GENEVA - There is an alarming escalation in repression targeting human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, political opponents and anti-war activists and others who express dissent in the Russian Federation, a UN expert said today, warning that the targeting is not incidental but coordinated and central to State policy.
"The policy is used to manufacture so-called internal and external "enemies of the motherland", against whom the Russian State justifies repression at home and aggression abroad," said Mariana Katzarova, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation.
"This strategy deepens discrimination, normalises violence, and emboldens impunity. Russia is now the world's third-largest jailer of journalists, with 50 currently behind bars on lengthy sentences," said the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, in her latest report to the Human Rights Council. "Among them is journalist Olga Komleva, sentenced to 12 years on charges of "extremism" and "fake news" about the Russian army for reporting on anti-government protests and Russia's war against Ukraine. Political detainees like Ms. Komleva face torture and ill-treatment in harsh penal colonies-denied adequate medical care, subjected to psychological abuse, and placed in solitary confinement (SHIZO) for speaking out," she said.
Katzarova said extremism-related charges continue to be applied against individuals affiliated with the name of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Four journalists-Antonina Favorskaya, Konstantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin, and Artyom Kriger-each received prison sentences of five and a half years simply for reporting on Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The report documents the growing weaponisation of counter-terrorism legislation to silence dissent to the war. "These prosecutions rarely assess any real public danger. Instead, courts focus on the political message ascribed to the accused," the expert said. In July, novelist Boris Akunin was sentenced in absentia to 14 years on "justifying terrorism" charges. His real crime was dissenting against the war and supporting Ukraine.
The crackdown has reached even lawyers, especially those working on politically sensitive cases. In Kaliningrad, lawyer Maria Bontsler was detained on spurious charges, denied counsel of her choice, and forced into a sham process for defending clients accused on politically motivated grounds.
"Despite the dangers, human rights defenders, lawyers, independent media, and civil society continue their work under constant threat both inside and outside the country. Their survival now depends on safe relocation options and sustained support in host countries, alongside protection against refoulement," the Special Rapporteur said.
Katzarova's report found that torture remains "systematic and widespread" in the Russian Federation, with 258 documented cases in 2024-2025. The Special Rapporteur expressed concern over the revival of punitive psychiatry, including the sentencing of journalist Maria Ponomarenko to prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment for her anti-war stance.
Particularly shocking is the participation and complicity of doctors and medical personnel in the torture of Ukrainian detainees, documented first-hand by the Special Rapporteur from a number of victims and witnesses. Prisoners of war and civilians reported starvation, use of electric shocks, rape and sexual violence, and killings in detention. At least 206 Ukrainian prisoners of war have died in Russian captivity, their bodies showing signs of torture.
The report also raises the alarm over the escalated targeting of LGBT communities, Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minorities, migrants and asylum-seekers, and normalised gender-based violence against women and girls.
"Justice inside Russia is unattainable," the Special Rapporteur said. "The international community must mobilise accountability frameworks, including universal jurisdiction, to prosecute perpetrators of torture and other serious crimes."
