtain housing according to the law? How to punish an official and make peace with a migrant? Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, answered these questions at the "Business Breakfast" in .

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DPR, LPR: recognition and assistance

- The attention of Russians is now riveted to the situation in Donbass. Many Western politicians are trying to express their doubts about the genocide perpetrated by punishers in the territories now recognized by Russia as the LPR and DPR. And not only investigators, but also human rights activists must convey to world public opinion the well-known facts of crimes, including the death of 130 children in the Donbass.

Tatiana Moskalkova: Yes, we are talking about genocide against the civilian population of Donbass. And I personally have repeatedly addressed the UN High Commissioner and the High Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights about the systematic violations of human rights in the territories of the republics. She cited as an example the facts of mass violation of the right of people to speak and study in their native Russian, the right to live under a peaceful sky, the right to receive social benefits for the poor and pensioners, the right to receive salaries and pensions from Kiev. But our voice has not been heard so far. How to call it? How to qualify from a legal point of view?

Now we are trying to work closely with the international Red Cross. They asked to help people who were injured, whose houses were destroyed as a result of shelling in the LPR and DPR. Almost always received a response and a willingness to lend a helping hand.

Sergey Zyuzin, Staff Correspondent, Altai Territory, Barnaul: Thank you for the support you have given us in the fight for access to clean water for the residents of the Sibirskaya Dolina village. More than three thousand people live in the village, of which more than 800 are children, they promise to provide clean water only at the end of 2023. The governor on the Direct Line advised to drink bottled water for the time being, saying that this is a world practice. Residents of the Siberian Valley ask you not to leave them in the fight for clean water.

Tatiana Moskalkova: In no case will I leave it. I cannot but say kind words about the brave boy Maxim Lomakin, who found the civil courage to raise the issue of clean water for the village of Sibirskaya Dolina. Surprisingly, this caused a negative reaction from the local authorities and the guy was brought to administrative responsibility "for violating the covid rules." As, however, and the organizer of the picket. The prosecutor's office of the Altai Territory did not leave this fact without attention. The decisions on administrative responsibility in relation to Maxim Lomakin and the woman - the organizer of the action have been cancelled. In the response of the Prosecutor of the Altai Territory to my request, it is reported that not at the end of 2023, but already this year, the wells will be replaced and work on the water tower will be carried out. Rospotrebnadzor issued orders to eliminate violations to two organizations - Vodsnab and Agidel - in 2022. In the meantime, as the prosecutor of the Altai Territory German Anton Andreevich informed me, the issue of the supply of clean water is being resolved. I'm in touch with him. We will make sure that the deadlines are met and that measures to provide people with clean water are implemented. I hope that the governor will do everything possible to solve the problem.

Trials and laws

- Soon you will submit your annual report on the observance of human rights to the President. Each year brings its own trials: at the beginning of the pandemic, it was necessary to evacuate compatriots from abroad, a year earlier, Kirill Vyshinsky and Maria Butina had to be returned from prison. What were the main ones in 2021?

Tatiana Moskalkova: I would like to make a reservation right away that no, so to speak, achievements are possible without close constructive interaction with the authorities. In this case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Last year, the Ombudsman of Kazakhstan turned to us with a request to help more than a hundred trucks cross the closed border. And we have resolved this problem with our authorities. And when on the Russian-Azerbaijani border more than 400 Azerbaijani citizens could not get to their homeland, and among them were children, the disabled and 7 coffins (people wanted to bury their loved ones in their homeland), I turned to the Azerbaijani Ombudsman. And she, in turn, went to the president, the border was opened for several hours, and people got to their homes.Now, although the second year of the pandemic is coming to an end, the situation is not much easier. The only thing is that we have adapted to it. Although 20 percent of calls to our hotline (every day - from 50 to 100 calls) are related to drug provision, hospital placement, issues of freedom of movement, quality of ambulance. We are trying to resolve these issues in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and authorities, sometimes with the prosecutor's office - and such synergy makes it possible to help people.

- The law on the Commissioner for Human Rights has recently turned 25 years old. You, the fifth Ombudsman, have a reputation as a person who knows how not only to protect people, but also to change laws: 62 legal acts have been changed in 6 years, 45 of them are federal laws. You recently said that now the issue is not the number of laws, but their quality.

Tatiana Moskalkova: Legislators change laws. But we also have tools that enable us to participate in the law-making process. The law is the core, the foundation of society. And it is important that it be written in a simple and understandable language, so that it contains fewer blanket norms and scientific terms, vague and ambiguous norms.

The Commissioner for Human Rights is not the subject of a legislative initiative, but a significant part of our initiatives to introduce amendments and additions to existing laws are accepted by deputies and senators. For which they want to say special words of gratitude. We formulate legislative proposals based on an in-depth analysis of the appeals that come to us, and carefully listen to the public's request.

At one time, for example, there were many appeals related to the transfer of convicts to serve their sentences closer to the place of residence of their relatives and friends. At the same time, the law did not provide for these circumstances as grounds for the transfer of convicts to another colony. It was impossible to read the letters of mothers, children, sisters without tears. After analyzing the complaints, I turned to the President with a request to pass a law on the right to transfer the convict closer to the place of residence of his relatives. He supported this proposal, and now the law has been adopted and is working. We also made a package of important amendments to the law on renovation, which was accepted by the legislator. With our participation, the law on the register of indigenous peoples was adopted. Many other examples could be cited.

Olga Kondreva, correspondent, Kazan: The largest number of complaints received by the Commissioner for Human Rights in Tatarstan in 2021 was related to the observance of rights in the field of health care and, in particular, the provision of medicines. The number of those who choose the social package is decreasing (according to local experts, less than a quarter is left), which means that the amount of funds for preferential provision of medicines is also decreasing. And people cannot get they are entitled to in full.

Tatiana Moskalkova: Today, the state has given a person the opportunity to choose whether to receive medicine or money to buy it. In practice, they often receive money, but they do not always use it for their own health, but, for example, in order to help their loved ones. Together with experts, we discussed this more than once and, to be honest, we did not come to any conclusion. If you firmly insist that a person be provided only with medicines in kind, and not with a cash equivalent, this can give rise to dissatisfaction, people have many questions about the 44th law on the purchase of medicines. Now we are conducting surveys, consulting with experts, with the Ministry of Health. If we nevertheless refuse the cash equivalent, then we may have to change the regulation of purchases and, perhaps, introduce such a thing as "drug insurance". But all this requires a serious revision of the regulatory framework.

In general, the growth of incoming appeals to me about the protection of the right to health protection and medical care, the results of public opinion polls confirm that these issues are in the first place for a person today. Quality of healthcare, expensive medicines, great distance from polyclinics and hospitals in some regions. That's what worries people the most. We see serious work of the state in this direction, but there are still a lot of problems. Including those primarily related to the covid situation. Although, no matter how many complaints there are, let's not forget to thank the doctors and medical staff. They are now saving people's lives and the health of the nation, sometimes in the most difficult conditions.

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Salary and housing

- In five years, you managed to return unpaid wages to people for 1.3 billion rubles. This is a huge amount, but during the pandemic the question arose not only of delays, but also of lowering wages. Is this going on?Tatiana Moskalkova: Unfortunately, yes. During the pandemic, the number of organizations with declining revenues has increased. Businesses go bankrupt, wage arrears grow. And this despite the fact that the government has done a lot to support the economy. In 2021, we received 2,052 appeals on the protection of labor rights, almost 30 percent more than a year earlier.

But we must remember that the Ombudsman can and should respond to illegal and unreasonable decisions by the authorities. But labor relations arise between a citizen and an employer, and he is not a state authority. And we have powers only when a person applies to the labor inspectorate, the court or the prosecutor and he is refused. But now we are studying foreign experience that allows the Ombudsman to respond to violations by any body that performs a socially useful function - an enterprise, school, university, healthcare institution.

I have personally addressed the UN High Commissioner more than once about human rights violations in the territories of the DPR and LPR. But it was not heard

Sometimes we find extraordinary solutions and achieve success. For example, a huge salary arrears from a number of bankrupt enterprises in the Khabarovsk Territory a couple of years ago, managed to be paid off after our trip to the region and official negotiations between the bailiffs, the prosecutor and the temporary manager of the company. The arrest was removed from the property, it was sold, and the proceeds were used to pay off wage arrears to people.

If the conversation turned to the protection of labor rights, one cannot help but recall the new law that came into force this year and regulates legal relations during remote work, as they say, at a distance. A very timely law. But it raises many questions. And related to wages, and rest time, and possible liability for absenteeism. A new kind of labor relations is born. And specific protection tools must also correspond to it. We are working on this now.

- You protect the rights of people, but usually the official who violated them remains behind the scenes.

Tatiana Moskalkova: That's right. I would like more integrity on the part of controlling and supervisory authorities. Sometimes "all-round defense" is not easy to break through. Nevertheless, it is a sin to be offended, in many cases it is possible not only to achieve the restoration of violated rights, but also to punish the guilty. They are removed from office, brought to disciplinary (up to and including dismissal), administrative liability or even criminal liability.

Digital and human secrets

- We held a "Council of Experts" on the digital development of society and found out that, on the one hand, every fourth Russian does not have his own e-mail, and on the other hand, computer technologies are developing so avalanche-like that each of us, to one degree or another, is illiterate in them. People suffer from both digital bullying and personal data leakage.

Tatiana Moskalkova: Digitalization is a huge step forward and at the same time huge risks. First of all, to preserve personal space, ensure safety from new types of crimes that harm human life, health and property. In 2021, the number of complaints related to digital rights received by me has increased significantly. They concerned the protection of personal data, the lack of access to electronic public services, the impact on the system and quality of education, etc. There were many positive letters from people who said that the world of digital technologies has become much easier for them to live. The Russians are quite advanced and are quickly mastering digital platforms. They consider it convenient that it is possible, without leaving home, to file a complaint about a crime through the public services portal or by e-mail. However, digital technologies still often cause difficult situations for people.

The second year of the pandemic is coming to an end, and the situation is not much easier. But we have adapted to it. Although 20 percent of calls to the hotline are related to COVID-19

I was recently contacted by a young man who was unable to enter the Higher School of Economics due to a failure in the electronic system, although he passed everything brilliantly. We took up this issue, found out that there was a technical failure, and the guy entered the HSE. Several more people have requested that their personal data be removed from the Internet. I can not say that they were discrediting, data. But it is unpleasant for a person that information about his hobbies or friends is posted. There is no prohibition in this regard in the law. As well as about bullying on the Web, which especially affects teenagers and younger students. Almost every branch of law should contain a set of rules related to digitalization.

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Judgment and mercy

- In Russia, in 2021, the courts handed down only 0.37 acquittals. What should be done to humanize judicial practice?Tatyana Moskalkova: Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lebedev named the number of acquittals in 2021 - 2100. It is 11% more than last year. The courts, in addition, still make decisions on the termination of criminal cases on exonerating grounds. Russia is one of the few countries that has a section on rehabilitation in the Code of Criminal Procedure. But not everything is simple here either. It is important that a person receive rehabilitation in full, so that he is reimbursed for both material and moral costs if he innocently suffered from criminal prosecution or an unlawful sentence. I also support the Supreme Court's misdemeanor bill. The institution of a criminal offense was in our history as far back as the Russian Empire. He assumed that a person who committed a minor crime for the first time was liable under the criminal law, but was not considered convicted. When it comes to petty theft or a non-violent crime, the offender may be given a non-custodial sentence. But it will not be in the file of the convicted, it will not have a criminal record. And because of this, after all, they may not be hired, they may not issue a loan. The bill on criminal misconduct, submitted to the State Duma, will give the convict a chance to return to society on an equal footing. But, unfortunately, it has been "hanging" for several years and, as far as I know, it does not yet have a positive prospect.

- We were all shocked by the news about the terrible torture in the prison hospital in Saratov.

Tatiana Moskalkova: Yes, unfortunately, last year amazed us with such stories - both in Saratov and Irkutsk. And just this weekend, a series of appeals came to my hotline related to pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Karachay-Cherkessia, relatives of the detainees complained of a rude attitude, assault. I have already sent an appeal to the prosecutor of Karachay-Cherkessia, and the regional commissioner for human rights, very experienced and honest, visited the pre-trial detention center and received information from people that there were gross violations of the law, which, if we had the concept of "torture" in our law ' could be qualified as such. I hope that the director of the Federal Penitentiary Service will carefully consider the information received from me and from the prosecutor's office of the republic.

- How to eradicate torture?

Tatiana Moskalkova: First of all, we need legislative measures. For almost two years, we have been working with a group of human rights activists on a bill to increase liability for torture. And you know, it is very difficult to even pronounce the word "torture". Back in the 1993 Constitution, an article on the prohibition of torture appeared, and articles 117 and 286 of the Criminal Code are devoted to the responsibility of officials for such things, but torture is not called torture there.

Human rights activists consider it necessary to bring this into an independent corpus delicti and more clearly define what kind of phenomenon it is. Now a bill on this has been submitted by deputies and senators to the State Duma and, I hope, will be adopted. But any most remarkable law will not give effect if its law enforcement is unfair or incompetent. Therefore, additional mechanisms at the law enforcement level are important. Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuichenko and Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service Arkady Gostev are now closely dealing with these issues. I know that a package of regulatory proposals has been developed, including ours. In particular, we insist on placing video recorders in closed places and storing data from them for at least a year, and preferably on servers in the prosecutor's office or in the Federal Penitentiary Service for the subject of the Russian Federation. During business trips, I repeatedly came across the fact that there were no video materials: the statute of limitations had expired or they were not saved in full. So it was in the Karelian, Yaroslavl colonies and a number of others. It is very important to change the system of training employees of the institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service. Yes, they use a polygraph, the conclusions of psychologists, but, apparently, all this is not very effective.

P.S.

Vladislav Fronin, editor-in-chief :

It seems to me that this is one of the most effective "Business Breakfasts". also to some extent the rights ombudsman, but the readers. And we hope to continue with you not only official, but also such concrete cooperation for the benefit of people.

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