Crimean security officials adopt their Russian colleague’s experience. They start so called “migration cleansing”. Recent detentions on markets of Simferopol have been conducted with violations. No charges have been put, nor documents have been issued.
Arrestees on markets of Simferopol have been delivered to the Center for Countering Extremism. Finger prints and samples of DNA have been taken willy-nilly there.
Let us try to find out how legislatively it has been done and what people should be aware of if the situation repeats.
In Russia there are only two laws security officials can operate within, taking capturing fingerprints and DNA samples. These are the Federal law #128-F3 “Of the state dactyloscopic registration in the Russian Federation” of July 25, 1998 and the Federal law #242-F3 “Of the state genomic registration in the Russian Federation” of January 3, 2008.
In these laws accurately describe the categories of citizens about whom the authorities can gather such kind of information.
Fingerprints can be captured if:
– if a person is suspected or accused of committing a crime and also if he was convicted or fell under administrative arrest;
– if a person committed an administrative crime and there is no other way to establish his identity;
– if a person is liable to deportation outside the Russian Federation or falls within the scope of the international agreements of the Russian Federation about readmission;
– if he arrived to the Russian Federation seeking for an asylum and filed a request for the granting of political or other asylum or for recognition as a refugee;
– if the person stays illegally on the territory of the Russian Federation.
DNA sample can be taken:
– if a person is convicted and serves his sentence by way of deprivation of freedom for committing grievous or extremely grievous crimes and also all the categories of crimes against sexual integrity and sexual liberty of a person;
– if it’s unestablished individual whose biological material has been extracted while investigative activities.
– dead bodies are subjects of the obligatory state genome registration.
If you don’t fell within the scope of any of these categories you should refuse from the fingerprints and DNA sample capture because you don’t know where and how your fingerprints and genome information that has been taken with violations would be used!
Procedures like recent arrests on the markets aren’t any kind of rarity in Russia. Most likely it will also become permanent practice in Crimea.
So what to actually do when the security officials try to take your fingerprints and DNA samples illegally?
A couple of advices from the human right activists that you should remember by heart will help in such situations.
Relax but keep your hands knuckled. If you try to resist you might be hold liable for resisting arrest/violence/offence and so on. Just don’t do anything, let the security officials take your hands, unclench your fists, dip your fingers into ink and then press them on blank themselves.
In this case, when they try to unclench your hands, grazes and scratches and other kind of damages will be left and that means you will be able “to document the beatings” and file about application of force by addressing the police. Even if you are not hurt, you can complain about illegal application of force towards yourself.
As for cases of trying to capture DNA samples, you shouldn’t open your mouth because such sample is taken from your oral cavity.
You should address your lawyer immediately when you are released!
