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NGO SUTYAJNIK: IT'S TIME // 2004 ANNUAL REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Sutyajnik - A Brief Introduction
  • Legal Counselling
  • Representation of Individuals and Organizations in Domestic Courts
  • The Defense of Human Rights in International Forum
  • General projects
  • Sutyajniks teach
  • Sutyajniks are taught
  • Publications
  • In the Media
  • Our Web-site
  • IN CONCLUSION: 2004 IN HIGHLIGHTS
  • Authors
  • This Report in PDF format (121 kb)
  • This Report in Russian
  • The 2003 Report
  • The 2002 Report
  • 11. IN CONCLUSION: 2004 IN HIGHLIGHTS

     

    Today there are many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia, but few are as old as the Russian Constitution or Russian Parliament.  The NGO called Sutyajnik, founded at the same time as the new Russian Constitution, has been fighting for human rights protected by that Constitution and by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights from its inception. Entering its second decade on 29 August 2004, NGO Sutyajnik can look with pride on its accomplishments over the past ten years.

    Sutyajnik?  A Russian would tell you that this word has a doubtful connotation; indeed, some might consider it scandalous.  A dictionary might translate sutyajnik as: «a person inclined to sue for insufficient reasons» or «a malicious litigator».  But we see a «sutyajnik» as a person prepared to use the existing legal institutions and mechanisms to defend his or others’ human rights, and to challenge government when it seeks to deny or infringe upon those rights.  A «sutyajnik» believes that the Russian Constitution and the European Convention mean what they say about human rights, and will use every legal means at his or her disposal to realize the lofty declarations on human rights found in these documents.

    NGO Sutyajnik is a legal services organization established on 29 August 1994 in Yekaterinburg, Russia.  All of Sutyajnik’s efforts and activities relate to important legal problems that affect the public at large, rather than just one or two individuals.  Sutyajnik’s efforts are directed towards establishing legal practices that correspond to international standards of human rights protection and the rule of law in civil society.  The members of Sutyajnik are primarily senior law students, working under the leadership of experienced human rights lawyers.

    Sutyajnik, the oldest human rights protection organization in the Russian Urals, stands as a shield against arbitrary officialdom.  Sergei Beliaev, the president of Sutyajnik, tells News Agency Sutyajnik-Press about the results of the organization’s work, about protecting the interests of the «little» man, and about counteracting the powerful administrative machinery of a large city.

    — Sergei Ivanovich, who are lawyers with Sutyajnik? What have lawyers gone on to do after working some time at Sutyajnik?

    — During the past decade, several hundred lawyers have passed through Sutyajnik, young men and women studying to become attorneys.  They are now working in many spheres including business, policy making and public prosecution.  Each of them draws from those experiences they gained during the one to two years at Sutyajnik.  At present, about twenty young lawyers are working in our organization.  Some of them are still studying, and some are defending dissertations in Russian and foreign universities.  Those with university degrees are working here full-time.  Some people have worked in the organization for a number of years.

    — Does Sutyajnik coordinate its work with similar human rights organizations from other Russian regions or other countries?

    — Certainly.  Many of our projects are implemented jointly with other organizations. Specialists from abroad conduct seminars here and share their experiences. Our members receive training abroad.  We cooperate with such international organizations as: Interights (London), Central European University (Budapest), Helsinki Fund for Human Rights Protection, and the International Senior Lawyers Project (New York).  As far as Russia is concerned, we are known in all corners of the country.  We have branches in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Voronezh, and Murmansk. Our members participate in the fight for human rights from Vladivostok to St.-Petersburg.

    — Approximately how many people received assistance from your organization?  How many cases have you won in the past decade?

    — We provided assistance to literally thousands of citizens who requested our assistance.  Since 1994, we have provided more than 18 thousand consultations to citizens and non-profit organizations, and we won more than 750 proceedings in the public interest, including the abolition of more than 90 unlawful normative acts of local and federal government.  For example, we successfully challenged efforts to keep the public and the press from courtrooms during proceedings; we struck down both local regulations that infringe on the right of assembly to protest government action and illegitimate efforts by executive officers to veto municipal legislation.  We secured rulings that state that denials of the right to appeal administrative decisions is a violation of the Russian Constitution and that civil psychiatric detention without a timely hearing violates both the Russian Constitution and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. In general, I believe, we have done well.

    Our plans are to continue sharing our experience with other human rights NGOs and activists, and to continue vigorous efforts to protect human rights in general, not only under our Russian Constitution, but also with the use of international mechanisms of protection that require our presence in the international field.

     

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    IT'S TIME // 2004 Annual Report

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