Natalia Zvyagina

Russia, CAHR, Autumn 2015

I'm Natalia Zvyagina, from the Russian Federation, and I am 34 years old.

We are fortunate to live in a very difficult time. After the bloody world wars society became aware of the value of human life. Many useful international mechanisms were established to protect human rights. Global challenges put before mankind new tasks that are harder than earlier: climate change, growing migration flows, new wars, Western decadence etc. Well-educated people are ready to work for peace and human values and they hold back humanity from catastrophe and disaster.

I live in Voronezh. It is a city near the Ukrainian border.

I started my public activities as an environmental activist and a member of the student union. I was studying literature at the time. With each new perused book I felt the request of heroes of world literature to achieve more than just social justice – it was a respect for human dignity. This made a very strong impression on me. I found a way to take action when I met the Voronezh Amnesty International group. So I learned about the concept of human rights, about international experiences. I learned how we can change the world and help people through the power of words: through negotiations, judicial complaints, litigation, storytelling, etc. So I became a lawyer and a human rights activist and human rights defender. I joined the Interregional Human Rights Group and I started to cooperate with other human rights organizations.

Our organization protects fundamental civil and political rights. We work for rights to freedom of assembly and access to information; we promote citizens' and activists' participation in decision-making processes through negotiations, petitions, advocacy campaigns, public monitoring of state institutions and bodies, etc. The Interregional Human Rights Group is part of the Voronezh Human Rights House.

I am an expert on the right to freedom of assembly. I defend activists in the courts. I organize trainings, seminars and workshops on the legal organization of peaceful actions within the law and on legal safety for activists. I have prepared and released several books on the practice of the organization of peaceful mass actions and on the methods of protection activists in the courts, as well as a large collection and compilation of translations of the European Court of Human Rights decisions on Art. 11 of the ECHR.

Ongoing negotiations with the regional authorities have allowed for the creation of a permanent platform for public expression in my region.

I helped more than 100 activists (political and LGBTQ activists, representatives of grass roots initiatives from different regions) to win in the courts and to avoid fines and imprisonment because of having decided to talk about their problems on the streets. Permanent judicial work has changed the police practice on rallies and demonstrations in my region. It's smarter and more humane than in other Russian regions. Activists have a possibility to do without arrests even for action on sensitive questions such as the conflict with Ukraine; anti-war; and a protest against nickel mining in the region due to its dangers for the environment and agriculture.

Ongoing negotiations with the regional authorities have also allowed for the creation of a comfortable, permanent platform for public expression in my region by organizing demonstrations. The federal amendment to the law on public rallies in the Hyde Parks of Russia has driven activists into manless corners. Peaceful public rallies usually pass far from the line of sight of the authorities' buildings and take place in awkward places throughout the country. For example, in Moscow, Hyde Park is defined near Gorky Park – it is a small area surrounded by walls and under a bridge. The situation in Voronezh is different. We agreed with the regional authorities a list of places for public demonstrations in comfortable and traditional spaces for public demonstrations in our city. It was an important victory.

My organization practices public control in its work, for example, observation of police activity during demonstrations. I have taken part in election observation at a national level and as an international observer (in Ukraine and in Moldova). I also participated in the public discussion about the law project on public control in the early 2000s. After this law was passed the Parliament's hearings in 2008, I became a member of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) to execute and to improve the practical usage of this law. Members of this institute receive legal access to controlled conditions in closed institutions: prisons, pre-trial detention, police stations, and centres for migrants. For the years of our work, I noticed conditions in many prisons in my region have improved. Members of the PMC helped many concrete prisoners. This volunteer work has demonstrated its effectiveness.

My research work at CAHR is studying the practices of the UN national preventive mechanism in different countries. The Russian Federation has not yet signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture. But all the national conditions are created for this transformation. I am confident that a necessary institution will be established. We need political will and only one small step. I hope my research will help my country to take it.