The document discusses the translation of human rights documents from Russian to English, outlining key human rights instruments and institutions, regional regimes, and thematic issues in Russia and the former Soviet Union. It highlights the roles of various entities, including NGOs and UN treaty bodies, in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations, as well as the challenges faced by translators in conveying legal and persuasive language. Additionally, it addresses hot topics such as migrant rights, ethnic minorities, and the importance of accurate representation of individuals' experiences.

1. Fact-Finding Mission Reports, Primary
Sources, and More:
Translating Human Rights Documents
from Russian into English
Presented by Lucy Gunderson, CT

2. • Summary of core instruments and institutions
• Hot topics
• Documents and translation challenges

3. What is a human right?
• A right one has simply by virtue of being human
• After WWII, the idea arose that states have the obligation to protect
human rights
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in accordance
with the UN Charter on December 10, 1948
• Freedom of thought, religion, peaceful assembly
• Right to a nationality, education, adequate standard of living, fair and public
hearing, property
• Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention, torture,

4. Core instruments
• International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
(1966)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (1965)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (1979)
• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (1984)

5. Core instruments (cont’d)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990)
• International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance (2006)
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)

6. Ratification and accession
Russia “took over” for the Soviet Union.
Former Soviet countries had to accede after independence.
Ex) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women
- Soviet Union ratified in 1980
- Latvia acceded in 1992
- Kyrgyzstan acceded in 1997
- Kazakhstan acceded in 1998

7. Regional regimes
• European Convention on Human Rights
• African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• American Convention on Human Rights
• ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

8. Thematic regimes
• Focus on a limited range of issues
- Workers’ rights
- Genocide and crimes against humanity
- Privacy
- Human trafficking

9. Enforcement
• UN treaty bodies
- Each convention has a body of independent experts that monitors
implementation of the convention
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Committee Against Torture
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Periodic review process

10. • Special Rapporteurs
-may have a country mandate or thematic mandate
- conduct country visits
- prepare studies, develop standards and guidelines
- handle complaints from individuals
• Specific institutions
- European Court of Human Rights
- ILO
- International Criminal Court

11. How do translators fit in?
Translators can work as
- staff or contract translators for UN, State Department,
European Court of Human Rights, etc.
- freelance translators for NGOs

12. What is an NGO?
• Brings citizens’ concerns to government
• Monitors government policies
• Tracks implementation of international agreements
• Provides analysis and expertise
(http://www.ngo.org/ngoinfo/define.html)

13. Hot topics in Russia and the FSU
• Migrant rights
• Refugees
• Stateless persons
• LBGTI (law on gay propaganda)
• Ethnic minorities (Roma, Crimean Tatars, Koreans)
• Law on foreign agents

14. Documents NGOs produce
• Reports
• Columns / op-eds
• Statements
• Press releases
• Open letters
• Legal analyses
• Court filings
• Primary sources

15. Reports
• Alternative Report (Shadow Report, Parallel Report)
(Альтернативный отчет )
Submitted in response to a state’s report on the implementation of a
particular convention
“Alternative Report of the Anti-Discrimination Center
Memorial on the Russian Federation’s Implementation of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women”
(“Альтернативный отчет Антидискриминационного Центра
«Мемориал» о выполнении Конвенции о ликвидации всех форм
дискриминации в отношении женщин Российской Федерацией”)

16. • Fact-Finding Mission Reports (миссия по установлению фактов,
исследовательская миссия)
A group of human rights defenders travels to a country or area to collect
information about a specific situation or topic
“The Russian-Ukrainian Conflict and the Problem of Refugees”
(“Российско-украинский конфликт и проблема беженцев” )

17. • “Advocacy” Reports
Purpose is to educate lawyers, human rights defenders, government officials
and institutions about certain issues
“Foreign National Detention Centers and the Failure to Comply with ECHR
Judgments Protecting Migrant Rights”
(“Проблемы центров содержания иностранных граждан и неисполнения
решений ЕСПЧ по защите прав мигрантов”)

18. Structure of Reports
• Introduction
• Description of purpose, participants, supporters
• Overview (Общая ситуация)
• Acknowledgements (Благодарность)

19. • Body
• Background information, country’s history, description of applicable laws,
examples of violations, personal stories, interviews
• Political context (политический контекст)
• Historical context (исторический контекст)
• Constitutional norms (Конституционные нормы)
• Criminal procedural law (Уголовно-процессуальное законодательство)

20. • Or, response to specific paragraphs of a state report,
recommendations, guidelines
Ex) Report on Freedom of Association in the Kyrgyz Republic
“Guidelines on Freedom of Association” – OSCE
Принцип 7 (право свободно искать, получать и использовать ресурсы)
[freedom to seek, receive, and use resources] Оба законопроекта направлены на
ограничение финансирования деятельности НКО.

21. • Conclusions and Recommendations
• To:
• the Kyrgyz Government, United Nations, Council of Europe
• Or “XXX calls upon YYY to” (призывает)
• Take concrete steps (Принимать конкретные шаги )
• Adopt laws (Принять законодательные акты)
• Ratify (Ратифицировать)
• Or impersonal passive voice
• Необходимо принять
• Важно способствовать
• Нужно пересмотреть

22. Challenges to Translating Reports
• Style
• Legal style, legal terminology
• BUT, text must be readable for non-specialists
Ex) В последние десять месяцев своего заточения он находился в камере площадью 18 квадратных метров,
которую он делил с 4 и иногда с 7 другими заключенными. В камерах, где он сидел, не было раковины и доступа к
питьевой воде. На этаже были всего один туалет и один душ, которыми пользовались примерно 40 человек.
«Суд полагает, что заявитель вынужден был терпеть условия содержания под стражей, которые вызывали у
него значительные психические и физические страдания, умаляя его человеческое достоинство. Таким образом,
условия его содержания под стражей представляли собой бесчеловечное и унижающее достоинство
обращение по смыслу статьи 3 Конвенции даже в отсутствие какого-либо позитивного умысла унизить
заявителя со стороны какой-либо государственной структуры».
“The Court finds that the applicant had to endure conditions of detention which must have caused him considerable mental
and physical suffering, diminishing his human dignity. The conditions of his detention thus amounted to inhuman and
degrading treatment within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention, even in the absence of any positive intention to
humiliate or debase the applicant on the part of any domestic authority.”

23. • Writing must be persuasive (credible, objective)
Ex) Ставшая независимой с 1991 г. после распада СССР, Беларусь, тем не
менее, – одна из основательниц Организации Объединенных Наций.
Although Belarus did not gain independence until the dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991, it is nevertheless a founder of the United Nations.
Belarus gained independence after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
It is nevertheless a founding state of the United Nations.

24. Ex) Семьям не возвращают тела казненных, а место и время исполнения
приговора, также, как и место погребения, содержатся в тайне, лишая
родственников важнейшей для них информации и возможности
проститься с близкими в соответствии с семейными традициями.
The bodies of executed persons are not released to their families, and the
time and place of execution, as well as the place of burial, are kept secret,
depriving relatives of information that is extremely important to them and of
the possibility to say goodbye to their loved ones in keeping with family
traditions.
The bodies of executed persons are not released to their families, and the
time and place of execution, as well as the place of burial are kept secret,
leaving relatives in a state of uncertainty and unable to bury the body in
accordance with family traditions and beliefs.

25. • Direct speech
- Balance between transcribing what the informant actually said,
errors and all, and editing by the authors to avoid informant’s
embarrassment, curse words, etc.
- Goal is for the reader to see a real live person behind the text

26. Ex) Меня пересылали из одного кабинета в другой, от одного чиновника к
другому. Два года безуспешных попыток и отсутствие какого-либо
положительного результата в принципе разуверили меня в том, что я
смогу получить хоть какой-то легальный статус.
They sent me all over the place – from one person to another, one office to another.
After two years without any luck, I lost hope that I would ever get legal status.

27. Ex) Ну опять же за тот патент я говорю. - Refugee from Eastern Ukraine
Here “за” means “about.”
Ex) У ее вообще дом разгромили. – Refugee from Eastern Ukraine
У ее instead of у нее.

28. Statements
• Official reaction to a specific event, passage of a law
• Statement of position and demands
• Posted to websites, released to media

29. Ex) “The Self-Government Body of the Crimean Tatar People must not
be Banned”
(“Нельзя запрещать орган самоуправления крымских татар”)
Ex) “The Persecution of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists must
End”
(“Преследования правозащитников и журналистов за их работу
недопустимы!”)

30. Challenges
• Topic may be obscure and require research
• Style
• Subjective, literary
• Biting, ironic tone
Ex) - Совершенно непонятно
- Совершенно очевидно
- Не менее абсурдно звучат

31. • Мы требуем прекратить преследования крымских татар в Крыму, отказаться
от всяких попыток запретить Меджлис крымскотатарского народа,
обеспечить возможность всем представителям этого народа мирно и
свободно жить на своей земле.
• We demand an end to the persecution of Crimean Tatars in Crimea, a
renunciation of any attempt to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, and
an opportunity for all members of this nationality to live freely and peacefully in
their land.

32. Primary Sources
• May be needed for research purposes
• May be appended to a report, distributed to the media

33. • Challenges
• Subject matter
• Style – jargon (medical, technical, bureaucratese)

35. In spite of the official ceasefire, the Ukrainian junta continues to take
hostile actions against residents of the Luhansk People’s Republic. The
Ukrainian government is attempting to intimidate Luhansk residents by
conducting armed provocations, shelling positions held by the United
Armed Forces of Novorossiya, torturing soldiers, and kidnapping
peaceful citizens…. Unfortunately, many of these fighters are former
police officers, who once took an oath to protect people from crime
and have now broken this vow in betrayal of their people.
The following especially dangerous criminals and former police officers
are wanted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Luhansk People’s
Republic.

36. Letter from Ildar Dadin to his wife. Dadin was arrested in December
2015 for participating in repeated illegal protests.
Если решишь опубликовать информацию о происходящем со мной,
то попробуй распространить ее как можно более широко. Это
увеличит шансы на то, что я останусь жив….12 сентября 2016 года
пришли сотрудники, сковали мне руки за спиной и подвесили
за наручники…. Так я висел полчаса. Потом сняли с меня трусы
и сказали, что сейчас приведут другого заключенного и он меня
изнасилует, если я не соглашусь прекратить голодовку.

37. And bear in mind…
• Politically correct terminology
• LGBT -> LGBTI
• Цыгане is OK (for now) in Russian, but should be Roma in English
• Transliteration issues
• Kharkov vs. Kharkiv
• Sergei vs. Siarhei
• Fantastic but demanding clients!

38. Thank you!
Lucy Gunderson, CT
russophile@earthlink.net