the Most urgent topic today – the pandemic of coronavirus. You had to deal with the issue of supply of masks, and a tolerance at the request of Nuty Federmesser, volunteers in psycho-neurological boarding schools and the transfer of masks and medicines in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. What are the main achievements and shortcomings in the assistance to nationals and protection of their rights in times of a pandemic?
Tatiana Moskalkova: Executing the order of the President, the majority of our employees work on a remote access. Therefore, on 27 March in our apparatus the clock was running “hot line”, which has received about a thousand calls. Initially, people mostly complained about the lack of pharmacies of masks and disinfectants, and hard to test for coronavirus infection and inflated the cost of this service.
In the subsequent treatment is more about the implementation issues of labor rights, payment of additional compensation guarantees, the departure of citizens from abroad, conditions in places of detention, the use of restrictive measures.
Health workers addressed the problem of insecurity of wage increases in the form of surcharges to the salary in connection with participation in the fight against coronavirus. There were questions regarding violations of labour rights, the exit of foreign and Russian citizens from the territory of Russia and many others. (Detail the nature of the appeals can be found on our website).
of Course, in such extreme conditions, we tried as expeditiously as possible to help people who are in difficult life situation. For example, we asked more than 500 employees in the village of Umet in the Zubovo-Polyansky district, Republic of Mordovia, where the employer was forced to write voluntary waiver of a weekend and agree to continue working on the production. I turned to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation M. V. Mishustin and first Deputy General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation A. E. Buksman. As a result, after the Prosecutor’s check, the factory has suspended the work, and the staff is dismissed to go home with pay.
Another example: five thousand shift workers, employees of oil and gas deposits of the Chayanda, which has not gone home, was in unsanitary conditions without protection. I have sent an appeal to the Commissioner for human rights in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which found the situation and appealed to the competent authorities of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). I turned to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation M. V. Mishustin, to Plenipotentiary representative of Russian Federation President in the far Eastern Federal district Yu. p. Trutnev and the Chairman of the Board of PJSC “Gasprom” A. B. Miller. In the end in may began a large-scale export of workers from Chayanda gas field with subsequent placement in Observatory in the Republic of Bashkortostan. All were removed more than 2,400 people.
In the Ministry of internal Affairs, we sent the request to grant foreign nationals the right to apply for extension of stay on the territory of Russia after the lifting of the restrictive measures and to refrain from applying in respect of the specified foreign citizens of measures of state coercion for violations of the regime of stay in Russia.
After contacting the Ombudsman the Ombudsman of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ms. Aliyeva were able to help the citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic to return home through the checkpoint Yarag-Kazmalyar.
Your bio and personality combine polar opposite experience. You and the lawyer, the doctor, and philosopher, and legislator. But the man from the sphere of the interior Ministry in the rank of major-General of militia, however, specializes in this pardon, and now does for the protection of the rights and freedoms of the individual. Not “breaks” if you such different experiences in the biography?
Tatiana Moskalkova: on the Contrary, the experience that I received at different stages of his life, can not be called “Arctic” or “opposite”. Each complements the previous one and, as I now realize, prepared me for the work on protection of the rights and freedoms of man, which I’m doing now.
My research work was devoted to the protection of human rights in the criminal process. Practical lawmaking in the interior Ministry and the state Duma has allowed to participate in the development of new standards, providing increased human rights safeguards, but not only in criminal proceedings but also in other spheres of activity. The work in the Department for clemency helped to touch and to feel as if the fate of people caught in prison.
Ph. D. thesis I worked on it for seven years and defended in 1988 was devoted to the theme “Respect the honor and dignity of the individual as a principle of Soviet criminal process.” Doctoral, completed nearly ten years later, was dedicated to the moral foundations of the criminal process.
the interior Ministry, I was one of the developers of the laws “On state protection of victims, witnesses and other participants in criminal proceedings”, the last of the Criminal procedure code of the Russian Federation and, in particular, its sections devoted to the principles of this law, and the rehabilitation of the innocent victims of the investigative or judicial error. I tried to contribute, even a small contribution to the development of scientific and practical school-based my teachers-humanists.
So let hope for the understanding of my life’s journey as a process aftercoherent accumulation of experience in providing professional assistance to a person. It seems to me that something was able to achieve, although, of course, would be greater.
what brought you long work of the pardon Commission at the Presidium of the RSFSR? What stories are remembered?
Tatiana Moskalkova: I dealt with pardons almost 10 years, from 1974 to 1984. Taught this work? First and foremost, I was able to see life “from the inside”. Feel and sure that the age-old folk wisdom “from Sumy and from prison do not promise” in the modern world is constantly updated with new cases of fatal circumstances, judicial error, human weakness, which can suddenly break destiny, to destroy all that for years, even decades, built brick by brick, going on tropinochka. And realized that there is a “law of justice”: for causing harm to another person or community of people necessarily comes requital.
In those years, the work was built on a strict discipline, deep respect for public service, respect for its traditions and forms, on the categorical prohibition to say anything about the convicts, who applied to the Department on clemency petitions for exemption or reduction of sentences. All employees, from secretaries to Department managers, even family members were encouraged not to talk about the content of your work, not to create even the slightest of the prerequisites of corruption. Any contact with the relatives of prisoners or even some third parties who petition for clemency was seen as an attempt to bribe and entailed strict liability.
much attention was paid to clothes, ethical behavior at work and outside of it. For example, women were not allowed to wear pants, men can go without ties, in his personal life is supposed to be modesty. It referred strongly just even garden houses, which were built over the set sizes by only 20 cm, were subject to demolition. Such were the times…
If you talk about the stories connected with pardon, then, perhaps, such stories are not quite correct. Many of those people are still alive, and not even an indirect hint to resurrect a past that they tried to forget.
However, one thing I can tell you. A petition for pardon addressed the girl-the invalid of the first group, kolyasochnika that the conviction worked on the farm, caring for horses. One of her favorite horses were to be slaughtered at old age. Pity the girl the night I took her home and hid. According to the law – stole state property. Of course, the loss was immediately discovered and returned colhRAM, and the girl is sentenced to three years imprisonment. It is easy to guess that to serve his sentence in the colony she was unbearably hard: disabled, stayed at home a sick mother and two teenage brothers. Undoubtedly, the sentence was too harsh, although technically consistent with the letter of the law. Given her disability, and family status were able to obtain her pardon.
you Have a good image story. Even from the “informal part” of the political spectrum and the opposition-minded citizens, initially not taking you now often say, “Moskalkova able to listen and hear”. Have you thought about your social and political way (in my opinion, one of the most successful women-politicians)?
Tatiana Moskalkova: Today, just a day of compliments… well… answer: I think it is the result of education. My wise mother taught: “we Need to be rather than to seem”. It was the first lesson. Because people feel any unnaturalness and stop believing you. Another thing that you need to work on themselves, improving their own, so to speak, the form and the content.
Lesson two: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is one of the oldest moral rules, and it should apply to all their actions. It is very difficult, but this should strive for. Of course, this also applies to the ability to listen to others, because everyone wants to be heard. And, in my opinion, there is no reason to doubt the statement of Dale Carnegie that is a powerful lever of influence on people is the ability to listen, not the ability to speak.
However, for “profession,” the Ombudsman matter still more: in order to help the person, you need to carefully listen to his story, his claims to the actions or decisions of authorities and officials to understand who and what he believes is guilty. Only then will you be able to determine what needs to be done to help him, or suggest the right way to defend their interests.
of Course, these lessons were given to me by my teachers, elder brother, friends, daughter, and now grandchildren.
If to speak about the way he has developed from what was laid down by my parents, from communicating with friends and colleagues from the reading and thoughtful… In General – of everything. Sure: it is impossible to help people “serving room” – without the desire to do so, without empathy. Such assistance will not be effective: only passing through someone else’s pain, you can understand how and what you need to help someone who came to you as a last hope for justice and mercy. It is very hard: over time, there is a risk of professional burnout, and then help only faith in his work and love for people.
Hard to be a woman politician? What are you home?
Tatiana Moskalkova: it is Difficult to be just a woman. You need to learn how to combine incongruous.
And at home, I’m home, in sweats and a t-shirt. I like reading, especially anything historical. I love to cook – recently mastered a new recipe of cooking meat. Love to take care of flowers. Listen to the music. To communicate with family and friends, talk to them “for life”, to play Billiards. By the way, self-isolation, for the first time in many years – gave me the opportunity to enjoy all of this more than ever.
As an active participant in the protection of human rights in the international arena, tell me what brings success in international work? And how, for example, to combine the toughness to protect the interests of Russia and its citizens, the courage of the necessary positions with the ability to engage in dialogue? What “winning” thing you’re most proud of – Butynol, Wyszynski?
Tatiana Moskalkova: a Very complimentary question… the fact that assistance to our compatriots caught in the millstone of judicial inquiry machine abroad due to provocations and political insinuations, the result of the negotiations the President of Russia Vladimir Putin with the heads of other States; management and staff of the foreign Ministry, intelligence services, civil society representatives, your colleagues – journalists… And many people, whose assistance was invaluable. I’m incredibly happy that I contributed to their release. Thanks to the Russian-Ukrainian exchange of prisoners on 7 September last year, 35 of our citizens returned home. Among them, and Kirill Vyshinsky. Although the criminal proceedings against him, like many others, returned for the exchange of citizens, not discontinued. Hassle continues.
Interaction with the Commissioner for human rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Vice-President of the European Institute of ombudsmen Nina Karpachova has allowed him to build “a humanitarian corridor”, which in the absence of diplomatic relations has played a crucial role in providing assistance to Russian citizens in Ukrainian prisons. This allowed me to visit the detention center contained in Nikolaevsk Alexander Baranov Maxim Odintsov and together with the head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksenov to return home of the Russian sailors from the fishing boat “Nord”. More than a thousand calls we are the official representative has sent to each other: on the occasion of medical and legal assistance, improve conditions of detention, restoration of documents, and much more.
the Mandate of the Commissioner for human rights allows me to establish direct contacts with their foreign counterparts, which gives the possibility of using the mechanisms of public advocacy to provide jointly with the Russian foreign Ministry, effective help��s people. In cooperation with the human rights defender in Armenia Arman Tatiana and thanks to his decisive action was released from custody a Russian citizen Vladimir Sachkov. The existence of a Memorandum of cooperation with the Ombudsman of Greece Andreas Pottakis allowed to visit detained our compatriot Alexander winnick. All in all, we have agreements with 22 ombudsmen of foreign countries.
Managed to expand the cooperation with international bodies and human rights institutions. In particular, with the UN high Commissioner for human rights, Commissioner for human rights of the Council of Europe, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, fellow members of the Global Alliance of national institutions for the protection of human rights and many others. These actions largely contributed to the liberation of Mary Butynol, given the opportunity to meet with the family of Konstantin Yaroshenko and helped many others of our compatriots who are in a critical situation abroad.
the Confidence that we are doing the right thing, and the love of the people, the support of colleagues from other state bodies gives me the strength to overcome what seems insurmountable. As it is written in the gospel: “…ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
“RG” thanks for the assistance in arranging interviews Alexei Sovetova and Kristina Simonyan
