A complex legal dispute over the so-called Schneerson Library has turned into a full-scale diplomatic feud between the United States and Russia since a US court ruled that Russia must return about 12,000 books and 50,000 manuscripts from the collection to an Orthodox Jewish community in New York.

Putin in February suggested moving the Jewish archive from Moscow’s Lenin Library to the new museum.

“I hope that the transfer of the Schneerson collection, which undoubtedly is of great interest and value for the Jewish people and not just for Russian Jews in particular but also for Jewish believers residing in other parts of the world, will resolve this issue finally,” Putin said during a visit to the Jewish center.

Russia’s chief rabbi, Berel Lazar, who accompanied Putin during the visit, praised the Russian president’s decision as “a heroic deed,” calling it “a Solomon decision.”

About 500 digitized copies of manuscripts from the Schneerson Library were handed over to the Jewish museum on Thursday. They will be accessible online.

According to Viktor Vekselberg, head of the Jewish center’s board of trustees, the rest of the digitized Jewish books will be transferred to the museum by the end of the year.

The Schneerson Library is a collection of books and religious documents assembled by the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement over two centuries prior to World War II in Belarus. It is one of the main Jewish religious relics.

Part of the collection amassed by Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in 1918. Later, about 25,000 pages of manuscripts fell into the hands of the Nazis, and were later seized by the Red Army and handed over to the Russian State Military Archive. This part of the Schneerson Library is now kept in the archive of Lenin’s Library in Moscow.

The other part was taken out of the Soviet Union by Schneerson, who emigrated in the 1930s.

Since 1991, the year of Schneerson’s death, leaders of the Brooklyn-based Orthodox Jewish movement have been trying to regain possession of the library, saying it was illegally held by the Soviet authorities after the war.

In 1991, a court in Moscow agreed to turn over the library to Chabad. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the ruling was ignored. The Russian government now says it wants to keep the archive for future scholars.

In 2010, a court in Washington confirmed the American Jewish community’s right to the library, but Russia called the court’s decision illegitimate. In late 2011, a US court ruled that Russia must return about 12,000 books and 50,000 manuscripts from the library.

Russia, which considers the collection as part of the country’s heritage, has refused to hand over the collection despite a $50,000 per-day fine imposed by the court.

Starting in early March 2013 the Russian government launched a nationwide campaign of inspections of nongovernmental organizations, unprecedented in its scale and scope. The inspections were highly extensive, disruptive, invasive, and often intimidating. To date, hundreds of organizations in different regions of Russia have been subject to such inspections; most have yet to be informed of the inspection findings. However, it is clear that the main objective of these inspections is to identify organizations the government deems “foreign agents” and force advocacy groups to either assume this false, misleading, and demonizing label or suspend their work. Human Rights Watch is monitoring the situation closely and, as part of that effort, pulls together and brings to public attention information regarding civil society groups victimized in this manner.

Updated June 10, 2013

I. Administrative Court Cases – 7 NGOs

If a court of law finds them responsible for failure to register as a “foreign agent,” these groups may be fined up to 500,000 rubles (over US$16,000) and their leaders personally – up to 300,000 rubles (approximately $10,000).

Association of NGOs in Defence of Voters’ Rights“Golos” (Moscow)

According to the protocol from the Ministry of Justice dated April 9, the group drafted and promoted a unified Electoral Code and allegedly received foreign funding in the form of the Andrey Sakharov Freedom Award from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC). Notably, Golos had sent the monetary prize in question back to the NHC. The organization was fined 300,000 rubles (approximately $10,000) by the Presnenskiy court of Moscow on April 25. The head of Golos was also personally fined 100,000 rubles (approximately $3,300). Golos appealed the court ruling on May 8; the appeal is pending.

Kostroma Center for Support of Public Initiatives(Kostroma)

According to the protocol from the Kostroma regional prosecutor’s office dated April 15, the group conducted a roundtable on United States-Russia relations attended by a US embassy representative. On May 29 a Kostroma court found the group in violation of the “foreign agents” law and ruled for a fine of 300,000 rubles (approximately $10,000).

Anti-Discrimination Center “Memorial” (St. Petersburg)

According to the protocol from the Admiralteyskiy District prosecutor’s office of St. Petersburg dated April 30, the group receives foreign funding and published a report on police abuse of Roma, migrants, and civil activists that was presented to the United Nations Committee Against Torture. Administrative court hearings are pending.

“Coming Out”(St. Petersburg)

According to the protocol from the Central District prosecutor’s office of St. Petersburg dated April 30, this LGBT rights group receives funding from the Consulate General of the Netherlands and the Embassy of Norway and allegedly engaged in “political activities,” in particular by holding a silent rally using the slogans, “We are for traditional values: love, family, respect of human dignity” (organized by independent activists), by organizing a campaign against the adoption of the ban on “homosexual propaganda” in St. Petersburg (notably, the campaign was conducted before the “foreign agents” law came into effect), and by publishing the brochure, “Discrimination of LGBT Individuals: What, How and Why?” Administrative court hearings started on May 27 and were postponed until June 11.

“Side by Side” LGBT film festival (St. Petersburg)

According to the protocol from the Central District prosecutor’s office of St. Petersburg dated May 6, the group published a brochure entitled, “The International LGBT Movement: from Local Practices to Global Politics” and participated in a public awareness-raising campaign, “Let’s Stop the Homophobic Bill Together.” Notably, the campaign was conducted in 2011, before the “foreign agents” law entered into force. On June 6 a St. Petersburg court ruled the group had violated the law and fined it 500,000 rubles (approximately $16,500).

Regional Public Association in Defence of Democratic Rights and Freedoms “Golos”(Moscow)

According to the protocol from the Ministry of Justice dated May 13, in December 2012 the group – a member of the “Golos” Association – allegedly received foreign funding of more than 4 million rubles (approximately $133,000) in total and conducted work on the project, “Raising transparency of the Russian electoral process by discussing and promoting a unified Electoral Code.” On June 4 the Basmanny Court in Moscow ruled the group had violated the law and fined it 300,000 rubles.

Center for Civic Analysis and Independent Research / GRANI(Perm)

According to the protocol from the Perm regional prosecutor’s office dated June 6, the inspection of the group’s activities in April 2013 revealed violations of the law on “foreign agents.” The group in 2013 received foreign funding of 751,000 rubles (approximately $25,000) and allegedly engaged in “political activities” by shaping public opinion on state policies. In 2013 the group published the results of the study, “Russian non-political activism” conducted in 2012 under a project funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation. In December 2012 the group submitted to the regional legislative assembly proposals for amendments to the draft law on support of socially oriented NGOs in the Perm region, and in January 2013 its leader took part in a roundtable organized by the Perm Legislative Assembly, which discussed this draft and recommended introducing a set of amendments in line with recommendations by participants. On April 22 the prosecutor’s office issued a notice of violations to the group (as noted in section II) instructing it to register as a “foreign agent” NGO. On May 6 the group replied to the notice challenging it and emphasizing that the group’s staffers are members of several advisory bodies for the state authorities, including the working group of the federal government’s commission on coordinating the “Open Government,” the regional governor’s council on entrepreneurship, and the collegium of the regional territorial development ministry. On May 16 the group’s governing bodies ruled not to implement the prosecutor’s orders, as GRANI’s activities are aimed not at changing state policy, but at facilitating its implementation as regards the rights and freedoms enshrined in Russia’s constitution. Once informed of the group’s decision, the prosecutor’s office concluded that the group was in persistent violation of the law on “foreign agents” and referred the case to court. Administrative court hearings are pending.

II. Official Notices of Violations – 16 NGOs

The groups below received official orders to “eliminate violations,” i.e. to register as “foreign agents” within one month of their respective dates of notice.

Center for Civic Analysis and Independent Research / GRANI (Perm)

Case referred to court for alleged persistent refusal by the organization to comply with the “foreign agents” law (for details, please see section I).

Baikal Environmental Wave (Irkutsk)

According to the notice dated April 23, the group carries out “active advocacy on environmental issues.”

Center for Social Policy and Gender Studies (Saratov)

According to the notice dated April 24, both the group’s statute provisions and its current work relate to “political activities.” In April 2013 the group, which receives foreign funding, organized the event, “Review of the social policy in the post-Soviet area: ideologies, actors and cultures” and published the book, Critical Analysis of the Social Policy in the Countries of Former Soviet Union, thereby aiming to influence public opinion.

Information and Human Rights Center (Yekaterinburg)

According to the notice dated April 26, the group receives foreign funding and participates in “political activities” through carrying out projects aimed at “overcoming totalitarian stereotypes by influencing public opinion with awareness-raising activities, facilitating the establishment of the rule of law by informing citizens about constitutional norms, ensuring the priority of individual rights in state practices and public life by remembrance of terror victims in the past and defending the rights of citizens in the present, as well as countering violent, unlawful, totalitarian ways of ruling the state by organizing public events (rallies, exhibitions, etc.) .” Also, in September 2012, the group conducted a roundtable on the rights of conscripts and military servicemen, addressing a set of recommendations to the Ministry of Defense and the government and therefore trying to influence governmental policies in this area.

Human Rights Center “Memorial” (Moscow)

According to the notice dated April 29, some of group’s objectives in its statute relate to “political activity,” and the group also carries out programs and projects that monitor politically motivated administrative detentions and criminal prosecutions. The organization challenged the legality of their inspection by the Moscow prosecutor’s office in March 2012 and lodged a judicial appeal. On May 24 the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow rejected the complaint by “Memorial” as ungrounded. The group challenged the prosecutor’s notice of violations and lodged a judicial appeal on May 28.

“Women of Don” (Novocherkassk)

According to the notice dated April 29, after the law on “foreign agents” entered into force, the group received foreign funding and “carried out activities aimed at shaping public opinion and influencing decision-making by the authorities through conducting events with public participation, publishing propaganda information materials online, as well as [doing so] in the course of private meetings with imprisoned individuals.” Thus, the group published on its website policy proposals on police reform and conclusions on the ineffectiveness of current state policy in this field. In April 2013 the group organized an inter-regional seminar attended by the media, the participants of which declared a detention of an NGO leader in Krasnodar unlawful, opened for signing a petition in his support, and addressed an appeal to the Russian President, as well as “expressed negative attitudes regarding the activities of state authorities and highlighted the necessity to solve problems [independently] without appealing to competent governmental agencies.” Also, in April 2013 the prosecutor’s office received a letter from an imprisoned individual who stated that while meeting with him in her capacity as a Public Oversight Commission member, the group’s leader “called him for active actions in support of the group’s activities on changing the legislation regulating the penitentiary system.”

Center for Support of Democratic Youth Initiatives / Youth “Memorial” (Perm)

According to the notice dated April 29, the group’s statute objectives include defending the political rights of youth. The organization aspires to influence public opinion with regard to governmental policies and receives funding from the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) for a project aimed at “developing democratic activism among Russian youth.” The group also implements a project on human rights education funded by the Germany-based “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” Foundation (EVZ) and published a collection of articles expressing political views of the project’s participants. According to the prosecutor’s office, both donor institutions “define their objective as influencing political processes worldwide.” Moreover, in 2012 the group conducted activities aimed at monitoring rights violations in the military and providing direct assistance to conscripts and military servicemen who suffered abuse. The authorities also flag that the very fact that the organization is well known for promoting the alternative civil service proves that its work relates to “political activities.”

Interregional Human Rights Association “AGORA”(Kazan)

According to the notice dated April 30, the group implements a project on Internet freedom funded by the Internews, supporting “activities of lawyers capable of influencing policy and law enforcement practice” and aiming at “adoption of regulations on administrative procedures for implementing the law on Internet by the government and the State Agency for Supervision of Communications [Roskomnadzor].” The notice also flags that the group is accredited by the Ministry of Justice as an independent expert entity authorized to conduct anticorruption evaluation of legal acts and their drafts.

“Panorama” Center (Moscow)

According to the notice dated May 6, the group implements a foreign-funded research project on political processes, which involves holding roundtables and discussions and publishing information regarding the drawbacks of current legislation and the evolvement of public protests in Russia.

“Lawyers for Constitutional Rights and Freedoms” / JURIX (Moscow)

According to the notice dated May 7, the group’s statute provides for carrying out various activities “in the field of law and public policy.” The group receives foreign funding and its staff members participated in the advocacy campaign against the adoption of a ban on “homosexual propaganda” in St. Petersburg, including by providing legal expertise on the draft law and taking part in the public hearings at the Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg as well as televised debates on the issue.

“Public Verdict” Foundation (Moscow)

According to the notice dated May 8, the group carries out political activities, which are mostly financed from foreign sources. In the view of the prosecutor’s office, the group’s activity “is aimed at interfering with governmental policy in the field of law enforcement by proposing legislative amendments, shaping public opinion on the necessity of changing law enforcement policy currently exercised by the authorities, and gaining public support for its actions aimed at exhorting greater influence on the authorities.” The prosecutors consider the following actions as examples of the group’s “political activities”: “involving society in discussing the reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, monitoring citizens’ rights observance while conducting public events, providing legal assistance to the individuals accused under the ‘Bolotnaya case,’ preparing and coordinating the work on drafting Alternative NGO Report to the UN Committee against Torture [on Russia’s compliance with the UN Convention against Torture],” offering “recommendations to participants of public protests regarding [appropriate] behavior at the rallies,” and “organizing and supporting campaigns of petitions to state authorities.”

Independent Council of Legal Expertise / NEPS(Moscow)

According to the notice dated early May, the group’s the group’s work is related to “political activities” and it should register as a “foreign agent” NGO.

Moscow School of Political Studies(Moscow)

According to a notice dated May 29, the group’s the group’s work is related to “political activities” and must register as a “foreign agent” NGO.

Yaroslavl regional hunters’ and fishermen society(Yaroslavl)

According to the notice dated April 16, some of the provisions in the group’s statute relate to “political activity” and it should register as a “foreign agent” NGO.

Two more prominent civil society groups in Perm –Perm Civic Chamber and Perm Regional Human Rights Center – received orders to register as “foreign agents” in the course of April, as their respective work was deemed relevant to influencing public opinion and state policies. On May 20, jointly with the Perm Youth Memorial (for GRANI Center, please see section I), they published a statement asserting their refusal to brand themselves “foreign agents” and announcing their intention to appeal the orders to a court of law.

III. Warnings Not to Violate the Law – 39 NGOs

The groups below were warned of a need to register as “foreign agents” if they plan to carry out “political activities” or to receive foreign funding in the future.

Kostroma Soldiers’ Mothers Committee (Kostroma)

According to the warning dated April 16, the group’s representatives were involved in election observing in December 2011 and March 2012.

Democratic Center (Voronezh)

According to the warning dated April 22, the group was involved in election observing in December 2011.

Volgograd Center for NGO Support(Volgograd)

According to the warning dated April 22, the group implements a public diplomacy project entitled, “Information Center on International Security” funded by the NATO information bureau, which is aimed, inter alia, at providing “information support to activities of regional branches of political parties, representatives of the authorities, civil society institutions on topical issues of international relations and international security.”

Interregional Committee against Torture(Nizhniy Novgorod)

According to the warning dated April 22, the group took part in “public events, which may be regarded as political activity” before November 2012.

“Man and Law”(Yoshkar-Ola)

According to the warning dated April 24, the group’s statute stipulates that its staff “may take part in public events, meetings and rallies,” and the group’s website features information that “Man and Law” “facilitates observance of human rights by state officials.”

Institute of Press Development – Siberia(Novosibirsk)

According to the warning dated April 24, one of the objectives in the group’s statute is “assistance to civil society development in Russia and strengthening democratic principles in the life of Russian society,” and several types of public activities that the group may carry out to achieve this objective relate to “political activity.” The group challenged the warning and lodged a judicial appeal,but on June 10 a local court upheld the warning.

“Assistance to Cystic Fibrosis Patients”(Istra, Moscow Region)

According to the warning dated April 24, one of the objectives in the group’s statute is “defending the rights and legal interests of cystic fibrosis patients in the state authorities,” and the group “may come up with initiatives on various issues of public importance, submit proposals to state authorities, and defend rights and legal interests of its members as well as other citizens in the face of federal and municipal authorities.” The prosecutor’s office revoked the warning on April 30.

Amur Social-Ecologic Union(Blagoveshchensk)

According to the warning dated April 24, one of the objectives in the group’s statute is “assistance to the state authorities, citizens and their associations in the activities aimed at preserving and restoring natural and cultural heritage, and sanitation of the environment,” and several types of public activities that the group may carry out to achieve this objective relate to “political activity.”

Amur Environmental Club “Ulukitkan”(Blagoveshchensk)

According to the warning dated April 24, the group’s statute includes a provision on “the right to participate in decision making by state authorities,” and in 2011 the organization carried out a foreign-funded contest for journalists to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. The group challenged the warning and lodged a judicial appeal on June 4, but the local court upheld the warning.

Ryazan “Memorial” Society(Ryazan)

According to the warning dated April 24, some of the objectives in the group’s statute and types of activities relate to “political activity.”

“Golos – Siberia” Foundation(Novosibirsk)

According to the warning dated April 24, some of the group’s statute provisions relate to “political activity,” and in 2012 it received funding from the Foundation for Support of Democracy “Golos,” which is a recognized recipient of foreign funding.

“Golos – Urals” Foundation(Chelyabinsk)

According to the warning dated April 25, some of the objectives in the group’s statute relate to “political activity.”

“Citizens’ Watch” (St. Petersburg)

According to the warning dated April 25, some of the provisions in the group’s statute relate to “political activity.” Besides, the group “conducts public events, including seminars, and publishes materials in the mass media.”

Urals Democratic Foundation (Chelyabinsk)

According to the warning dated April 25, the group receives foreign funding and may carry out “political activities.”

Urals Human Rights Group (Chelyabinsk)

According to the warning dated April 25, the group receives foreign funding and may carry out “political activities.”

Center “Transparency International – R”(Moscow)

According to the warning dated April 26, both the group’s statute objectives and its actual activities prove that it participates in shaping public opinion on state policies related to law enforcement and in other fields and influences the decision making of Russian state authorities, including the legislative process.

Center for Independent Sociological Research(St. Petersburg)

According to a warning dated April 26, the group, in connection with the group’s statutory goals, “conducts sociological research, organizes events in the field of social science, and publishes academic literature.” As the organization also receives foreign funding and its work may involve “political activities,” the Tsentralny district prosecutor’s office of St. Petersburg warned the group’s leadership of possible liability for noncompliance with the “foreign agent” law.

Center for Independent Social Research and Education(Irkutsk)

According to a warning dated April 26, the group receives foreign funding, and some of its statutory provisions relate to “political activity.”

Komi Human Rights Commission “Memorial”(Syktyvkar)

According to the warning dated April 27, some of the group’s statute provisions relate to “political activity.” Besides, “the group’s members in 2011-2012 participated in public and political actions, including protest actions, aimed at influencing the decision making by state authorities.”

Kirov Regional Hunters’ and Fishermen Society(Kirov)

According to the warning dated April 29, some of the group’s statute provisions relate to “political activity.”

Muraviovka Park of Sustainable Land Use(Amur Region)

According to the warning dated April 30, some of the provisions in the group’s statute that defends and studies birds relate to “political activity,” and it received funding from the International Crane Foundation.

“Nature and Youth” (Murmansk)

According to the warning dated April 30, the group’s statute provides for “participation in creating legislative framework at the regional level,” which relates to “political activity.”

Center for Democracy Development and Human Rights (Moscow)

According to the warning dated May 8, some of the provisions in the group’s statute and its projects relate to “political activity” as regards both interaction with the authorities and shaping public opinion.

Journalism Advancement and Support Center(Moscow)

According to the warning dated May 8, the group received foreign funding in 2012 and has a regularly updated its Facebook page with links to publications in varied media outlets, including analytic and other materials on state policies and activities of state agencies. The prosecutor’s office flags that these publications are aimed at shaping public opinion about governmental policies and therefore, the group’s work may relate to “political activities.”

Levada Center(Moscow)

According to the warning dated May 15, the group receives foreign funding in the form of grant and service contracts and issues two periodic publications, which are disseminated free of charge in print version and brought to public attention online. These publications contain articles on “the country’s most important political processes” and in addition to quoting the results of opinion polls, also contain individual views of the authors on political issues. Moreover, the group regularly issues press statements on major political issues, organizes jointly with the International Memorial Society a series of public seminars on social and political issues related to democratization and overcoming totalitarian past, and conducts research on elections (including elections to the State Duma in December 2011).

Foundation for Assistance to Public Opinion Research (Moscow)

According to the warning dated mid-May, the group, which is a daughter organization to Russia’s most prominent polling agency, the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research (VTsIOM), received foreign funding and published research findings relevant to political processes in the country.

“International Standard” Foundation (Ufa)

According to the warning dated mid-May, from 2010 to 2012 the group received funding from the European Commission and the US embassy for the projects titled, “Improving security culture of human rights NGOs” and, “Democracy lessons for local communities: Awareness-raising and practical skills for local housing committees.” The organization conducted a series of workshops, published relevant print materials, and made a film on security for civic activists. In the view of the prosecutor’s office, the group therefore participates in shaping public opinion on state policies. At the same time, one of the group’s founders promoted one of the candidates in the 2012 local elections.

Saami’s public association of the Murmansk region / OOSMO

According to the warning dated early June, the group receives foreign funding and some of the provisions in its statute relate to “political activity”.

One more Saami group in Murmansk region was warned by the prosecutors’ office on the same grounds.

Similar warnings were also issued to 10 environmental groups listed below:

For the Nature(Chelyabinsk)
Green Home(Khabarovsk)
Siberian Environmental Center(Novosibirsk)
SPOK(Petrozavodsk)
Kola Environmental Center(Murmansk)
Kola Center for Wild Nature Defense(Murmansk)
“Phoenix” Foundation (Vladivostok)
School of Soul Ecology “Tengri”(Gorno-Altaisk)
Protected Natural Areas Association of the Altay Republic(Gorno-Altaisk)
Center for Environmental Awareness-raising of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) “Eyge”(Yakutsk)

VITEBSK, Belarus – The latest incarnation of Limmud FSU (former Soviet Union) took place for the first time in Belarus over the weekend, one of the most storied countries in Jewish history.

Once home to a thriving Jewish community decimated by World War II, Belarus produced nine Israeli presidents, two Nobel Prize laureates and dozens of world-class rabbis, intellectuals and artists. Notable among these figures are President Shimon Peres, former prime ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, former president Chaim Weizmann, the Soloveitchik rabbinical dynasty, and renowned artists Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine and Nahum Goldmann.

In Vitebsk, a four-hour drive outside the capital of Minsk, over 500 young Jewish men and women converged from Friday to Sunday to learn more about their shared history.

Even Peres’s daughter, celebrated linguist and author Prof. Tzvia Walden, flew in from Israel with her husband, Sheba Medical Center deputy director Prof. Raphael Walden, to speak at the historic conference and to honor her father’s childhood home outside of Minsk.

“I am honored to be here to represent my father,” said Walden when the Belarus government designated his modest childhood home a national monument last week. “I know he would have been so happy to be here with all of you.”

Still, Belarus’s tragic history – shrouded by the mass murder of 800,000 Jews who had lived there for centuries – was never far from the minds of the many participants who traveled from other FSU countries, America and Israel to attend the gathering.

“We must never forget the genocide that took place here,” said famed Belarus architect Leonid Levin, who is chairman of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Organizations and Communities, on Friday at a memorial site where 5,000 Jews were slaughtered. “This is our past. This is part of who we are.”

Prominent philanthropist and businessman Matthew Bronfman, who chairs Limmud FSU’s International Steering Committee, said he had traveled from New York to attend the conference in Vitebsk to help reconnect young Jews with a once-severed history.

“Our conferences embody the very spirit, energy and excitement of a new and young generation who are eager to reconnect with their own rich intellectual and religious heritage, from which they and their parents were cut off during 70 years of Communist rule,” he said.

He added that Limmud was “a revolutionary approach to questions of Jewish identity and education, and has become an inseparable part of the circle of Jewish life for young and not-so-young Russian-speaking adults.”

The volunteer-driven Limmud Jewish education conferences, first conceived in Britain 33 years ago, have since branched out internationally in nearly 10 countries, including Canada, Australia, the US, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, and most recently Belarus.

Limmud FSU was founded in 2006 by Chaim Chelser, of Israel, co-founded by Sandra Cahn, of New York, and Mikhail Chlenov, of Russia, and Aaron Frenkel, of Monte Carlo, is the president. The organization presents world-class Jewish scholars and professionals on topics including Diaspora Jews in the 21st century, Jewish art history, Torah and business, Israeli society, science and the soul, Jewish philosophy and Jewish-themed dance classes.

“We combined Limmud with Vitebsk, the capital of culture of the former Soviet Union – the country of Chagall and many other distinguished artists, as well as the former home to two great Israeli leaders and Nobel Prize winners, Shimon Peres and Menachem Begin,” said Chesler.

He praised the governments of Minsk and Brest, known to be politically restrictive, for having agreed to honor Peres’s childhood home and recognize Begin.

“It is a great achievement for Limmud to work on a joint effort of this kind with these governments, and shows that there is still a future for Jews in this part of the world,” he said.

Yana Osipova, an 18-yearold college student from Belarus, said Sunday that she was attending the conference to learn from world-class professionals.

“I belong to a Jewish club in my city and I live a Jewish life, so this project is interesting to me because many interesting people with different interests are here, and they’re willing to share their experience and knowledge with other people, and they do it with pleasure,” she said.

She added that there was “no problem being Jewish in Belarus.”

“There are some people who sometimes laugh at Jews, but that’s not a problem – especially when you meet and learn from people like this,” she said.

Participants certainly had a breadth of options, with speakers including senior Peres adviser Yoram Dori; Susan Goodman-Turnarkin, senior curator emeritus at the Jewish Museum of New York; Israeli Ambassador to Belarus Yosef Shagal; director, producer and screenwriter Boris Maftsir; and actor and director Shmuel Atzmon, founder of the Yiddishpiel Theater in Tel Aviv.

Vasilisa Smirnova, a cosmetics business developer from Moldova, said this was her seventh Limmud conference.

“I’ve become a Limmud addict,” she said over the weekend. “For me, this is important because I find Jewish culture very deep and very wise, and because I am young and looking for answers. I have found that Jewish culture helps me find answers to questions like, ‘Who I am in this world?’ and ‘What I should do?’” Kate Kozenkova, a 19-yearold college student, traveled four hours from Minsk to attend the conference, even though she is not Jewish.

“It’s a great opportunity to meet new people from all over the world, and I think it’s a good forum for promoting Belarus, which I love,” she said. “I think that the Jewish culture and community are great. I have never seen such close relationships between people who have never met before – they speak and connect with their hearts.”

While Kozenkova said she did not have any Jewish friends in Minsk, she noted enthusiastically that she had made several over the two days of the conference.

“For me, it’s your culture that I love – there are so many unbelievably interesting things about it that inspire me,” she said.

The people, she continued, “are so open and kind….

They smile at each other and are like a big family, and it doesn’t matter where I’m from or what I do…. It’s like an island paradise of Limmud.”

For Julia Davyelava, a musician and English teacher from Belarus, the Vitebsk event was her first Limmud conference.

“I wanted to learn what Limmud was all about because I’m a creative person and have interests in different spheres – philosophy, psychology, religion and literature,” she said. “I attended amazing lectures and now feel like I’m taking with me a little piece of gold from the beauty I saw here.”

While the vast majority of attendees said they were pleased with the lectures at the event, Anastasia Rosenberg, a Jewish Agency employee from Moscow who has attended five conferences, said she was disappointed by Vitebsk’s limited offerings on art history.

“I was an art history major, and I had hoped for more information about art in the sessions, since Chagall is from here, but I felt that the presenters were too broad in their presentations,” she said. “I just wish they offered more details about the art of great Jewish artists like him, and not general facts that I already knew.”

Despite her complaint, though, she said she was grateful for the program’s overall ability to educate her in a number of other areas of Jewish history and culture.

“Every Limmud is a step forward in life because you learn so much every time you attend,” she said. “This is why I keep coming.”

Natasha Lukyanava, a pianist and English translator from Minsk, said Limmud organizers had paid for her to attend the conference when health problems left her short of cash.

“I wasn’t able to pay to come because I was having trouble with my back and was unable to work,” she said. “But I wanted to come because I wanted knowledge – it’s just something from inside me. And Limmud let me come without paying.”

She said organizers had provided her with train and hotel fare so she could meet a friend at the conference, who helped her over the two days.

“I thought, if God wants me here, He will provide for me,” she said with a smile.

“And He did.”

She added that it was her dream to make aliya one day.

“I have been to Jerusalem a couple of times, and I really felt connected to it – like the saying, ‘If I forget Jerusalem, may my right arm wither away,’” she continued. “I felt like [Israelis] were my family, and I hope to come back to see them again soon. I feel like it is my country because the Old City’s Jewish Quarter has an atmosphere like Minsk.”

Meanwhile, Limmud FSU COO Roman Kogan, who has been instrumental in arranging all of the program’s conferences throughout the former Soviet Union, America and Israel, said he was delighted at how well Belarus’s first Limmud panned out.

“We are very proud to launch the Limmud FSU project in Belarus,” he said after the conference concluded.

“We worked very hard for many years to make this happen, and for the first conference here, it was brilliant in terms of the quality of the program.”

He thanked the numerous volunteers and presenters who had contributed.

“For Belarus it’s a huge project, because it gives the young generation of Belarus Jews an alternative platform for building their Jewish community and life, and I hope it will become a regular Limmud destination and continue to grow, because Belarus has a very rich Jewish history.”

Indeed, Kogan said he hoped Limmud would help reestablish a Jewish presence in a land where Jews once thrived and contributed to the world.

“We hope Limmud will contribute its own piece to this colorful mosaic for today’s Jews,” he said.

“The [restoration] project is an important part of the effort to both preserve and restore Vilnius’ Jewish heritage, and I think that President Peres could bring valuable guidance and insight to our project,” Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas said, according to the Baltic Review news site.

The comprehensive restoration and construction project could be completed as early as 2017, according to Tuesday’s report.

The offer came during a visit to Israel this week by Zuokas and Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius in which they met with Peres.

If Peres agrees, he would join Lithuania’s former President Valdas Adamkus, current Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius and the prominent architect Daniel Liebeskind, who are all members of the board.

The Great Synagogue in Vilnius was an icon of Lithuanian and Eastern European Jewish culture before it was ruined during World War II and demolished in the 1950s. From the 16th through the 20th centuries, it was among the best-known synagogues in Central Europe.

As a part of Vilnius’ Jewish quarter, the Great Synagogue also was surrounded by other important centers of Jewish culture, such as the home of the Gaon of Vilnius, the honorific title accorded to influential Jewish sage and philosopher Rabbi Eliah Ben-Salomon.

Rovshen Yazmuhamedov, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist, was released from detention on 22 May in Turkmenistan after spending more than two weeks in custody. The charges against him are still unclear. It is likely he had been targeted in connection with his work as a journalist.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) have stated that Rovshen Yazmuhamedov , 30, was released in Turkmenabat, eastern Turkmenistan on 22 May. The charges against him have not been disclosed by the authorities. Rovshen Yazmuhamedov’s family have stated that he was interrogated by security services several times before his detention.

During his detention he was held in a temporary detention facility run by the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who are involved in the fight against organized crime and terrorism. His family reported to RFE/RL that the authorities installed surveillance cameras around their home following the detention of Rovshen Yazmuhamedov on 6 May.

Rovshen Yazmuhamedov has been working with the Turkmen service of RFE/RL since September 2012. He is a correspondent and mainly covers social issues.

Please write immediately in Turkmen, Russian, English or your own language:

• Calling on the authorities to investigate the legality of Rovshen Yazmuhamedov’s detention and the allegations that he may have been targeted because of his journalist activities;
• Urging the authorities to immediately disclose the reasons for his detention and provide details about any charges against him;
• Reminding them to ensure that everyone is able to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of expression and association in conformity with Turkmenistan’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The lack of an official explanation for the abrupt expulsion from Russia of U.S. lawyer and former Justice Department official Thomas Firestone earlier this month has led to a flurry of speculation about what may have prompted it.

Firestone, an expert on corruption in Russian law enforcement agencies who worked as a lawyer for the Moscow office of the Baker & McKenzie law firm, was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport on May 5 when returning from a trip abroad. Officers kept him in the airport for some 15 hours before ultimately sending him to the U.S.

The expulsion follows an exchange of insults between the U.S. and Russia last month, when the U.S. released a blacklist of 18 Russian officials allegedly implicated in human rights violations who were banned from entering the U.S., and Russia responded with a similar blacklist of 18 U.S. officials.

“I don’t know what the reason for Firestone’s expulsion was, but [it's true that] he was very active in advocating for the release of Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 and that he made a number of requests to Russian officials asking them for his release,” Hermitage Capital head William Browder said by phone Tuesday.

If it’s true that Firestone was expelled over the U.S. Magnitsky Act, he wouldn’t be the first American citizen to face repercussions from the so-called Anti-Magnitsky list.

Chris Smith, a top U.S. lawmaker, was refused a Russian visa earlier this year and blamed it on his vocal backing of the U.S. Magnitsky Act.

Magnitsky was imprisoned on tax evasion charges in 2008 after accusing officials of stealing $230 million in state funds. He died in jail a year later.

Neither Firestone’s nor Smith’s names were featured on the blacklist published on the Foreign Ministry’s website, but like the the U.S., Russia may have kept a part of the list classified, with top officials hidden to prevent relations from being strained further.

“When Firestone worked for the U.S. government in Moscow, he was involved in many aspects of analyzing the Magnitsky case and working with the embassy to try and stop the attacks on [auditing firm] Firestone Duncan, including a last ditch effort to save Sergei [Magnitsky] and get him out of detention,” said Magnitsky’s former employer Jamison Firestone, whose firm performed legal services for Hermitage Capital.

Read more.

The Council of Europe, the continent’s oldest human rights organization, has announced an agreement to upgrade its Russian office, a sign that Russia takes the 47-member group seriously, a spokesman said, at a time when the Kremlin routinely rejects outside criticism of its rights record.

Turning its information office into a program office with diplomatic immunity will allow the council to assist the Russian government in implementing a list of 27 proposed projects, including an existing plan to create a court of appeals system in Russia.

“This cannot be carried out from [council headquarters in] Strasbourg. We have to have people on the ground, and we have to have people here that can organize all this work,” Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland told journalists at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

The agreement shows that Russia is serious about the Council of Europe — the only major European-wide organization in which Russia is a significant member — and plays an important role in it, Jagland’s spokesman, Daniel Holtgen, later said by telephone.

During a two-day visit that saw meetings with senior officials, including President Vladimir Putin, and officially ended on Tuesday, Jagland also criticized the so-called “foreign agents” law and called on Russia to respect the right of the LGBT community to hold public demonstrations.

“It goes without saying that authorities have an obligation to protect LGBT people who express their views and demonstrate. This is a fundamental principle in the European Convention on Human Rights,” Jagland said. He urged the State Duma not to pass a bill banning “homosexual propaganda.”

But rather than condemn a controversial July law that forces non-governmental groups that receive foreign funding and engage in vaguely defined “political activities” to register as “foreign agents,” Jagland called on the government not to allow its implementation to harm civil society.

Read more

This is because only 1 percent of verdicts passed in Russia are not guilty, according to official statistics.

Navalny’s conviction could put him in jail for ten years and would cause him to be ineligible to run for office, a recently announced ambition of his.

According to The Moscow Times,

The issue of such a large number of guilty verdicts has not gone unnoticed by the country’s leaders, who seem to be aware that the integrity of Russia’s justice system is one of the main concerns of foreign investors.

During his visit to the 2013 World Economic Forum in Davos, a meeting attended by many politicians and foreign investors, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev addressed the issue of Russia’s high rate of guilty verdicts, calling it an ”issue of political and legal consciousness.”

As one explanation for judges’ frequent guilty rulings, Medevedev said “judges are almost ashamed of not-guilty verdicts, as it calls the work of investigative agencies into question,” Swiss newspaper Neue ZЯrcher Zeitung reported in January.

Cooperation that is too close between law enforcement authorities and courts has been confirmed by observers, with prosecutors and investigators no longer making a secret of it.

At the meeting with judge Yegorova, Sergei Kudneyev, a chief Moscow prosecutor, said prosecutors had started to become more involved in judicial practice, forming “judicial bodies” in courts.

As an example, he cited hearings in the high-profile Bolotnaya case, in which nearly 30 people have been charged with or convicted of participating in riots on Bolotnaya Ploshchad last May at a protest rally on the eve of Putin’s inauguration.

“They are not even prosecutors, but more like court officials, and it’s no secret that when there are vacancies in courts they are filled with prosecutors,” Kudneyev said. “We have a common mentality,” he added.

Anatoly Yakunin, a top Interior Ministry official, said at the same meeting that he aimed to continue cooperation with courts, emulating his predecessor and current Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

“This love will continue. We can’t exist without one another — that is a fact,” he said, adding that law enforcement officials often needed consultations in courts.

The former Interior Ministry official said the Investigative Committee makes frequent phone calls to Moscow courts to ask judges what is missing in a given case to secure a guilty verdict.

Veteran trial lawyer and human rights activist Valery Borshchyov said investigators have a direct influence on courts in Russia. “An investigator is the dominant person in court. The judge accepts the detention measures suggested by investigators; he protects him from the wrong questions and witnesses. The investigator is the main person encroaching on justice [in courts],” he said.

Even former judge Kolokolov acknowledged that the function of courts had become limited to imposing penalties…

But more often, Kolokolov said, there is simply psychological pressure on judges. “Imagine you’re a judge in a district court and you receive a criminal case that says it was investigated personally by Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, and the charges were approved by Prosecutor General Yury Chaika. Is it possible that this paper wouldn’t influence the judge’s decision? It’s purely a psychological influence; no one actually forces a judge to violate the law and pronounce a guilty verdict.”

Read the rest of the article here.

The Moldovan authorities must ensure that yesterday’s historic Pride march in the capital Chisinau is the “first of many” and is followed up by other steps in combating homophobic discrimination, Amnesty International said today.

Around 100 people participated in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) Pride parade, the first such event in Moldova.

The march, which was organized by Gender-Doc Moldova, a national NGO working on LGBTI issues, was stopped early due to threats from counter-demonstrators.

“This is a red-letter day for LGBTI rights in Moldova; now the authorities must publicly support Pride marches and enable this event to be the first of many of its kind,” said Amnesty International’s David Diaz-Jogeix, Deputy Director of Europe and Central Asia Programme.

“The abrupt ending of the march shows more still needs to be done in the fight against discrimination in Moldova. If the LGBTI movement is allowed to blossom, a more tolerant society will follow.”

Sunday’s march passed off peacefully but was curtailed after counter demonstrators found out where the event was being held.

Before the parade, an Orthodox Bishop from the city of Bălţi called on priests, Afghanistan war veterans and Chisinau residents to resist the march.

Around a thousand counter-demonstrators gathered in the city centre on Sunday to protest against the march and the Law on Ensuring Equality – the anti-discrimination legislation that came into effect in January.

Amnesty International has called on the Moldovan authorities to amend the law so that it clamps down on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all areas of life.

Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is explicitly prohibited only in employment, while discrimination on the grounds of gender identity is not explicitly prohibited in the law.

“The authorities must publicly acknowledge the seriousness of discrimination against LGBTI individuals and the need to take concerted action to address it,” said David Diaz-Jogeix.

“That means condemning any homophobic remarks made by politicians or members of the public.”

Organizers had to change the location of the march three days before the event due to the fear of counter-demonstrations. The final route was only agreed on Saturday after police warned of a security risk.

In March last year local councils in Bălţi, the villages of Chetriş and Hiliuţi in Făleşti District and the Anenii Noi District took openly discriminatory measures to forbid any kind of promotion of LGBTI rights. Only one council repealed its decision upon intervention by the Ombudsperson.

On 12 June, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the banning of an LGBTI demonstration in May 2005 in Chisinau had violated the right to freedom of assembly as well as the right not to be discriminated against.