Mon Sep 23 15:08:41 UTC 2024: ## UN Report Condemns Russia’s “Systematic Crackdown” on Human Rights
**Moscow, Russia** – A damning United Nations report has revealed a “severe deterioration” in human rights in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, citing a systematic crackdown on civil society and a wave of repression against dissent.
The report, compiled by UN Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova, details alarming abuses including police brutality, widespread suppression of independent media, and the silencing of Kremlin critics through punitive new laws. Katzarova, who was denied entry to Russia, gathered information through interviews with political groups, activists, and lawyers.
The report highlights “credible reports” of torture, sexual violence, rape, and threats of sexual abuse by police. It also accuses the Russian government of using new laws targeting “fake news” and foreign-funded individuals to muzzle opposition both physically and online, leading to “mass arbitrary arrests” and lengthy prison sentences.
The report cites the case of Artyom Kamardin, sentenced to seven years for reading an anti-war poem in public, as an example of the harsh penalties imposed on those who challenge the Kremlin’s narrative.
“Russians are getting shockingly long prison sentences,” Katzarova told the BBC. “It’s seven years for reading an anti-war poem, or saying a prayer by a priest which was against the war, or producing a play perceived to be anti-war.”
Despite the risks, Katzarova acknowledges the continued resistance within Russia. “As in any totalitarian, authoritarian state, people don’t want to get in trouble – it doesn’t mean that they are supportive of some madness, an aggressive war against their neighbor,” she said.
The report further accuses the Russian government of manipulating children through mandatory school lessons promoting the war in Ukraine, labeling them “important conversations.” Children refusing to attend these classes and their parents face pressure and harassment.
In a particularly disturbing case, a fifth-grader from Moscow was interrogated by police after skipping the class, and his mother was charged with “failing to fulfil parental duties.”
The report also details the coercion and exploitation of Russian men conscripted to fight in Ukraine. Many have been “mobilized by deception, the use of force, or by taking advantage of their vulnerability.” Those who refuse to fight are held in detention centers in occupied territories and “threatened with execution, violence, or a prison sentence if they did not return to the front lines.”
The report further highlights the disproportionate targeting of indigenous communities for military conscription, with evidence suggesting “authorities have imposed travel restrictions, blocking exit routes from towns and villages during mobilization sweeps.”
“Indigenous people… are really facing extinction if this continues,” Katzarova said. “I think, partly my guess and the trends that indigenous leaders are painting, is that this is part of the Russian authorities really wanting to send to the front line ‘disposable people,’ not the Slavs from St Petersburg or Moscow.”
The Kremlin has yet to issue a public response to the report, which focuses on human rights within Russia’s internationally recognized borders and does not address reported abuses in occupied territories.
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