As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, we would like to draw the attention to the dire human rights situation within the Russian Federation and urge all states to place this neglected country situation on the Human Rights Council’s agenda.
A year after the joint statement on the situation in Russia issued last year, authorities there have stepped up their already unparalleled attack on human rights. A full-fledged witch hunt is decimating civil society and pushing many into exile, targeting independent groups, human rights advocates, media outlets and journalists, and political opponents.
The gravity of this human rights crisis has been demonstrated in recent days by the forcible dispersal of anti-war rallies and pickets across Russia, with over 6,800 arrested (as of 2 March 2022), attempts to impose censorship on conflict reporting in Ukraine and to silence those media and individuals who speak out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including through blocking media websites, and threats of criminal prosecution under “fake news” and “high treason” laws.
Authorities have tried to close down “Memorial,” one of the country’s most authoritative human rights groups, in a stunning event. Courts determined at the end of December to “liquidate” the group’s primary legal companies, the International Memorial Society and the Human Rights Center Memorial, for claimed recurrent disobedience with the restrictive statute on “foreign agents.” Despite an article 39 verdict from the European Court of Human Rights directing the Russian authorities to cease liquidation proceedings, the Supreme Court affirmed this decision on February 28.
The December rulings came at the end of a particularly bad year for human rights in Russia, in which authorities imprisoned top opposition figure Alexei Navalny, banned three organizations affiliated with him as “extremist,” launched criminal proceedings against several of his close associates, increased Internet censorship, and designated more than 100 journalists and activists as “media-foreign agents.”
In recent months, there has also been a major increase in persecution in Chechnya, where Russian law and international human rights responsibilities have been rendered meaningless. Ramzan Kadyrov, the local governor, has been eviscerating all kinds of dissent in Chechnya, frequently employing collective punishment, with the Kremlin’s tolerance or agreement. In December 2021, Kadyrov launched a savage operation against his opponents in the Chechen diaspora, detaining several of their Chechen relatives unjustly. In January, Zarema Musaeva, the mother of human rights lawyer Abubakar Yangulbaev, was kidnapped and arbitrarily detained on bogus accusations, and death threats were issued against the Yangulbaev family and other renowned human rights campaigners and journalists.
This is a country crisis that requires the Council’s immediate response. We encourage the Human Rights Council to pass a resolution expressing grave concern about the human rights breaches and abuses happening in Russia, urging the High Commissioner to monitor and report on the situation, and establishing a dedicated Special Rapporteur to address the issue.
