Yuly Andreyevich Rybakov (; born 25 February 1946) is a Russian

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist, a former member of the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

(1993–2003), a former Chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights (2000–2003), the founder of the magazine "Terra incognita", and a former political prisoner.

Biography

Rybakov was born in 1946 in

Mariinsk Mariinsk () is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, where the Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the Kiya River ( Ob's basin), northeast of Kemerovo, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 39,700 (1972). History It was founded in t ...

, Kemerovo Oblast in Siberia, at a camp for political prisoners, to a family of naval officers from Saint Petersburg. His parents were illegally purged. In 1974, Rybakov finished art school, college, and later studied at the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting. He was arrested by the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

in 1976 for taking part in the dissident movement for human rights, as well as the distribution of

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

's books, leaflets and creating slogans (such as the inscription on the wall of the bastion of the Czar's

Peter and Paul Fortress The Peter and Paul Fortress () is the original citadel of Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early ...

: "you may crucify freedom, but the human soul knows no shackles"). He was arrested under the 70th ("anti-Soviet") article of the Criminal Code. Rybakov was convicted for a particularly daring act of "hooliganism" and embezzlement to six years imprisonment at a stronger prison regime. In 1982, he returned to Leningrad and studied law. In 1988, he became one of the organizers and leaders of the Leningrad branch of the Democratic Union Party, which stated publicly its goal to eliminate the Communist Party's monopoly on power and establish democracy in Russia. In 1990, he was elected to the Leningrad City Council, and organized the first state commission on human rights. In 1993, Rybakov was elected to the

. After the death of

Galina Starovoytova Galina Vasilyevna Starovoitova (; 17 May 1946 – 20 November 1998) was a Soviet dissident, Russian politician and ethnographer known for her work to protect ethnic minorities and promote democratic reforms in Russia. She was shot to death in ...

, he headed the

Democratic Russia Democratic Russia (; abbreviation: ДемРоссия, ''DemRossiya'') was the generic name for several political entities that played a transformative role in Russia's transition from Communist rule. In 1991–1993, the Democratic Russia Move ...

Party. He resigned as chairman in October 2000. In the same year, he was elected to the State Duma of III convocation. In March 2010, he signed an address of the Russian opposition, entitled Putin Must Go.

Events in Budennovsk

In 1995, in the midst of

Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis The Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis (Russian: Теракт в Будённовске, ''teract errorist actin Budyonnovsk'') took place from 14 to 19 June 1995, when a group of Chechen separatists led by Shamil Basayev attacked the so ...

, Rybakov, together with the State Duma

Sergei Kovalev Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov (also spelled Sergey Kovalev; ; 2 March 1930 – 9 August 2021) was a Russian human rights activist and politician. During the Soviet period he was a dissident and, after 1975, a political prisoner. Early career and ...

and Viktor Kurochkin, on behalf of Prime Minister

Viktor Chernomyrdin Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin (, ; 9 April 19383 November 2010) was a Soviet and Russian politician and businessman. He was the Minister of Gas Industry of the Soviet Union (13 February 1985 – 17 July 1989), after which he became first chairm ...

negotiated with

Shamil Basayev Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (; ; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his '' kunya'' Abu Idris, was a Chechen guerrilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank ...

, who seized the hospital. The talks failed to agree on the release of most hostages – to ensure the safety of terrorists along with them on the buses back to Chechnya, only 140 volunteers were to go, including negotiators. In the village of Zandag, Rybakov was released along with the other hostages.

Advocacy of Human Rights

In 1990, Rybakov created the first Soviet Human Rights Commission. Member of the International Society for Human Rights, the editorial board of the journals "The Edge" and "Seeding" partnership "Free Culture". During the war in Chechnya from 1996–1999, Rybakov participated in the liberation of 2,500 servicemen who were in Chechen captivity. From 2000 to 2003, he was chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the

. Since 2006, he was member of the

Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko; rus, Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko" ...

Party, co-chair the human rights group in the party Yabloko. Since 2007, he has not been in a political party. In June 2007, the "Human Rights Council of St. Petersburg" was formed, which included several human rights organizations and defenders such as Rybakov, Yuriy Nesterov, Natalia Evdokimova and Leonid Romankov.«Правозащитный Совет Санкт-Петербурга» объединил представителей разных организаций
, 18 July 2007

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Law and Order – Terra incognita (Human Rights Almanac) (Russian)

Article on the book of memoirs "My Century" by Yuly Rybakov on "Novaya Gazeta" (Russian)

The "Soloveckii Stone" in St. Petersburg set up two artists (Russian/English)

* ttp://www.solovki.ca/events/stonepiter.php The "Soloveckii Stone" in St. Petersburg (Russian/English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rybakov, Yuly 1946 births Living people People from Kemerovo Oblast Yabloko politicians Russian activists against the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian dissidents Russian human rights activists Soviet dissidents First convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Second convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Third convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)