In October, the United Nations appointed a special rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in Russia. This followed a year of advocacy work by Russian human rights organisations, including our own organisation OVD-Info, which monitors political persecutions in the country.
A UN special rapporteur is an independent expert with a team of assistants who are authorised to inform and advise on human rights in a given country. To appoint one against a powerful state like Russia is an unprecedented move.
Russians regularly face violations of their constitutional rights, and the war on Ukraine has only exacerbated the situation. Even before the invasion, thousands of people were detained or arrested on politically motivated charges every year. Now the regime’s conveyor belt of repressions has picked up pace, shutting down all attempts at protest.
