On the murder of Alexei Navalny and the need for EU action in support of political prisoners and oppressed civil society in Russia

B90155/2024

European Parliament resolution on the murder of Alexei Navalny and the need for EU action in support of political prisoners and oppressed civil society in Russia

(2024/2579(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia, Alexei Navalny, civil society and human rights defenders in Russia,

– having regard to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the European Convention on Human Rights),

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which the Russian Federation is a party,

– having regard to the international human rights obligations to which Russia has committed itself to uphold as a member of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN, and as a signatory to other human rights treaties,

– having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights and the Protocols thereto, in particular Article 10 on the right to freedom of expression and Article 11 on the right to freedom of assembly and association,

– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the Russian Federation has turned into a classic fully fledged bloody dictatorship, a fact which for various reasons has been neglected by many Western nations and which has enabled both internal repression and external aggression;

B. whereas Alexei Navalny, a Russian lawyer, opposition politician and anti-corruption activist, and laureate of the 2021 Sakharov Prize, died on 16 February 2024 at the Arctic IK-3 penal colony, while serving an arbitrary politically motivated sentence, and after having been repeatedly subjected to torture and inhumane treatment;

C. whereas an earlier attempt to kill Alexei Navalny took place on 20 August 2020, when he was poisoned by a military-grade Novichok nerve agent in what is considered to have been a politically motivated assassination attempt by an elite toxins team in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB);

D. whereas the murder of Alexei Navalny is not an isolated incident but forms part of Putin’s pattern of violence, suppression of dissent and intimidation against political opponents and civil society activists in Russia, as evidenced by the continued harassment, arbitrary detention, imprisonment, assassination attempts or killing of individuals who dared to speak out against the government, including Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Sergei Protazanov, Natalya Estemirova, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Magnitski, Sergei Skripal and others;

E. whereas state-sponsored assassinations and the physical elimination of opposition leaders have not only gone unpunished, but the people accused of committing these outrageous crimes have also been rewarded by the Kremlin;

F. whereas the Russian authorities and political leadership are continuing their repressive and authoritarian regime against their own citizens, civil society, political opposition and media workers, who are often subject to acts of harassment, surveillance, physical attacks, threats, raids and searches of their offices and homes, slander and smear campaigns, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention and ill treatment, as well as violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly;

G. whereas the Russian regime does not care about preserving the identity of the nearly 200 ethnic and national communities living on its territory, many of them indigenous; whereas xenophobia, racism and the exaltation of the ‘great Russian’ above all others flourish in the country with support of the government;

H. whereas the Russian authorities have intensified their campaign seeking to stifle any criticism regarding previous Soviet and current ongoing crimes, particularly since the war of aggression against Ukraine, with people remaining in prison, pre-trial detention or sent for compulsory treatment to psychiatric hospital, including Dmitry Ivanov, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ioann Kurmoyarov, Viktoria Petrova, Maria Ponomarenko, Aleksandra Skochilenko, Dmitry Talantov and opposition activists Aleksey Gorinov and Ilya Yashin;

I. whereas Putin recruits individuals to kill his political opponents outside Russia; whereas on 13 February 2024 a 28-year-old Russian pilot, Maksim Kuzminov, was brutally murdered in Spain after refusing to commit war crimes in Russia’s war in Ukraine, and earlier a Chechen refugee, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was murdered in Berlin, while Putin is now demanding the release of the perpetrator;

J. whereas Alexei Navalny was commonly seen as the main opposition figure contesting Putin’s rule and his oppressive kleptocratic system, therefore being a personal enemy of Putin;

K. whereas the reactions of Western democracies to these assassinations and other aggressive actions of the Russian Federation have not been strong enough to deter the Kremlin from continuing its hostile and oppressive policies;

L. whereas the earlier liquidation of Memorial comes amid repeated and systematic attempts by the Russian Government to rewrite history and curtail free debate about the evaluation of historical crimes and events, the most notable case being that of sustaining the Katyn lie; whereas the fate of Memorial clearly demonstrates how ‘foreign agents’ laws are used by the Russian authorities as a tool to intimidate and silence critics and independent voices;

M. whereas according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Russian authorities have labelled dozens of media organizations ‘undesirable’ since 2021 and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is the 142nd entity to be labelled as such; whereas the list includes several exiled and independent media outlets, including broadcaster Dozhd TV (TV Rain), Meduza, Novaya Gazeta Europe, iStories, The Insider, Bellingcat and Proekt;

N. whereas an active civil society is a crucial aspect of a democratic and open society, and is essential for safeguarding human rights and the rule of law; whereas NGOs play a crucial role in modern democratic societies and must therefore be able to operate freely without undue interference from public authorities; whereas the Russian authorities’ crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders resembles Soviet times and ultimately harms the interests of the Russian people and the possibilities for open and free dialogue;

O. whereas there are over 1 000 political prisoners in the Russian Federation; whereas the EU shows solidarity with all dissidents and the Russian people, who, despite the threat to their freedom and their lives, and the pressure from the Kremlin and the Russian authorities, continue to fight for freedom, human rights and democracy;

1. Condemns in the strongest possible terms the murder of Alexei Navalny; expresses its sympathy to the family of Mr Navalny; calls for an international investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, with the aim of holding those responsible to account; calls for a joint and adequate international response to this tragedy;

2. Emphasises that Alexei Navalny’s views on Russia’s aggressive actions on the international stage evolved and he changed his earlier views on Russia’s imperial policies, including the aggression against Georgia in 2008 and against Ukraine since 2014; is convinced that the Kremlin feared that under certain circumstances, a similar trajectory would be followed by others;

3. Calls for the EU to explore diplomatic, economic and legal avenues to hold to account those responsible for the murder of Alexei Navalny, as well as other members of the regime responsible for human rights violations, including high-level officials and members of the security forces and the penitentiary sector, based on the List of 6 000 published by Alexei Navalny`s Anti-Corruption Foundation International; welcomes the recent adoption of sanctions by the US following Mr Navalny’s death and invites the EU to coordinate the democratic world’s response;

4. Strongly condemns the arrest of the Russians who wished to commemorate Mr Navalny’s death in Russia;

5. Expresses its utmost respect, solidarity and support for the people who are risking their freedom and even lives in defence of basic human and civil rights which are being notoriously violated by the regime in Russia; commends the courage demonstrated by Vladimir Kara-Murza;

6. Is of the opinion that any permanent changes in the Russia Federation require the de-imperialisation, decolonisation and re-federalisation of the state and a clear break with Russia’s imperial past;

7. Urges the international community to ensure accountability for the crimes the regime has committed not only on the territory of the Russian Federation, but also on European Union soil and worldwide;

8. Reiterates that the EU should stand in full solidarity with Russian civil society which has subscribed to universal democratic values and rejected imperialism, and to make use of the European human rights violations sanctions regime to sanction perpetrators of human rights violations; calls on the Council to pursue its work on this matter without delay; stresses that perpetrators of human rights abuses should neither be granted EU visas nor should they be allowed to keep assets in Member States and exercise freedoms which they themselves deny to their citizens;

9. Encourages the EU to work closely with international partners, including the G7 and other like-minded countries, and to coordinate efforts to address human rights abuses and violations in Russia, including through stronger targeted sanctions, diplomatic pressure and support to civil society;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the family of Alexei Navalny, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, International Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, and the Russian authorities.