Welcome to the website of ADC “Memorial”. We would like to invite you to learn more about our activities: how we work to overcome discrimination of minorities and protection of the rights of migrants in the countries, which formerly were part of Soviet Union. We welcome every form of information sharing and cooperation, whether it is simply visiting our website, joining us on social networks (Facebook, Twitter), asking for particular consultations or discussing the issues raised in our publications in the comments section.
Central focus of all the activities of ADC “Memorial” has always been and continues to be the defense of the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups, opposition to racism, sexism, homophobia and all other forms of xenophobia.
We pay considerable attention to the protection of the rights of Roma people, who continue to suffer from various forms of systemic discrimination. Our 2015 report on the situation of Roma – victims of the war in Eastern Ukraine was supplemented in 2016 by a photo report “It seems they do not shoot today…”
In order to draw attention to the vulnerable situation of another discriminated group, LGBTI persons suffering from homophobic harassment in the territories beyond the control of Ukrainian government, we prepared a special report “Violation of the rights of LGBTI people in Crimea and Donbass”.
We also continue our work to protect the rights of labor migrants. A complex and multifaceted phenomenon of labor migration in the post-Soviet space was analyzed in the human rights report “Rights of migrant workers from the former Soviet Union: real problems and unfulfilled obligations”.
We also continue our expert work of analyzing discrimination and violations of the rights of minorities through preparing legal appeals to courts. Our website features reports on legal cases of particular, strategic importance, which were compiled by lawyers, who were hired by ADC “Memorial” or who do their work with the support of our organization. Among priorities of our work are the legal cases for defending the rights of stateless persons who are being illegally kept in prison conditions in centres for temporary detention of foreign nationals (although deportation of stateless persons is not possible), as well as defending the rights of HIV-positive foreigners who became victims of discrimination, defending the rights of disabled persons to education, fighting against discrimination of women due to the existence of the official “list of occupations prohibited to women” in Russia. This latter topic was featured in a number of reports prepared for the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (UN CEDAW), as lists of professions prohibited to women exist in all the countries, which were formerly part of the USSR. This issue was raised by ADC “Memorial” in its reports dealing with the situation in the Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine.
The staff of ADC “Memorial” regularly publishes op-eds and columns devoted to different current issues. They are featured on our website and on various social networks, where our organization is present, as well as in the blogs section of Radio Liberty (svoboda.org) and other friendly web resources. This helps us to establish a public space for discussion.
Since 2003 we also regularly publish our quarterly “Bulletin of ADC “Memorial”.
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ADC “Memorial”