Classified by the Russian Federation as an ‘undesirable organisation’, the Association of the Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe (ASPS) filed a complaint in April in a Moscow court. “The procedure against this decision dating from December was long to initiate because of the pandemic”, says Jack Hanning, Secretary General of the ASPS, to EUROPE, but it was essential, as “these schools defend precisely the values that Russia voluntarily pledged to respect when joining the Council of Europe” in 1996.
The first of these schools was the one in Moscow, created in 1992, following a meeting between Catherine Lalumière, then Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and a couple of Russian intellectuals involved in the defence of human rights well before the fall of the Berlin Wall. “Their plan was to create a school that would train in the values of the Council of Europe - democracy, Rule of law, human rights - based on freedom of expression”, says Jack Hanning. Others followed in Bulgaria and Georgia, thanks to citizens who were themselves trained at the Moscow School, and there are now a total of 21. The last two were founded in Morocco and Tunisia “in the wake of the Arab Spring”.
“These schools are not like conventional schools. These are NGOs that are independent of the powers that be - and this is what causes them some of their current problems, in addition to their members’ links with European institutions - who organise annual course cycles and seminars spread over three or four sessions. Always based on European values, they welcome national and international speakers as well as personalities from the European Union and the Council of Europe”. Until 2008, they all met at a summer University in Strasbourg, an event that was later transformed into a “World Democracy Forum” organised in November.
The Association of Schools of Political Studies was born in 2008, “when they wanted to federate and have their own voice”. The Council of Europe provides it with an office in the organisation’s buildings and the City of Strasbourg provides it with annual financial support. Catherine Lalumière was the President between 2008 and 2018, when she was succeeded by Nils Muiznieks, former Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, who became, after his two mandates, Regional Director for Europe of Amnesty International. “One of its objectives is to develop links between the schools and the Council of Europe and to see the network expand towards Western Europe”, explains Jack Hanning, who notes that the Council of Europe is also studying the possibility of working on a School of Political Studies for refugees.
“Our role is also to support these schools when they face problems, as is the case in Russia, where the Moscow school is caught up in the laws on ‘agents of foreigners’ (2012) and ‘undesirable organisations’ (2015). This is also true in Azerbaijan and Turkey”.
The activities of the Baku School of Political Studies were suspended in 2013 following the illegal detention of its Director, Ilgar Mammadov (a potential presidential candidate), who was released in August 2018 and acquitted in April 2020. “The Council of Europe is looking at how to proceed with the reopening of the school - says Jack Hanning -, but the balance is difficult to find in view of the government’s attitude towards civil society”.
In Turkey, it was the human rights defender and founder of the Istanbul School, Osman Kavala, who was falsely accused of orchestrating the 2013 Gezi Park protests and arrested in 2017. Released in February 2020, he was re-investigated a few hours later on charges of supporting the 2016 coup attempt.
As it did with Ilgar Mammadov, the European Court of Human Rights found both the arrests and the trial of Osman Kavala to be “ arbitrary and unlawful” and called for his immediate release. In vain. A disavowal of the Strasbourg judges that deeply worries Jack Hanning. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)