P 051546Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2642
INFO AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG PRIORITY

UNCLAS ST PETERSBURG 000189 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: RS PGOV PHUM
SUBJECT: MEMORIAL ST. PETERSBURG RAIDED 
 
SENSITIVE - Not for internet or other dissemination outside the 
USG. 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  In a December 4 raid on the headquarters of 
Memorial, an organization dedicated to the documenting and 
exposing of communist-era human rights violations, the local St. 
Petersburg prosecutor's office confiscated documents and 
computer drives while providing thin justification for its 
actions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Armed and masked "investigators" arrived at Memorial's 
St. Petersburg research center at midday Thursday.  They sealed 
the office and disconnected the phone lines, though employees 
present at the time were able to use their cell phones to 
contact others before their phones were confiscated.  At 3:30, a 
local television crew arrived at the scene, but was forcefully 
ejected from the building.  Consulate staffers at the site at 
4:00 noted a small group of press and supporters.  The 
investigators remained in the office until 6:00 p.m., when they 
departed through the rear entrance in an apparent effort to 
avoid the press.  The investigators took with them eleven of 
thirteen Memorial computer hard drives, which contained the 
group's 20 years' worth of archival records of communist human 
rights violations as well as financial records.  There are no 
off-site backup copies of these files. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  The raid was ostensibly conducted as an investigation 
into a potential violation of hate-crime laws.  In June, 2007, 
local newspaper Novy Peterburg printed an article, "Here Comes 
the Real Candidate," written by Konstantin Chernyayev, which the 
prosecutor's office claims incited social and ethnic hatred. 
Novy Peterburg is strongly nationalistic, regularly publishing 
anti-government articles, but is not considered to be amongst 
the newspapers which are generally supportive of human rights 
organizations.  Both Memorial and Novy Peterburg deny any ties 
with each other.  With the cited article being unavailable, post 
is unable to independently confirm or deny what connection, if 
any, Memorial had with the offending article. 
 
¶4. (U)  Memorial St. Petersburg is among the most respected 
human rights organizations in the city, amongst both Russians 
and the international community, and has always been extremely 
scrupulous in avoiding illegal activity of any kind.  Its 
historical documents and the information in its archives are 
invaluable sources for historians and social scientists 
worldwide.  The St. Petersburg branch is not involved in the 
national Memorial initiatives related to Chechnya and the North 
Caucasus which have drawn official ire in other parts of Russia. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  There have been various speculative reasons mentioned 
by the press and human rights groups members with respect to the 
real reason behind the raid.  First, and most generically, the 
raid could be an attempt to generally intimidate the human 
rights and political opposition groups as they prepare for the 
upcoming Solidarnost meeting (December 6), Human Rights 
Conference (December 10), and Dissenters March (December 14) - 
all events which will challenge authorities.  Secondly, the raid 
could have been targeted specifically at Memorial member 
Aleksander Margolis.  Margolis, whose working office is located 
at the same Memorial premises, is a well-known and vocal critic 
of the local government's construction policies, which often 
involve the demolition of historical buildings.  Thirdly, the 
raid could have been conducted in retaliation for Memorial 
having recently hosted a viewing of the movie "Rebellion. 
Litvinenko's Case" - a movie which, to put it mildly, depicts 
Russian governmental authorities in an unfavorable light. 
Finally, without its financial records, Memorial will have great 
difficulty submitting its annual reports as required by the 
Russian authorities.  This will hinder Memorial's effectiveness, 
as the group will be forced to tie up a good amount of its 
resources re-creating those records to meet government 
requirements rather than continuing onwards with its researches. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Post has sent a letter to the St. Petersburg Human 
Rights Ombudsman, copying the local branch of the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and the City Committee for External Affairs, 
expressing our concern over the incident, questioning the 
rationale given for it, and looking for assurances that 
Memorial's confiscated property will be returned promptly and in 
good order. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT.  The prosecutor's office's citation of the 
hate-crime laws and the connection to an 18-month old article as 
justification for the raid is transparently disingenuous.  The 
most likely explanation behind the raid is a combination of some 
or all the reasons cited above.  Memorial presented a 
target-rich environment, which enabled authorities to accomplish 
many goals with just a single raid: intimidation of opposition 
groups, hindrance of independent human rights organizations' 
operations, and retaliation for presumed anti-government 
activities.  END COMMENT. 
 
Gwaltney