Mutsolgov is in the lead in public voting for candidates to Human Rights Council under Putin

The website of the Presidential Council for Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights is running an online vote for candidates to the renovated Council. Currently, Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the human rights organization MASHR (Ingushetia) is in the lead in the nomination "Protection of human rights in Northern Caucasus, promotion of civil peace and eradication of terrorism in North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD)".

In total, 190 applications for the membership in the Council were considered: 17 candidates were moved by regional ombudspersons; 32 persons are the incumbent Council members; the rest of the candidates were nominated by various non-commercial organizations (NCOs). As a result of the analysis of the submitted questionnaires, 83 candidates were selected and distributed among 13 nominations. Now, Internet users should elect 39 persons, out of whom President Vladimir Putin will choose 13 Council members.

A special nomination within the rotation of the membership of the Council is reserved for the rights defenders working in Northern Caucasus. The current leader in the nomination "Protection of human rights in Northern Caucasus, promotion of civil peace and eradication of terrorism in North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD)" is Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization (ANCO) "Human Rights Watch MASHR" (Ingushetia) and an active blogger of the "Caucasian Knot", who has already won 27.9 percent of the votes.

The list of candidates in the nomination for Northern Caucasus also includes Maxim Shevchenko, a presenter of "Channel One, ex-head of the working group of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on development of public dialogue and civil society institutions in the Caucasus and the founder and editor-in-chief of the portal "Caucasian Policy", who has won 26.2 percent of the votes. Other candidates in this nomination are Alexander Mukomolov, the chairman of the interregional non-political organization "Peace Mission Named after General Lebed" (18.1 percent of the votes); Igor Kalyapin, the head of the interregional public organization "Committee Against Torture" (13.6 percent); the Dagestani lawyer and blogger Rasul Kadiev (8.5 percent) and the chairman-coordinator of the regional public organization "Union of Don Women" (Rostov Region) Valentina Cherevatenko (5.6 percent).

According to Magomed Mutsolgov, the Presidential Council should work towards changing the situation in Northern Caucasus and respect of the law.

"For me, the Human Rights Council is one of the most important civic institutions. Whoever says what about the number of votes and violations, in spite of any conversations, Vladimir Putin is the President of Russia - it is a legal fact. I hope that I or any other person - a member of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, will be realistic about the situation and talk about the things that need to be changed in our country. All the candidates put on the list are decent people; and I'll be happy for any of them, if he or she gets into the Council," Mr Mutsolgov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He also noted that he is "one of the harshest critics of the authorities," and has always stressed that "only through the joint efforts of regional, municipal and federal authorities, law enforcers, clergy, political parties and civil society changes can be enforced; and a breakthrough can be made in the progress of our country."

The nomination "Public control over observance of human rights in places of detention; and reform of the FSIN (Russian Federal Penitentiary Service)" has eight candidates, including Igor Sazhin, the chairman of the board of the human rights commission "Memorial" (Komi), a writing expert and an active commentator of the "Caucasian Knot". According to the website of the Council, at the moment, Mr Sazhin has won 3.4 percent of the votes.

The leader in this nomination is Andrei Babushkin, the chairman of the Committee "For Civil Rights" with 23.5 percent of the votes; he is followed by Maria Kannabikh, the president of the foundation for helping convicts and a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation (22 percent), and Valery Borschov, the chairman of the charity foundation "Social Partnership" (20.9 percent). Also the list of candidates in the nomination "Public control over observance of human rights in places of detention; and reform of the FSIN" includes Vasily Catane, a member of the Public Supervision Commission (PSC) of the Chelyabinsk Region and the chairman of the regional public organization of veterans "Combat Brotherhood" (19.5 percent); Alexei Kozyrev, the artistic director of the "Aleko" Theatre (8.9 percent); Gennady Makarenko, a pensioner from the Saratov Region and a member of the PSC (0.3 percent); and Leonid Petrashis, the director of the LLC "Avtograd-Don", a member of the PSC, the head of the public reception room and a member of the Expert Council under the Russian Ombudsman (Rostov-on-Don), (1.5 percent).

A voter can support only one candidate in each nomination. The deadline for expressing support to a candidate on the official website of the Council is September 15. On September 14, a sitting of the working group is scheduled on the issues of the membership rotation, where the preliminary outcomes of the online voting will be summed up and analyzed. As noted by the organizers of public consultation, in the event of increased activeness of Internet users, an extension of voting can be considered.