Recent Implementation of Laws on Governmental Secrets in Russia and the United States

At a recent Kennan Institute talk, Grigorii Pasko, Editor in Chief, Environmental and Human Rights Journal, and the Kennan Institute's Galina Starovoitova Fellow in Human Rights and Conflict Resolution discussed his research about how laws on government secrets are implemented in Russia and the United States, and the resulting consequences for those who are charged under those laws.

Pasko, best known for his own struggle against charges of espionage for disclosing information about environmental violations by the Russian Navy, spent a total of four years in detention before winning his release in 2003. He contended that, based on the way Russian law defines treason and the discretion given to prosecutors, just about any person can be charged with espionage. With the current security concerns in Russia, the situation is only getting worse. New measures have been adopted in the name of fighting terror that curb even further public access to state information. Another law is under consideration that will allow the government to deny visas to foreigners who show disrespect to Russia or the Russian president.

Pasko stated that spy cases in Russia and the United States share some characteristics in common. For example, political concerns are very important in spy cases in both countries, he argued.

There are also obvious differences. The most glaring is the substantive difference is the degree of openness between the two systems, Pasko contended. Defense attorneys in the United States have much more leeway in arguing their cases. As a consequence, Pasko said, the U.S. government, when seeking to protect secret information, works to resolve most cases through plea bargains—there have only been three spy trials in the last 30 years in the United States. In Russia, by contrast, the entire process is secret. Sometimes even part of a defendant's sentence is classified—Pasko noted that the lawyer for Igor Sutyagin, an academic recently convicted of espionage, has not been allowed to read Sutyagin's entire sentence. Another development, according to Pasko, is that jurors in espionage cases now must have a security clearance.

In compiling a list of spy cases in the United States and Russia, Pasko reported that he uncovered some striking figures. In the last 25 years, there have been 25 individuals sentenced for espionage in the United States. In 2004 alone, 14 individuals in Russia have been found guilty of espionage. According to official data, Pasko stated, there are over 130 individuals currently serving sentences for espionage in Russia. Pasko added that there were a number of individuals executed for espionage before Russia abolished capital punishment in 1996.

"I don't care about spies," stated Pasko, "but I do care about how those who are accused are treated by laws and courts." There are an alarming number of individuals such as ecologists, journalists, and scholars who have no access to classified information and yet are still accused of espionage. Over the past 10 years, Pasko said, Russian courts have found 12 of these "non-spies" guilty. Pasko proposed that the Council of Europe hold a hearing on the phenomenon of "non-spies" in Russia.

"It is time to raise the point that Russia is not observing its own laws, and that Russia does not have the last barrier to lawlessness—an independent judiciary," concluded Pasko.