Human rights in Russia

[1][2][3] Some of the most commonly cited violations include deaths in custody, the systemic and widespread use of torture by security forces and prison guards,[4][5][6][7][8][9] the existence of hazing rituals within the Russian Army—referred to as dedovshchina ('reign of grandfathers')—as well as prevalent breaches of children's rights, instances of violence and prejudice against ethnic minorities,[10][11] and the targeted killings of journalists.

The regime also intensified its tight grip on the media, saturating the information landscape with nationalist propaganda while suppressing the most popular alternative voices.Reportedly in 2019, with France and Germany’s constant efforts in saving Moscow from being expelled from the Europe's human rights watchdog, Russia might retain its seat if it resumes its membership fees payment.

[24] International monitors and domestic observers have listed numerous, often deeply-rooted problems in the country and, with their advocacy, citizens have directed a flood of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights since 1998.

[36] A detailed report by Olga Gnezdilova demonstrated that small, genuinely volunteer organisations were disproportionately hit by the demands of the new procedures: for the time being, larger NGOs with substantial funding were not affected.

According to a BuzzFeed News report in 2017, current and former US and UK intelligence agents told the outlet that they believe that Russian assassins, possibly on government orders, could be linked to 14 deaths on British soil that were dismissed as not suspicious by police.

[51] Since 2007, loosely-worded laws against "extremism" or "terrorism" have been used to incarcerate the often youthful activists who have protested in support of freedom of assembly, against the alleged mass falsification of elections in 2011 and, since 2014, against the occupation of Crimea, the conflict in eastern Ukraine and corruption in the highest echelons of the government and State.

According to some organisations there are now more than 300 individuals who have either been sentenced to terms of imprisonment in Russia, or are currently detained awaiting trial (in custody or under home arrest), or have fled abroad or gone into hiding, because of persecution for their beliefs and their attempts to exercise their rights under the Russian Constitution and international agreements.

There was a rapid deterioration of the situation characterized by abuse of the criminal process, harassment and persecution of defense bar members in politically sensitive cases in recent years.

"[100][101] However, in practice, Russian police, Federal Security Service[102][103] and prison and jail guards are regularly observed practicing torture with impunity—including beatings with many different types of batons, sticks and truncheons, water battles, sacks with sand etc., the "Elephant Method", which is beating a victim wearing a gas mask with cut airflow, and the "Supermarket Method", which is the same but with a plastic bag on head, electric shocks including to genitals, nose, and ears, binding in stress positions, cigarette burns,[104] needles and electric needles hammered under nails,[105] prolonged suspension, sleep deprivation, food deprivation, rape, penetration with foreign objects, asphyxiation—in interrogating arrested suspects.

Demerchyan denied the allegations, but when the victim returned to work to collect his pay, he was met by several police officers who beat him all night, breaking two of his teeth and sexually assaulted him with a crow bar.

[128] Victims describe difficulties in getting protection from police that have resulted in severe mutilation or death, and cultural conservatism which considers domestic violence a family rather than a government matter, and denies the concept of marital rape.

[128] The Russian Orthodox Church helped defeat a 2019 bill that would have introduced restraining orders for the first time in Russia, and adding prison sentences for first-offence domestic abuse.

[134] There were several cases where the FSB accused scientists of allegedly revealing state secrets to foreign nationals, while the defendants and their colleagues claimed that the information or technology was based on already published and declassified sources.

[159] Notable instances of this are the cases of the tycoon Boris Berezovsky and former Yukos vice president Alexander Temerko in the UK, the media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky in Spain[160] and Greece,[161] Leonid Nevzlin in Israel[162] and Ivan Kolesnikov in Cyprus.

[184] As reported by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammarberg in 2009, "prior military conflicts, recurrent terrorist attacks (including suicide bombings), as well as widespread corruption and a climate of impunity have all plagued the region".

[187][188][189] In September 2017 Tatyana Moskalkova, an official representative of government on human rights, met with Chechnen authorities to discuss a list of 31 people recently extrajudicially killed in the republic.

[194] The Commissioner's Office annually accepted between 200 and 250 complaints dealing with violations of rights, usually from worshipers, who represent various confessions: Orthodox (but not belonging to the Moscow patriarchy), Old-believers, Muslim, Protestant and others.

[216] Opposition journalist Yevgenia Albats in interview with Eduard Steiner has claimed, "Today the directors of the television channels and the newspapers are invited every Thursday into the Kremlin office of the deputy head of administration, Vladislav Surkov to learn what news should be presented, and where.

"[217] According to Amnesty International during and after the 2014 Winter Olympics the Russian authorities adopted an increasingly attacking anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, which was widely echoed in the government-controlled mainstream media.

[229] On 4 March 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those who publish "knowingly false information" about the Russian military and its operations, leading to some media outlets to stop reporting on Ukraine.

[231] Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said that, "These new laws are part of Russia’s ruthless effort to suppress all dissent and make sure the [Russian] population does not have access to any information that contradicts the Kremlin’s narrative about the invasion of Ukraine.

[240] According to Amnesty International (2013 report) peaceful protests across Russia, including gatherings of small groups of people who presented no public threat or inconvenience, were routinely dispersed by police, often with excessive force.

[248] On 4 August 2020, Human Rights Watch urged the Russian authorities to drop the charges against Yulia Galyamina, a municipal assembly member, who is accused of organizing and participating in unauthorized demonstrations, although they were peaceful.

[18] As the Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe noted in 2007, despite some initiatives for development, the social and economic situation of numerically small indigenous peoples was affected by recent legislative amendments at the federal level, removing some positive measures as regards their access to land and other natural resources.

[253] Alvaro Gil-Robles noted in 2004 that, like many European countries, the Russian Federation is also host to many foreigners who, when concentrated in a particular area, make up so-called new minorities, who experience troubles e.g. with medical treatment due to the absence of registration.

[257] There was a short campaign of frequently arbitrary and illegal detention and expulsion of ethnic Georgians on charges of visa violations and a crackdown on Georgian-owned or Georgian-themed businesses and organizations in 2006, as a part of 2006 Georgian-Russian espionage controversy.

[263] The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has noted in 2007, that high-level representatives of the federal administration have publicly endorsed the fight against racism and intolerance, and a number of programmes have been adopted to implement these objectives.

[273] Vigilante groups, consisting of radical nationalists, and neo-Nazis, lure men or boys to meetings, accuse them of being gay, humiliate and beat them, and post videos of the proceedings on social media.

[274] In a report issued on 13 April 2017, a panel of five expert advisors to the United Nations Human Rights Council—Vitit Muntarbhorn, Sètondji Roland Adjovi, Agnès Callamard, Nils Melzer and David Kaye—condemned the wave of torture and killings of gay men in Chechnya.

[280] Serbsky Institute also made an expertise of mass poisoning of hundreds of Chechen school children by an unknown chemical substance of strong and prolonged action, which rendered them completely incapable for many months.