Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza attends a press conference after being freed in a multi-country prisoner swap in Bonn, Germany, on Aug. 2.Leon Kuegeler/Reuters
Irwin Cotler is a former minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada, and special envoy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Democracies on the case and cause of Vladimir Kara-Murza. Brandon Silver is an international human rights lawyer and director of policy and projects at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, where Mr. Kara-Murza serves as a senior fellow.
“I don’t think there are many things more important than saving human lives.” These were among the first free words spoken by Russian-British dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, after two years of torturous imprisonment in a Siberian gulag. The beaming smiles of his wife Evgenia and their children as they listened to Vladimir on a phone call in the Oval Office were the most meaningful testament to the truth of his words.
Vladimir lives these words by example. He has dedicated his life to fighting for freedom and was unjustly deprived of his own. He was the greatest champion of rescuing Russian political prisoners until he became one himself. The Pulitzer Prize-winner and honorary Canadian citizen was so effective in his advocacy that he was twice targeted for assassination and miraculously survived.
Now free, thanks to last week’s prisoner exchange between the West and Russia, Vladimir is sparing no time in resuming his work. Immediately upon his return, he held a news conference reminding the world of the plight and pain of political prisoners, and the importance of securing their freedom. In defending the prisoner exchange – which saw Russian spies and a notorious assassin traded for innocents unlawfully detained – he underscored that the biggest difference between dictatorships and democracies is that “in democratic systems, the highest value is placed on human life.”
That contrast is given a compelling expression by the cases of the prisoners exchanged. The Vladimir Putin dictatorship demanded the release of convicted, cold-blooded killer Vadim Krasikov, and democracy-disrupting spies. On the other hand, a coalition of democracies joined together to save the lives of journalists and dissidents, who were dedicated to exposing the truth and fostering human rights and democracy.
Mr. Krasikov and Vladimir Kara-Murza are a microcosm of the conflict between dictatorship and democracy, and their core clash of values. The former was freed despite taking lives, while the latter was freed for saving them. If the hostages and dissidents had been left in Mr. Putin’s dungeons, they might well have shared the fate of Alexey Navalny, who before his murder was held in the same cell block as our friend Vladimir. Instead, those who were released now have an elevated platform to continue their brave work from abroad. They can resume their truthful reporting on the Putin regime, while being a voice for so many who are still silenced and suffering the harsh cruelties of the Kremlin.
The courageous commitment to peace and justice of the dissidents is a standing rebuke to Mr. Putin and his propaganda. They also demonstrate the widespread discontent with the dictatorship and its war against Ukraine. Securing their freedom shows all those who oppose repressive regimes that they are not alone, that the free world stands with them in our common cause of human dignity and democracy.
Some have questioned the wisdom of these exchanges. They claim that such deals might embolden authoritarian regimes to take ever more hostages. America’s chief hostage diplomat, Roger Carstens, asserts that hostage deals do not increase hostage-taking, and that policies precluding hostage negotiations tend to worsen it. A recent RAND Corporation study reached a similar conclusion.
Regardless, hostage-takings and political imprisonments can be mitigated by strong collective deterrence and by significantly expanding accountability for perpetrators. From false witnesses to corrupt judges and jailors, all those involved in the grave violations of international law inherent in unlawful detentions should be subject to targeted sanctions by democratic countries, as Vladimir Kara-Murza has so compellingly championed.
The success of this hostage deal was underpinned by a strong democratic alliance. This ad hoc arrangement could ideally be formalized into a standing hostage co-ordination working group (as we have advocated for in the past), allowing for the exchange of information and best practices. More importantly, it would provide a mechanism for enforcing punitive measures. Canada can build upon the important efforts of its initiative against arbitrary detention in state-to-state relations in doing so. A NATO-like commitment and response could be enshrined, where hostage-taking targeting the citizens of one democracy evokes a co-ordinated diplomatic response from all.
Canada can play a constructive role by creating a stand-alone dedicated office and special envoy for hostage affairs, safeguarding Canadians abroad and co-ordinating a global response to this growing scourge.
As this major hostage deal demonstrates, when democracies come together we can achieve a shared vision and give expression to our highest shared values. For pro-democracy leaders like Vladimir Kara-Murza, it is a vindication of the sacrifices he has made in the name of democracy and the value of every human life.