"Human Rights in Russia" report was prepared by the President's Human Rights Commission under the chairmanship of Sergei Kovalev.

The Report was translated by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick for the Human Rights Project Group.

Introduction

This Report on the Observance of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in the Russian Federation for 1994-1995 was prepared in compliance with the Russian Federation President's Resolution on the Commission for Human Rights, confirmed by a Decree of the President dated November 8, 1993. It continues the tradition established by the 1993 Report.

This Report takes into account analyses, proposals and obligations contained in the Russian President's addresses to the Federal Assembly for 1994 and 1995, in the Agreement on Civic Accord, and in the Report on the Observance of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in the Russian Federation for 1993.

The Commission notes with regret that the findings and proposals made in the 1993 Report have not elicited official reaction and have been virtually disregarded, even though the text of the Report was officially sent to the government offices competent to resolve the matters raised in the Report.

Some sections of this report are relatively brief and contain references to the 1993 Report either because the state of affairs with respect to a given subject did not change significantly, or because it got worse, and the compilers of the Report would have been forced to repeat themselves.

As in 1993, this Report in no way claims to be a complete and exhaustive description of the human rights situation in the Russian Federation. It is fragmentary primarily because of the Commission's limited possibilities as noted, which have been even further reduced in comparison with 1993.

Moreover, many important human rights problems in the Russian Federation are not reflected in the Report (or only minimally covered) because necessary information was lacking or was not made available. These include such current problems as unlawful invasion of citizens' privacy and violation of secrecy of the mails and other means of communications by state agencies and security services; ethnic and racial discrimination and discrimination against women; harassment and abuse of citizens by policemen and Interior Ministry troops; and violation of the rights of the most vulnerable members of society -- orphans, the mentally ill, the elderly, the institutionalized, and the disabled.

A relatively small place in the Report is devoted to an extremely important problem: the violation of citizens' social rights, although clearly, this is the area that gives rise to the most social tension and these violations affect the absolute majority of the population of the Russian Federation. The Commission's position in this regard is explained not by a failure to appreciate the significance of this area but by the fact that social problems are studied and analyzed by a whole range of other specialized government agencies, including a number of ministries and advisory bodies with incomparably greater resources than the Commission. It is from these agencies that we should expect findings and recommendations that can serve as the basis of government social policy.

The problems to be reviewed in this Report were selected because of their acute nature, because no proper study of the problem has been made by a government institution, or because the Commission disagreed with the government's findings. Thus the Commission recognizes that many of the findings contained in this Report are subjective.

Finally, there is one more difference from the 1993 Report. In the Conclusion of the 1994-1995 Report, the Commission has included several more general findings and observations, not only about the current human rights situation in Russia but also about the trends of the last three years.

During January 1996, a number of Commission members resigned. Nevertheless, the conception, the general approach, the selection of issues and the findings in the Report reflect the common opinion of those persons who were members of the Commission on January 1, 1996. In the opinion of the Commission, study of the situation over the last three years allows some generalizations to be made.

The 1994-1995 Report on the Observance of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in the Russian Federation issued by the Commission for Human Rights, which also covers the activity of the Commission, was compiled on the basis of an analysis of complaints and appeals filed by citizens and organizations as well as special investigations conducted by the Commission, press reports, and responses by government organizations to the Commission's queries.

The Commission would like to thank a number of Russian NGOs, including in particular the Human Rights Center of the Memorial Society, the Commission for Access to Information founded by the Glasnost Foundation and the Russian section of the Human Rights Project Group. Without their generous help in gathering and verifying information, including in conflict zones, some sections of this report could not have been prepared because of the Commission's severely limited capabilities and its small staff.

Materials issued by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch/Helsinki and similar international organizations also were used in compilation of this report.

Finally, the Commission thanks its professional staff, including those persons who are no longer formally connected to the Commission, but who have continued their work on a pro bono basis. Without their help, this Report could not have been published.