At the 113th Session of the UN Committee on Human Rights the 7th periodic report of the Russian government on the implementation of articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the Russian Federation will be discussed.
ADC “Memorial” together with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) submitted for consideration by the Committee two alternative reports on Russia: general report devoted to violations of civil and political rights of minorities, including ethnic groups, migrants and LGBTI activists, women and children in vulnerable situation, illegitimate restriction of the right to express critical opinions; and a separate report, which had been prepared earlier, “2012-2013: an assault against freedom.”
Report concerning the rights of migrants was backed by Civil Partner Platform “Central Asia on the Move” and Human rights movement “Bir Duyno Kyrgyzstan”. One of the key questions of this report – why the Russian authorities virtually ignored riots and attacks aimed against foreign nationals in 2013-2014, which had been registered in the Moscow district of Biryulyovo, in the centre of Saint Petersburg, in Moscow and other regions, while at the same time peaceful protests against falsification of election results or the war in Ukraine were regarded as malicious violations or even as “massive riots”, whose participants were sentenced to several years in prison.
In the second report, “2012-2013: an assault against on freedom”, FIDH and ADC “Memorial” stated increased repression against civil society in 2012-2013. It was during these years, that an assault against the rights and freedoms of citizens began, which also unfortunately continued ever since: the right to free expression, to information, to peaceful assembly and association, recognition of the rights of minorities were continuously violated.