BETA


2014/2903(RSP) Resolution on the closing-down of the NGO ‘Memorial’ (winner of the 2009 Sakharov Prize) in Russia

Progress: Procedure completed

Legal Basis:
RoP 144

Events

2014/10/23
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2014/10/23
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2014/10/23
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 529 votes to 57, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the closing-down of the NGO ‘Memorial’ (winner of the 2009 Sakharov Prize) in Russia.

The resolution was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, Greens/EFA as well as Marie-Christine Vergiat, Helmut Scholz, Merja Kyllönen, Ignazio Corrao and Fabio Massimo Castaldo.

Memorial is a Russian historical and civil rights society that has operated since 1987 to defend civil rights. It was founded on the initiative of a group of Soviet-era dissidents under the auspices of Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov. It upholds democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental human rights in the practice of politics and public life.

The European Parliament awarded Memorial the Sakharov Prize in 2009.

Memorial, through the voices of its leaders, has strongly opposed and criticised Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine and called on President Putin to put an end to it.

In May 2014, a Moscow court ordered Memorial Human Rights Centre to be registered as a foreign agent on account of its ‘political activity’ in the field of human rights work. The NGO subsequently refused to register under this unfair label and decided to liquidate its structure and continue its work without being registered.

Parliament strongly condemned the Russian Ministry of Justice’s appeal to the Supreme Court to close the independent rights organisation Memorial , and the hearing scheduled for 13 November 2014, and urges the Ministry of Justice to withdraw its lawsuit before the scheduled hearing;.

It called on the Russian authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against the organisation and to ensure that all human rights defenders are able to carry out their legitimate activities in all circumstances without any interference.

Considering that the law on ‘foreign agents’ is in violation of Russia’s commitments to the Council of Europe and the OSCE, Members urged Russia to repeal laws that contain provisions inconsistent with Russia’s international and constitutional commitments on human rights.

Overall, Parliament expressed deep concern at the worsening condition of critical civil society in Russia , in particular those organisations which work on human rights and democratic freedoms and express criticism of state policies. It strongly called on Russia to reverse the current trend and to respect the principles of the rule of law, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly granted its Constitution and by the European Convention on Human Rights to which Russia is a signatory.

The Presidents of the Council and the Commission, as well as the Vice-President/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) are called upon:

to ensure that the cases of all those persecuted for political reasons are raised in meetings with their Russian counterparts and to continue to follow such cases closely and report back to Parliament on their exchanges with the Russian authorities; to ensure that the EU seeks every opportunity to continue to engage with and support Russian civil society organisations, including those working to promote the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law; to increase its financial assistance to Russian civil society and to include the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum in the Partnership Instrument in order to ensure sustainable and credible long-term support.

Documents
2014/10/23
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2014/10/21
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2014/10/21
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2014/10/21
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2014/10/21
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2014/10/21
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2014/10/21
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2014/10/21
   Joint motion for resolution
Documents

Documents

Activities

Votes

RC-B8-0164/2014 - Résolution #

2014/10/23 Outcome: +: 529, -: 57, 0: 34
DE IT GB PL ES RO FR SE CZ HU BE NL PT DK BG SK HR FI AT LT SI IE MT LU EE LV EL CY
Total
80
62
59
46
42
24
67
18
19
20
14
21
18
12
11
11
10
9
17
8
7
7
5
4
4
5
16
3
icon: PPE PPE
177

Belgium PPE

3

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1
2

Ireland PPE

3

Luxembourg PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Cyprus PPE

1
icon: S&D S&D
162

Netherlands S&D

3

Bulgaria S&D

For (1)

1

Croatia S&D

2

Finland S&D

1

Lithuania S&D

1

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Ireland S&D

For (1)

1

Malta S&D

3

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Estonia S&D

For (1)

1

Latvia S&D

Abstain (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
61

Czechia ECR

2

Belgium ECR

2

Netherlands ECR

2

Bulgaria ECR

1

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1

Finland ECR

2

Lithuania ECR

1

Latvia ECR

For (1)

1

Greece ECR

Against (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
48

United Kingdom ALDE

1

Romania ALDE

2

Portugal ALDE

1

Denmark ALDE

3

Bulgaria ALDE

2

Croatia ALDE

2

Finland ALDE

1

Austria ALDE

For (1)

1

Lithuania ALDE

2

Slovenia ALDE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg ALDE

For (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
44

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

5

Hungary Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Netherlands Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Croatia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Austria Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Slovenia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Estonia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: EFDD EFDD
38

Poland EFDD

1

France EFDD

Abstain (1)

1

Sweden EFDD

2

Lithuania EFDD

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
42

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Czechia GUE/NGL

2

Netherlands GUE/NGL

2

Portugal GUE/NGL

For (1)

4

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Ireland GUE/NGL

3

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2
icon: NI NI
47

Germany NI

Against (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

For (1)

1

Poland NI

2
3

Belgium NI

Abstain (1)

1

Netherlands NI

4

History

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  • date: 2014-10-23T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=24858&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20141023&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2014-0039 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0039/2014 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
committees
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    • date: 2014-10-21T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B8-2014-0164&language=EN title: B8-0164/2014 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
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    • date: 2014-10-21T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B8-2014-0168&language=EN title: B8-0168/2014 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    • date: 2014-10-21T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B8-2014-0169&language=EN title: B8-0169/2014 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
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    events
    • date: 2014-10-23T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=24858&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
    • date: 2014-10-23T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20141023&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
    • date: 2014-10-23T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2014-0039 title: T8-0039/2014 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 529 votes to 57, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the closing-down of the NGO ‘Memorial’ (winner of the 2009 Sakharov Prize) in Russia. The resolution was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, Greens/EFA as well as Marie-Christine Vergiat, Helmut Scholz, Merja Kyllönen, Ignazio Corrao and Fabio Massimo Castaldo. Memorial is a Russian historical and civil rights society that has operated since 1987 to defend civil rights. It was founded on the initiative of a group of Soviet-era dissidents under the auspices of Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov. It upholds democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental human rights in the practice of politics and public life. The European Parliament awarded Memorial the Sakharov Prize in 2009. Memorial, through the voices of its leaders, has strongly opposed and criticised Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine and called on President Putin to put an end to it. In May 2014, a Moscow court ordered Memorial Human Rights Centre to be registered as a foreign agent on account of its ‘political activity’ in the field of human rights work. The NGO subsequently refused to register under this unfair label and decided to liquidate its structure and continue its work without being registered. Parliament strongly condemned the Russian Ministry of Justice’s appeal to the Supreme Court to close the independent rights organisation Memorial , and the hearing scheduled for 13 November 2014, and urges the Ministry of Justice to withdraw its lawsuit before the scheduled hearing;. It called on the Russian authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against the organisation and to ensure that all human rights defenders are able to carry out their legitimate activities in all circumstances without any interference. Considering that the law on ‘foreign agents’ is in violation of Russia’s commitments to the Council of Europe and the OSCE, Members urged Russia to repeal laws that contain provisions inconsistent with Russia’s international and constitutional commitments on human rights. Overall, Parliament expressed deep concern at the worsening condition of critical civil society in Russia , in particular those organisations which work on human rights and democratic freedoms and express criticism of state policies. It strongly called on Russia to reverse the current trend and to respect the principles of the rule of law, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly granted its Constitution and by the European Convention on Human Rights to which Russia is a signatory. The Presidents of the Council and the Commission, as well as the Vice-President/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) are called upon: to ensure that the cases of all those persecuted for political reasons are raised in meetings with their Russian counterparts and to continue to follow such cases closely and report back to Parliament on their exchanges with the Russian authorities; to ensure that the EU seeks every opportunity to continue to engage with and support Russian civil society organisations, including those working to promote the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law; to increase its financial assistance to Russian civil society and to include the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum in the Partnership Instrument in order to ensure sustainable and credible long-term support.
    • date: 2014-10-23T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
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      • The European Parliament adopted by 529 votes to 57, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the closing-down of the NGO ‘Memorial’ (winner of the 2009 Sakharov Prize) in Russia.

        The resolution was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, Greens/EFA as well as Marie-Christine Vergiat, Helmut Scholz, Merja Kyllönen, Ignazio Corrao and Fabio Massimo Castaldo.

        Memorial is a Russian historical and civil rights society that has operated since 1987 to defend civil rights. It was founded on the initiative of a group of Soviet-era dissidents under the auspices of Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov. It upholds democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental human rights in the practice of politics and public life.

        The European Parliament awarded Memorial the Sakharov Prize in 2009.

        Memorial, through the voices of its leaders, has strongly opposed and criticised Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine and called on President Putin to put an end to it.

        In May 2014, a Moscow court ordered Memorial Human Rights Centre to be registered as a foreign agent on account of its ‘political activity’ in the field of human rights work. The NGO subsequently refused to register under this unfair label and decided to liquidate its structure and continue its work without being registered.

        Parliament strongly condemned the Russian Ministry of Justice’s appeal to the Supreme Court to close the independent rights organisation Memorial, and the hearing scheduled for 13 November 2014, and urges the Ministry of Justice to withdraw its lawsuit before the scheduled hearing;.

        It called on the Russian authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against the organisation and to ensure that all human rights defenders are able to carry out their legitimate activities in all circumstances without any interference.

        Considering that the law on ‘foreign agents’ is in violation of Russia’s commitments to the Council of Europe and the OSCE, Members urged Russia to repeal laws that contain provisions inconsistent with Russia’s international and constitutional commitments on human rights.

        Overall, Parliament expressed deep concern at the worsening condition of critical civil society in Russia, in particular those organisations which work on human rights and democratic freedoms and express criticism of state policies. It strongly called on Russia to reverse the current trend and to respect the principles of the rule of law, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly granted its Constitution and by the European Convention on Human Rights to which Russia is a signatory.

        The Presidents of the Council and the Commission, as well as the Vice-President/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) are called upon:

        • to ensure that the cases of all those persecuted for political reasons are raised in meetings with their Russian counterparts and to continue to follow such cases closely and report back to Parliament on their exchanges with the Russian authorities;
        • to ensure that the EU seeks every opportunity to continue to engage with and support Russian civil society organisations, including those working to promote the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law;
        • to increase its financial assistance to Russian civil society and to include the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum in the Partnership Instrument in order to ensure sustainable and credible long-term support.
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      Resolution on the closing-down of the NGO ‘Memorial’ (winner of the 2009 Sakharov Prize) in Russia
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          geographical_area
          Russian Federation
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          2014/2903(RSP)
          title
          Closing down of Memorial (Sakhorov Prize 2009) in Russia
          legal_basis
          Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 135
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          6.10.08 Fundamental freedoms, human rights, democracy in general