COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONSIDERS REPORT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has considered the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation on that country’s implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Introducing the report of the Russian Federation, Yury Voronin, Deputy Minister-State Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, said that systemic work was being done to develop the labour market, reduce unemployment and increase wages. As a result the unemployment rate was insignificant. Special measures were taken in 2009 and 2010 with significant resources allocated to people and companies that had been affected by the economic downturn. There were training programmes for people who had lost their jobs, paid community service jobs provided by the State, and temporary jobs for adolescents aged 14 to 18 which employed 1 million teens. The situation had improved significantly with unemployment now back at pre-crisis levels.

Mr. Voronin said the level of poverty had decreased in recent years from over 22 million people to 18.5 million people in 2010 and extreme poverty had been virtually eliminated. The State had also allocated significant resources to address cardiovascular and oncologic diseases and there had been modernization of medical equipment and facilities. The rate of infant mortality had dropped by 20 per cent while maternal mortality had decreased by 13 per cent.

Among the questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were the rights of indigenous peoples and the access they had to traditional lands as well as monetary compensation for the extraction of resources from these lands by mining concerns. Committee members also asked numerous questions about the poverty level in the country and how issues surrounding extreme poverty were being handled by the State party. Discrimination against ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups was also an issue that was raised under several articles of the Convention. The right to work, the right of free association and the right to strike were also areas touched on by Committee members in their questions. The status of women, the gender pay gap, and lack of sexual harassment laws were also issues the delegation was asked about. Human trafficking was another area of concern for Committee members as well as corruption and the application of the Covenant in the country through court cases and legislation.

In concluding remarks, Mr. Voronin thanked the Committee members for their questions and comments which had been very valuable. They were open minded and willing to continue the dialogue to come up with solutions related to the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Russian delegation was composed of representatives from various government agencies including the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Ministry of Culture, the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Principle Directorate of the Procedural Control of the Investigation Committee, the Federal Migration Service, the Administration of the President, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The next public meeting of the Committee will be in the afternoon on Friday, 20 May, when it will adopt its concluding observations and recommendations on the country reports which it has considered this session. The Committee will then close its forty-sixth session.

Report of the Russian Federation

The fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation (E/C.12/RUS/5) says that the Russian Federation is one of the world’s most multi-ethnic countries. According to the national census conducted in 2002, there are 145,166,000 inhabitants and 160 peoples in the Russian Federation, professing Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other religions and beliefs. In order to ensure the meaningful ethnocultural development of the peoples of the Russian Federation and resolve issues relating to inter-ethnic cooperation and partnership with religious organizations, the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation was established in September 2004 and given responsibility for policy on ethnic issues. The Ministry is empowered to devise national policy and to draft laws and regulations relating to the socio-economic development of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, federal-ethnic relations and protection of the rights of ethnic minorities and the native habitats and traditional lifestyles of small indigenous minorities and ethnic communities.

The Russian Federation has adopted numerous laws and regulations in the area of inter-ethnic relations. The basic document in this regard is the Strategic Plan on State Nationalities Policy. The Federal Act on autonomous ethnic cultural organizations and the Federal Act on voluntary associations provide for the protection of the culture of national minorities, the adoption of a set of measures on social policy and the safeguarding of the languages and the press of the various nationalities. In recent years, the Russian Federation has made considerable progress towards resolving the problem of the interaction of State bodies and institutions of civil society working to defend the interests and rights of national minorities. A network of institutions of civil society has been set up which includes 18 autonomous cultural organizations at federal level, more than 175 religious organizations, 371 autonomous cultural organizations at regional level and 367 voluntary associations at national level (associations, ethnic cultural centres, communities). In all, more than 147,000 different civil associations, including religious organizations, are registered in the Russian Federation.

In 2002, a new Labour Code was adopted which is designed to achieve a balance between workers’ and employers’ interests, to increase workforce mobility and gradually to squeeze out “informal” working practices and replace them with widespread registered employment, thereby bringing greater equilibrium to the labour market and minimizing unemployment.

Bearing in mind the goals set by the President of the Russian Federation in the area of health care and a higher life expectancy, research by scientific and educational institutions has focused on the realization of a priority national health-care project. Special attention in that regard has been given to the development of primary medical care units, first aid, disease prevention, including vaccinations, effective medical examinations and greater access to technology-intensive medical assistance.

Presentation of Report

YURY VORONIN, Deputy Minister-State Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, presenting the fifth periodic report of the Russian Federation, said that since the last presentation of a report seven years ago, substantial changes had taken place in the Russian Federation, despite the profound economic crisis that had affected the world. The State party had met its obligations to its citizens in terms of social assistance, healthcare, education and social security.

The State would not consider increasing the pension age or reducing pensions, and they had taken steps to modernize the health and education systems. Considerable resources had been devoted to the northern Caucuses region to increase employment and improve living conditions of the people there. They had resolved almost all the issues relating to Chechnya, including issues of displacement and reimbursement for people who had been displaced. Also, a new draft law on the territories and nature areas used by indigenous peoples had been developed. Regarding assistance to people with no fixed domicile, in 2010 in 3 regions of the Russian Federation about 300 Roma families received housing from the State. They were also given coupons for free foods, healthcare and placements in shelters if they needed emergency housing. Homeless people were provided with help in getting identity documents, obtaining medical care and finding employment.

Mr. Voronin said that systemic work was being done to develop the labour market, reduce unemployment and increase wages. As a result the unemployment rate was insignificant. Special measures were taken in 2009 and 2010 with significant resources allocated to people and companies that had been affected by the economic downturn. There were training programmes for people who had lost their jobs, paid community service jobs provided by the State, and temporary jobs for adolescents aged 14 to 18 which employed 1 million teens. The situation had improved significantly with unemployment at pre-crisis levels.

The level of poverty had decreased in recent years from over 22 million people to 18.5 million people in 2010 and extreme poverty had been virtually eliminated. The State had also allocated significant resources to address cardiovascular and oncologic diseases and there had been modernization of medical equipment and facilities. The rate of infant mortality had dropped by 20 per cent while maternal mortality had decreased by 13 per cent.

In terms of challenges that remained, Mr. Voronin said that illegal migration and informal employment were still issues in the country, as was gender inequality as there still existed a pay gap between men and women.

Questions by Experts

A Committee member said that there had been reports of exploitation by private industries of the lands traditionally used by indigenous people. Could the delegation shed more light on this situation and the draft law that was under consideration to address the rights of indigenous peoples? Also, why had there not been a normative improvement in the situation of women? Was the State party considering passing laws on equality and non-discrimination that would help this situation? Had the Human Rights Commissioner dealt with any discrimination cases? The delegation was asked to describe the electronic system that could be used for filing complaints or getting social assistance. This system should be used to enhance rights, not curtail them so more details on this system and how it worked would be greatly appreciated.

Another Committee member said the report of the State party had introduced a new system of follow-up that was a very good methodology, but he still would have preferred to have more indicators and disaggregated data to allow for a comparison on how things had changed year by year.

A Committee Expert applauded the Russian Federation’s creation of the Office of the Human Rights Commission and the Social Forum as well as the reduction in poverty. The State also had created a Ministry of Regional Development to aid the economic development in certain regions as well as a strategic plan on State nationalities. Was there a monitoring mechanism to monitor the implementation of the plan, and what obstacles had been encountered in the implementation process?

There was a difference between ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, but did indigenous people enjoy the same rights and protections as ethnic minorities?

What status did the Covenant enjoy in the country? Had there been court cases in which the Covenant had been invoked? What sort of interaction was there between the different entities that made up the Russian Federation and how did this contribute to cooperation between different ethnic groups and help to combat poverty? What was the legal foundation on which the strategic objectives for indigenous people were based? Did the delegation have any examples of a Russian national who had sought legal redress under the Covenant after exhausting all domestic remedies? Was the Human Rights Commissioner fully aware of the Covenant and its General Comments? Turning to corruption, someone asked whether this was a major problem in the country. How was corruption addressed in the State party?

The delegation was asked about its position on the ratification of various optional protocols, International Labour Organization conventions and other international instruments. In terms of foreign policy, international cooperation could be used as a tool to realize economic, social and cultural rights in other countries. To what extent was the Russian Federation’s foreign policy driven by this goal?

Turning to the Human Rights Commission, an Expert pointed out that about half of all admissions received were declared inadmissible because they did not meet the criteria, so there seemed to be two problems: one of publicity because people did not know the criteria, or there was a problem with the criteria themselves. What was being done to raise awareness and to educate people about the criteria for filing complaints and had any thought been given to the complaint process itself? Also, could the delegation provide disaggregated data on petitions divided by gender, disability and region?

The State party’s attempt to preserve State owned property for indigenous peoples and to preserve their way of life was admirable, but what was the long term plan in terms of privatization of this property and the rights of indigenous peoples?

The law that required people to register at a fixed domicile might present an obstacle to obtaining various social services which might lead to the phenomenon of discrimination. In terms of undocumented immigrants, a Committee member said there were reports that they did not have access to economic, social and cultural rights as they were subjected to abuses by employers, they worked long days, they were not always paid the wages they were owed and they were exploited in other ways. What was the State party doing to address this? The Roma also seemed to face discrimination in terms of access to sanitation, education, employment, healthcare and housing. What was being done to combat this discrimination?

Returning to the question of corruption, this question was related to the independence of the judiciary. What was being done to combat problems concerning independence of the judiciary, including prosecution of judges?

Response of Delegation

The delegation began by responding to the questions on the application of the Covenant in the Russian Federation. The delegation cited cases which referred to the Covenant, many provisions of the Covenant which had been absorbed into the constitution and other domestic laws and legislative norms adopted pursuant to that.

With respect to indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, the delegation said that in 2001 a law was adopted on the traditional territories and the traditionally used lands of the indigenous people of the north, found in Siberia and other regions in that area. This law did not work in practice so they had developed a new draft bill that changed some provisions governing land use and land classification for traditional economic activities. The bill also planned to establish a special protection regime for these traditionally used lands. This new regime would be applied in a differentiated way and under this new scheme traditionally used lands would now be open for economic and other types of use by others who were not part of indigenous communities, but that also carried out traditional economic activities on those lands. In the existing law there was no clear description of how these lands could be established so the new bill clarified that the initiative for the creation and designation of traditionally used lands could come from various stakeholders, including the State and indigenous peoples themselves. The bill contained an exhaustive list of the types of activities that could be prohibited or restricted in these areas, including restrictions on industrial activities on these lands.

In terms of differences between ethnic minorities and indigenous people, the Ministry of Regional Development was a federal body responsible for implementation of State policy in these indigenous areas. They held consultations with non-governmental organizations that represented these independent autonomous groups in Russia and formulated policy based on these discussions. There were consultative bodies in almost all areas to deal with interethnic relations and the conduct of ethnic policy. The delegation stressed that in Russian legislation it was more appropriate to talk about “small peoples”, meaning small in numbers. The total indigenous population of the Russian Federation numbered around 50,000 people from 47 communities.

In terms of the ratification of various international treaties and instruments concerning indigenous peoples, the delegation said that at present in the Russian Federation the main document enforced in the area of the exercise of the rights of indigenous people was the 2009 concept paper on sustainable development. After consultations with indigenous groups, the main view that emerged was that the Russian Federation should improve its domestic legislation as much as possible along the lines of the International Labour Organization convention. Their country would be duplicating efforts if they ratified the Convention because these laws already existed in their legislation.

Subsidies had been provided to indigenous peoples since 2009 in the amount of 240 million rubles per year. These subsidies could increase or decrease depending on how effectively the resources had been used in the past year.

Discrimination against any group was prohibited in the State party, but there had been an issue in the past with the Roma community and the removal of settlements. An interdepartmental working group would be looking at the question of adopting a federally targeted programme for the Roma as well as creating a special body to deal with Roma issues.

The issue of gender equality was divided up by sector such as labour rights, civil rights, land rights, family rights, etc. Recommendations were being implemented sector by sector to address issues of gender inequality.

Regarding registration and residency permits, the delegation said that this process was purely declaratory and was not linked to the issuance of any permits by government bodies to live and work in any place. It did not in any way limit citizens’ rights, but rather enhanced their rights because it allowed the State to provide infrastructure such as schools and roads and healthcare facilities. It allowed them to gather statistical data which they could use in the provision of social benefits. The draft bill on compulsory healthcare clearly stipulated that citizens had the right to choose their doctor and hospital of treatment regardless of where they were registered as a permanent or temporary resident; this registration system in no way infringed on residents’ economic, social and cultural rights. The electronic registration was used simply to make the process simpler by allowing people to register online so they did not have to wait in line or go down to some office and wait to see an official. The Russian Federation government was really pushing this idea of e-government or e-administration to maximize citizens’ access to their rights.

On the issue of ratification of the Optional Protocol, the delegation said that the Russian Federation took its international obligations seriously so before they ratified a new instrument they did a great deal of research and debate. In the meantime, citizens had full access to their economic, social and cultural rights via domestic legislation as well as laws of the European Convention of Human Rights and other instruments and treaties. Also, the Covenant had become an inalienable part of Russian law and all of its provisions were implemented and applied a norm of Russian law and citizens saw this as an inalienable part of Russian legislation.

The delegation said that it could present more statistical data informally if the Committee needed this information before the presentation of its next report.

Judges and lawyers took a special course on the Covenant as well as the European Convention on Human Rights, and this was taught in other educational institutions as well, not just legal circles.

The Russian Federation attached great importance to the fight against corruption, not only in terms of punishing the crime, but also in changing attitudes, raising awareness and combating the conditions in which corruption thrived. Judges also had to publish results of complaints for maximum transparency and visibility, while public officials had to declare their income as well as that of their immediate family members. They were also developing declarations of expenditures as well to ensure they were not taking bribes or enriching themselves with government funds. Measures had also been taken to increase the liability for corruption. This was a very serious phenomenon and was related to increasing the income level of civil servants and their social guarantees so there was no temptation on the part of these officials to participate in corruption.

Regarding the use of international cooperation for the realization of human rights progress, the delegation said the State party had made progress in recent years in this area as it had become a robust donor country. Russia had cancelled all the debts of least developed countries and it contributed to many UN and other organizations. Russia was very active in supporting the right to development and the right to education and human rights figured prominently in their bilateral dialogues, such as those with the European Union. The volume of international aid that Russia gave had not decreased, despite the economic downturn of the last decade.

Combating poverty had been one of the most important issues in the country in the last years, according to the delegation. The Russian Federation had made huge strides in this area and the delegation was not sure where the Committee got the information that 30 per cent of people lived below the poverty level. It was true that in 2000 almost 30 per cent of the population, or 42 million people, lived below the poverty level, but that number was now 18 million people or 13 per cent of the total population. Wages were about $40 per day, or 4 times the minimum living requirements. They still had problems with poverty, but they had also made great progress in the fight against poverty.

The Human Rights Ombudsman was not part of the official government bodies so the delegation said it would ask the department for the statistics that had been requested by a Committee member on cases that had been dismissed as inadmissible. The criteria for complaints were described exhaustively in law, but the delegation agreed it needed to make additional efforts to inform citizens of their rights and how to file complaints.

Since 2002 a law regulating the rights of people to reside in the Russian Federation and their right to carry out economic and labour activities was in place. This was to prevent people from being exploited and to protect the rights of all workers. Several measures had been undertaken to ensure the legal use of foreign workers and the hiring of such workers. Employers who illegally hired foreign workers could be fined and in 2009 more than 7,000 employers received such fines and in 2010 the number was 6,800 employers.

There had been a law passed to determine compensation for people who were adversely affected by extraction activities for minerals and gas by mining operations. There had been no studies done on the economic effects of these mining activities, which were usually temporary. There were also places set aside for hunting and fishing which were auctioned off and some of these were also on lands that were traditionally used by indigenous peoples. In order to avoid this in the future, there was a proposed bill that would make changes to the federal law on fishing and it would allow indigenous people to fish free of charge to meet their family needs, but not for entrepreneurial purposes. In accordance with this impending bill, indigenous peoples had been given the right to initiate the establishment of a territory for natural resources use. If there were claims to increase the lands for their use, the State would consider expanding the area of these territories for these communities.

All the norms on gender equality were contained in federal legislation. In no way had they set the objective of delegating these legislative powers to the regional or municipal level. The delegation explained that because of a Russian tradition they gave preference to central federal laws sector by sector, rather than crosscutting federal laws. Perhaps something had been lost in translation when the delegation explained this point earlier.

In additional to the two federal ombudsmen, one for human rights and one for the rights of the child, they were also developing human rights ombudsmen at the regional level and 50 such positions had been created already. These ombudsmen did not come under the federal ombudsman for human rights, but there would be coordination of standards and activities through the sharing of experience and the holding of seminars and roundtables and discussions on best practices.

Questions by Experts

The labour code excluded women from 456 occupations. This was probably done initially to protect women from dangerous and harmful lines of work, but if the work was harmful to women it was probably dangerous for men too. What began as a protective measure had become a barrier to equal participation in the labour market, so were there any plans to get rid of these rules? There was also a wide gender pay gap and no definition or legal provisions of sexual harassment. How were sexual harassment cases dealt with?

In terms of worker rights, there were reports that workers were paid their wages very late and there seemed to be some dispute between employers and trade unions over rest periods and whether workers should get a break during the work week. There were also allegations that there were restrictions on the right to strike and form trade unions as well as meddling in the internal affairs of trade unions. The labour code imposed obligatory arbitration in many cases of labour disputes.

Could the delegation provide details on the informal economy and whether people who worked in the informal economy were covered by social security? Regarding persons with disabilities, quotas usually did not work because there was usually no mechanism to ensure that these measures worked and there were no incentives for employers to meet quotas. So did the State party plan to institute such incentives at the federal level? Had such measures been adopted at the regional level? Did they have statistics for the employment rates of persons with disabilities? How did the minimum subsistence level for a pensioner compare to the minimum subsistence level for a working person? The unemployment benefit had been substantially increased, but how did that compare to the daily subsistence level in the country? Did Russia have any intention of acceding to various International Labour Organization conventions?

There were reports that sexual harassment was not criminalized as an offence in the Russian Federation and whenever people were prosecuted for this crime was always on the basis of some other section of the criminal code. Did the State party not see it as a criminal offence? Even though the wages for public employees had been increased, was it sufficient? Had all the measures that had been envisaged for old age pensions been implemented or were they only in the pipeline?

Response of Delegation

The prohibitions on women in certain industries were to protect the reproductive functions of women and could not in any way be seen as discrimination. Russia did not plan to change these laws. It was true that women earned 35 per cent less than men in some fields, but they were steadily moving toward equality. People on fixed term contracts enjoyed the same rights as people on long term contracts. They were planning to extend the protections of mothers’ rights to all caregivers, including fathers, guardians and all persons with family responsibilities for childcare. It was forbidden to dismiss a woman on maternity leave if she was working under a fixed term contract.

With respect to payment arrears, the outstanding 2.7 billion rubles was due in large part from companies that had gone bankrupt so they would probably never reach zero arrears. The labour code provided for overtime payments and double time if an employee was asked to come in on a day off or work a holiday.

Last year there were nine collective labour disputes that were all resolved without strikes. An employer had to be warned at least 10 days before the declaration of a strike. The possibility of reducing the time period for strike notifications was something the State party was considering. Their current estimates put the number of people in the informal economy at 5 million persons, or 7 per cent of the working age population. With respect to International Labour Organization Convention 132 it was ratified last year and should enter into force this year. Concerning the wages of doctors and teachers, the average monthly wage for doctors was 21,000 rubles per month which was more than the average monthly pay level of other civil servants. In terms of pay levels for teachers, the effort to modernize education had started with this increase in teacher pay. Federal subsidies of 20 billion rubles would be given to the regions to help increase teacher pay levels and moidernize the school system. This amount would increase to 60 billion rubles the following year and 40 billion the year after that and would be used for the acquisition of equipment, transport for students, books and supplies, the development of school infrastructure, internet connections and other items. These measures would help to standardize education across the different regions.

There was a tradition that existed from the Soviet Union and continued today that the reproductive functions of women needed to be given special protection and this was why they were excluded from certain jobs. This was more of a theoretical prohibition and the Government was open to discussing it with civil society groups and making changes to the labour code. The wage gap was narrowing and the difference was not a legal one, but a purely economic one as there was a ban against establishing different wages for the same job. It was also the structure of employment in the sense that women were employed in areas in which wage levels were lower. Concerning the very serious issue of sexual harassment, in the Russian Federation in daily practice and in courts they did not use that term. This did not mean they did not criminalize it, they just used different terminology. Coerced sexual relations were a crime and this applied wherever such coercion occurred, either in the labour sphere or other areas.

The problem in the Russian Federation was not fixed term contracts, but rather that there were no contracts and no labour guarantees for people in the informal sector. In particular industries, strikes were restricted such as medical industries or other sectors where lives could be endangered. Labour arbitration as a pre-judicial way of solving labour disputes was used, but it was not mandatory.

People in the informal sector were not covered by the social security regime, but the law of 2002 made it possible for people to voluntarily sign up to make contributions to the social security system without having to detail the nature of their work so that way they could participate in the scheme.

Above and beyond the establishment of quotas, employers could also reserve posts for people with disabilities. Every constituent entity of the Russian Federation established a ceiling for the hiring of persons with disabilities and this was from 2 to 4 per cent. The employment agency saw approximately 300,000 persons with disabilities each year that came in looking for work. In 2010 there were 268,000 people and the employment agency found work for 87,000 of them. The employment agency offered other services as well such as job training and counselling and other types of social support. The delegation did not have specialized statistics on persons with disabilities working in various sectors, but they would think about organizing a special study in this area. The State was also working to create barrier free environments for persons with disabilities.

It was important to emphasize that the minimum pension level would be adjusted through an annual indexation and as subsistence levels rose so would the pension. There were 40 million pensioners, with 32 million of them being old age pensioners who received 8,500 rubles per month, which was quite high compared to wages.

Questions by Experts

In another round of questions and comments, an Expert said that the International Labour Organization had not agreed with the idea of prohibiting women from working in certain industries. To make distinctions between men and women based on their reproductive functions was against the Convention on its face. Women could choose for themselves which jobs to pursue and it should be left to women to make that choice. If the work was that hazardous, perhaps both men and women should be deprived of the right to do it. The Russian Federation should work on making workplaces safe for both men and women.

In terms of sexual harassment in the workplace, this needed a separate law because when someone was harassed by the person responsible for paying them and who could retaliate against them this should carry added weight. Also, sexual harassment was not equivalent to coerced sexual relations. Sexual harassment could happen to men as well as women and could include verbal and psychological as well as physical harassment.

Turning to indigenous peoples, an Expert asked whether they received proper compensation from these companies and the State who went in and extracted all the minerals from a place and destroyed the environment and then left. Also, what consultations were carried out with these communities? Could foreign workers get job permits for longer periods of time so they could get social benefits more easily? What benefits did asylum seekers have access to?

Response of Delegation

Concerning access of women to harmful and dangerous jobs, the delegation said that the labour code was not a document set in stone and it was constantly evolving and being developed. The Committee members were absolutely right in saying that working conditions should be included in all workplaces and indeed in recent years they had made enormous efforts to improve conditions in various companies. The nature of work was changing constantly and therefore so was the list of jobs.

On the issue of sexual harassment, the delegation said that the key thing was coercion, compelling someone to enter into sexual relationships. This was an analogy to sexual harassment and this fully covered the circumstances the Committee members had described.

The delegation did not know of any other country that had taken such large scale measures to increase the level of pensions during the economic downturn. They had tripled their expenditures. There was no country in the world where it was possible to provide social security coverage for people in the informal sector unless they signed up for a voluntary contribution scheme like the one they had described before. Undocumented persons had the same rights to urgent medical care that all other citizens of the Russian Federation enjoyed. They had never heard of anyone being refused medical care.

The delegation said that the Committee had to understand that representatives from indigenous groups had the right to discuss industrial projects being carried out on their land and they were involved in discussing these industrial development projects. The State had a methodology for determining compensation for damage caused by industrial activities and also for the rehabilitation of the environment.

Questions by Experts

The report of the State party said that abject poverty was only observed among groups that practiced a socially unacceptable style of life. What was meant by this? Did it mean nomadic lifestyles or traditional lifestyles? What was the poverty rate among indigenous peoples?

The life expectancy for men in rural areas was very low at 60 years of age, while that for rural women was 73 years. Why was life expectancy so low and why was there such a gender gap? Did it have to do with lifestyle issues such as alcohol and drug abuse?

How many homeless people were there in the country? What measures had been taken to address the issue and what further measures were envisaged? In terms of human trafficking, a draft bill to combat trafficking in human beings had been introduced, but little progress had been made in the adoption of this law. Why was this and what could be done to speed up the process? What steps had been taken to combat the worst forms of child labour and to address the trafficking in children? How serious was this problem and what measures had been taken for the rehabilitation and social re-integration of children who were victims of the worst forms of child labour?

Plans were all well and good, but the impact of those plans was what was important so did the delegation have any information on what had been the results of the healthcare reforms that had been undertaken. Could more information be provided on such things as the downward trend in tuberculosis, conditions in detention centres and prisons, and how drug and alcohol abuse were treated? Where did the State stand on the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and treatment of effected people? What campaigns had been introduced to combat smoking and tobacco usage?

Could the delegation provide more information on domestic violence and family violence and what was being done to combat this? What happened to the 2007 draft law on the guardianship of children? There were also high levels of suicides, early marriages and street children. Did the delegation have updated statistics on maternal and child mortality? Had there been a decline in health expenditures in the last five years as some reports alleged?

How was the right to food guaranteed given the rising costs of foodstuffs? What was being done to address the widening gap between rich and poor? Did they envision a redistribution of wealth via taxation?

There were many covert forms of human trafficking including employment and marriage agencies that were actually human trafficking rings. What measures were being taken to combat this?

Response of Delegation

The delegation provided additional written information on legislative and other measures adopted in pursuance of recommendations and comments made by the Committee after previous presentations of reports.

Regarding living standards and combating poverty, the delegation said that according to UNDP extreme poverty was not a widespread problem in the Russian Federation. Extreme poverty was defined as earning lower than $2 per day. According to the United Nations Development Programme, extreme poverty in the Russian Federation had been cut ten fold and now this represented less than 1 per cent of the population. The geographical and climatic conditions were very different across the country so you did see income differences across regions, but regional corrective factors were added to people’s wages and social benefits to help make up for these income differences and equalize living standards across the country. Discrepancies in income were of great concern to the Russian Government and it was making maximum efforts to narrow these gaps among regions. Pensioners had been lifted out of poverty and there were almost no poor pensioners. Large families, those with 3 or more children, made up the biggest population living in poverty so the State was raising the level of family allowances, offering free meals at school and other aid to help these less well off families. There was also a system of social contracts in which social welfare bodies signed agreements with families in which the families agreed to find work and not lead an asocial lifestyle with substance abuse and family violence.

In terms of the gap in life expectancy between men and women and rural and urban areas, the delegation said that a healthy lifestyle had not yet become the norm for male members of society so cardiovascular disease brought on by alcohol and tobacco abuse was widespread. The difference in life expectancy between rural and urban areas was actually not that great. The State had developed three concept papers on combating alcohol abuse, combating tobacco abuse and a plan of action for healthy nutrition. Medical facilities had been established where anyone could go to check their overall health and have an individual programme for overcoming harmful habits prepared for them. They would not curb government spending on healthcare.

Concerning the homeless, of which there were about 400,000 in the country, the State party had taken maximum measures to promote their adaptation with shelters, meals and job placements being provided.

On ensuring the right to health, the delegation said that the Government would be opening 50 medical centres between now and 2013 to enhance access to ambulatory care for indigenous people of the north. They would also increase the number of hospitals in these areas to provide better access to specialized medical care to people in the far north. Mortality rates for this group were dropping from year to year by 2.83 per cent on average each year while the birth rate was increasing 1 per cent per year on average. The comprehensive programme to combat tuberculosis had adopted measures including additional budget allocations of 9 billion rubles to provide better care for people with tuberculosis. Testing for tuberculosis was increasing and mortality from the disease was dropping from 22.6 deaths per 100,000 residents to 15.2 deaths per 100,000. If this trend continued, by 2012 they would achieve a level of mortality that was below 11 or 12 deaths per 100,000 people. They also saw a drop in mortality from the drug resistant form of tuberculosis. The situation in prisons was similar and fewer than 10 prisoners per year died from tuberculosis in jails.

The delegation noted that the Russian Federation held the belief that treatment of drug addicts was only possible if they first totally rejected drug use, which included methadone and other such replacement therapies. There were no scientific studies that showed that methadone or other drugs were effective in the treatment of drug addiction. Treatments in the Russian Federation included detoxification, medication to block drug cravings and social and psychological rehabilitation. Preventive measures included a large scale information campaign, an educational programme and the work done by health centres to identify risk factors in episodic drug abuse and the timely taking of measures to combat such incidents. This was why they did not believe it was necessary to change their position on substitution therapy.

Waiting times for hospitals had been reduced from 14 days to 7 days while the waiting times for laboratory and other tests had been reduced by 3 to 6 days. People with rare diseases had benefited from a change in the law which made it easier to import medicines to the Russian Federation. There was a whole array of activities conducted to support reproductive health and health centres had a range of information materials and testing opportunities. There were special normative provisions in place on abortions. These activities had proved effective and worthwhile.

Concerning HIV care, there was no consensus view on the effectiveness of replacement therapy in the care of HIV positive patients who were also drug addicts. Some studies showed that heroine addicts became methadone addicts after using replacement therapies and this treatment neither solved the problem of drug addiction nor did it help with HIV infection.

As for victims of Chernobyl, medical care was provided by State medical facilities to all affected victims. A report came out last year on the impact of the radiation on the contaminated regions and the study did not show any increase in mortality or morbidity in these areas. The report was publicly available online. The issue of radiation from airport security machines used on passengers were constantly being discussed in countries all over the world and they were currently carrying out research and assessments of such equipment and its safety.

Turning to issues surrounding domestic violence and human trafficking, the delegation said these were wide ranging issues. On the law enforcement aspects, the delegation said this was a problem not just for Russian society, but for the international community as a whole and the Government and President paid close attention to this international organized crime. The Russian Federation had the appropriate legal basis to combat this form of transnational organized crime and it was a party to the Palermo Convention and its two optional protocols. In order to implement this Convention and its protocols, in 2003 a federal law introduced criminal responsibility for the purchase and sale of human beings. In 2008 and 2009 the criminal code was amended to increase sanctions for crimes related to human trafficking and expand the definition of the crime. The State party also made changes to bring its laws in line with international standards. A federal law had been adopted in 2005 on state protection of witnesses, victims and other participants in trials aimed at ensuring and protecting the rights of persons victimized by human trafficking or who had information related to such criminal activities. This work to improve the legal normative basis was also conducted in cooperation with other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, since they did have open borders with these countries. They also had bilateral agreements on international police cooperation on human trafficking. In 2010, law enforcement registered 103 crimes as human trafficking, a 33 per cent increase over 2009. Cases were brought to court in all these crimes and 53 people arrested. The police also identified 20 organized criminal groups that were specialized in human trafficking.

The State was taking greater measures to protect children and women from domestic violence, including removing children from abusive homes and implementing programmes in all regions of the country to combat and prevent domestic violence with an additional 40 billion rubles allocated. Physical and psychological violence against children was prohibited in schools including rude or demeaning treatment. Parents or their representatives bore responsibility for any failure to fulfil their obligations for education, nutrition and maintenance of the child. A federal law had been prepared to ensure the safety of children in non-parental care.

Turning to economic problems such as inflation and rising consumer problems, the delegation said it was true that in 2010 they saw a 8.8 per cent rise in prices after seeing a slowdown in inflation the previous year due to a drop in demand. Incomes were increased in 2009 to respond to this and this was a positive impact in government policy. GDP fell by almost 8 per cent and there was a significant economic slow down. Given these conditions, people preferred to save their income which led to a drop in demand and a slow down in inflation. Now, the situation was altered and prices were rising. Food prices had risen due to drops in harvest figures after an unusually hot summer in places that resulted in a lower wheat and grain yield. They were monitoring the situation with respect to the food markets in various regions of Russia and they changed the duties on the export of food accordingly. The prices of some foodstuffs had dropped such as vegetables and sugar. They were monitoring the situation in the world market as well, including data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. They believed the situation would change as the harvests for this year came in and the climate anomalies that they saw last year were unlikely to be repeated this year. Milk prices had increased by 17 per cent in the first half of 2010, but now this situation had reversed. The term they used for this was “agflation” for agricultural inflation. Prices for electricity and gas had also gone up, but people still spent less than 1 per cent of their income on their electricity needs and the same was true of gas. The Government maintained subsidies for electricity for the population and prices for companies and other consumers were higher than those for everyday citizens and the same was true for gas prices as well.

Regarding housing for Roma families, the delegation said there was a federal housing programme that provided for certain allowances to be paid out for the payment of housing. The Roma, like everyone else living in Russia, had the right to obtain housing using special credits as provided for in the housing code. There had also been adaptations to modern lifestyle by the Roma people and they had representatives who were part of a consultative council on social and cultural autonomy. There were substantive discussions that led to the development of mechanisms to prevent any adverse policies or outcomes for these communities.

Doctors who caused bodily harm to their patients were prosecuted under three categories: incompetence, unjustified harm and murder by neglect. It was important to obtain compensation for material damages as soon as possible for those patients who were injured without complex judicial procedures. Bringing a doctor to justice would ensure prompt payment by insurance companies.

The Russian Federation had a mixed model for medical insurance. As of 2011 the rate of contributions to these compulsory insurance programmes was raised by 2 per cent, so they now represented 5 per cent of wages and this was what was used to improve medical care throughout the country.

Questions by Experts

To what degree had the Russian Federation succeeded in changing lifestyle vis-à-vis better nutrition and smoking cessation and reducing alcohol consumption?

How many children were in foster homes and did these homes have an adverse effect on children?

In terms of education, what had been done to implement the recommendations made by the Committee after the State party’s last periodic report in 2003? There was no disaggregated data in the report on numerous educational indicators such as drop out rates. Were children with disabilities put in separate schools and were Roma children segregated because they were an ethnic minority? There seemed to be a discrepancy between what was proscribed in law and what was actually done at the local level. Children in conflict areas such as Chechnya were affected by the conflicts in these areas and were often kept from going to school because of the unrest or recruited into armed groups. What was being done to address this? What was the number of children not in school and what was the level of juvenile delinquency? Concerning education of indigenous peoples, 48 per cent of them only finished primary school and 17 per cent were illiterate. What measures could the Russian Government take to promote the education of indigenous populations?

When minority groups were defined, were they involved in these designations? Was there a special regime for the protection of the traditional knowledge and culture of indigenous people? How was the preservation of cultural heritage reconciled with the need to extract mineral resources from traditional lands? Was the cost of education accessible to people with middle and low incomes?

Response of Delegation

The delegation said it would provide additional information in writing for those questions it could not answer today. In the Russian Federation primary and secondary education was free of charge. There was also equal access to education, including for children with special needs. They created special conditions to meet the special needs of children with disabilities so there were some specialized schools where they could study and learn with special teaching resources, but there were also integrated schools. There were no obstacles to studying in one’s mother tongue. Resources had been earmarked for providing textbooks to people in the northern regions. Young people studied the foundations of legal knowledge and human rights knowledge.

The delegation said that in the system of the federal authorities there was a body called the Service to Protect Cultural Heritage Facilities which carried out monitoring of the protection of culture, including in the extraction of minerals and archaeological digs. Questions related to culture were given close scrutiny by the Government and the budget devoted to the cultural sphere would go up this year. In terms of protecting intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples, they had the most advanced and progressive copyright laws in the world right now and they were applied to protect the cultural heritage of indigenous people like any other intellectual property.

The problems in the Chechen Republic had been fully resolved so there was no threat to education or health or the rights of people there.

Concluding Remarks

In concluding remarks, YURY VORONIN, Deputy Minister-State Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, thanked the Committee members for their questions and comments which had been very valuable. They were open minded and willing to continue the dialogue to come up with solutions related to the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.


For use of the information media; not an official record

ESC11/008E