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Russia should create sanctions mechanism in case of human rights violation – lawmaker

Photo: RIA
Head of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Alexei Pushkov believes that Russia should consider creating a sanctions mechanism which could be implemented in case of human rights violations abroad, Russian citizens and journalists’ rights in particular. Mr. Pushkov told RIA Novosti about it on Monday.

Zvezda (Star) channel journalists disappeared after being detained and frisked by members of Ukrainian National Guard near Slavyansk. Cameraman Andrei Sushenkov and sound engineer Anton Malyshev, who were travelling to cover the inauguration of Petr Poroshenko, were last heard from on Friday afternoon. They were charged with spying after the National Guard checkpoint, and were later handed over to the Ukraine security service operatives.
“We should stop making angry statements and appealing to the OSCE and start acting. Seeing how many countries recently began actively using sanctions as a foreign policy tool, Russia should consider this option too. For example, we could create a sanctions mechanism which could be implemented in case of human rights violations abroad, especially if the ones being threatened are Russian citizens and journalists,” said Pushkov.
He also noted that the international human rights advocacy groups could no longer be counted upon. “As we can see, the international human rights groups sponsored by the West, even those especially dedicated to protect the rights of journalists, remain silent. Which, I believe, is quite typical. The international human rights groups ignored the massacre in Odessa, the shootings in Mariupol, and now they continue to ignore the use of military forces by Kiev against its own people, which is considered a crime by all international standards,” he said.
According to Pushkov, these groups “cater to the interests of their own home countries, especially the US.” “I believe it is pointless to appeal to them, as these groups obviously support Kiev, which could get away with practically anything now,” said Pushkov. He pointed out that “the sanctions mechanism would help Kiev regime understand exactly what kind of price it would have to pay for infringing the rights of Russian journalists.”
“Words alone won’t help us put an end to this practice,” Pushkov added.
This is not the first incident involving the detention of Russian journalists in Ukraine. In May two LifeNews channel journalists, Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saychenko, were arrested by the Ukrainian National Guard in Donetsk region, the site of heavy fighting between Kiev regime forces and local militia, and accused them of aiding “the terrorists”. Late May the journalists were released.
Russian Embassy requests Kiev to explain journalists’ detention
The Russian Embassy in Ukraine has demanded that the Ukrainian authorities state the reasons for the detention of two Russian Zvezda TV channel employees and to set them free as soon as possible. “The General Consulate of Russia in Kharkov was instructed to keep the issue under constant operational control,” press secretary of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine Oleg Grishin told the Zvezda TV channel.
“We have sent inquiries to the Ukrainian authorities with a request for the release the Russian citizens as soon as possible and to name the reasons for their detention,” the representative of the Consulate said.
Russian TV Reps urge foreign colleagues to help release reporters
Representatives of Russia’s Zvezda television channel have urged their foreign colleagues to help seek the release of reporters Andrei Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev and not to allow people with weapons to dictate what journalists may, and may not, write and say. Ukraine’s National Guard detained Zvezda’s cameraman Andrei Sushenkov and sound engineer Anton Malyshev near Slavyansk on June 6.
The reporters officially entered Ukraine for the purpose of covering the inauguration of Ukraine’s newly-elected President, Pyotr Poroshenko, the Zvezda television channel says in its appeal.
“At 05:30 pm Moscow time (01:30 pm GMT), cameraman Andrei Sushenkov told his producer in Moscow by telephone that they were being checked at a National Guard checkpoint near Bylbvasovka and that their documents had been taken away. After that, all communication with the journalists went dead,” the Zvezda channel said in its appeal.
“Help us save our guys! The Ukrainian troops have abducted our colleagues Andrei Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev. Together, we can return them home,” the appeal published in English and Russia says.
“Since Russian television channels, including Zvezda, are banned in Ukraine, we are asking journalists around the globe and the world community to respond to our request to release our colleagues,” the staff of the Zvesda TV channel went on to say.
“Do not stay aside! Do not let people armed with weapons decide what we can write and say. Save our guys!” the Russian TV channel’s representatives stressed.
Meanwhile, Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry Ombudsman for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law, said on Saturday that the capture of two Russian Zvezda television channel journalists in Ukraine was a gross violation of freedom of speech and media.
“The Kiev authorities should immediately release the Zvezda television channel journalists. It is necessary to stop the unlawful seizures of Russian journalists,” Dolgov tweeted in his blog.
He called for introducing personal responsibility for journalists’ seizures and solidarity in exerting international pressure on the authorities in Kiev.
“We will continue using all diplomatic channels, such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to ensure that our journalists returned home safe and sound,” Dolgov went on to say.
Ukraine’s National Guard detained Zvezda’s cameraman Andrei Sushenkov and sound engineer Anton Malyshev near the Bylbasovka populated locality near Slavyansk on June 6.
The Ukrainian authorities have not yet given any explanations why the journalists were detained.
“An end to the punitive operation in the southeast of Ukraine and the release of Russian journalists will be the first tests for (Ukrainian President) Pyotr Poroshenko’s commitment to democracy,” Dolgov wrote.
Earlier on Saturday, he confirmed that the Russian embassy in Kiev had joined efforts to release the journalists and had sent an appropriate letter and inquiry to the OSCE.
The Zvezda television channel has also sent an inquiry to Ukraine’s Security Service seeking clarification of the reason for the reporters’ detention.
The Russian authorities, the European Commission, the journalistic community and human rights activists have demanded the immediate release of Andrei Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev.