STORY: :: Geneva, Switzerland
:: A U.N. expert voices fears for Russia’s political prisoners, saying repression has worsened
::Mariana Katzarova
United Nations Special Rapporteur
“The situation in the Russian Federation has got much worse since my report last year, and the country is now run by a state-sponsored system of fear and punishment, including the use of torture with absolute impunity. Human rights defenders, journalists and political figures are persecuted and incarcerated in greater numbers. Anti-war dissent of any kind is criminalized. Police violence is condoned. Arbitrary arrests and detentions are widespread. Prison conditions have worsened with increased solitary confinement and death in custody, particularly used against political prisoners.”
:: September 23, 2024
Ahead of her speech to the human rights council on Tuesday, Katzarova described the country now as “run by a state sponsored system of fear and punishment, including the use of torture with absolute impunity.”
The Bulgarian former Amnesty International investigator said in a report on Russia’s rights record that oppression had intensified since the February 2022 Ukraine war began, with the number of political prisoners up to more than 1,300.
Many were jailed on fabricated charges, she said, noting a priest’s seven-year sentence for a prayer against the war.
Russia did not respond to efforts by Katzarova to contact them for her research, she said.
Its seat was left empty at the U.N. council on Tuesday and its diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russian officials say the West routinely exaggerates the extent of repression in Russia.
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