A UN expert stated on Monday that the human rights situation in Russia has significantly deteriorated since its invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, pointing to a "systematic repression" targeting civil society organizations, and called for "rectifying the situation." The report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Russia, Marianna Katzarova, reviewed by Reuters, claims that Russian authorities have carried out mass arbitrary arrests of war critics and indicates that detainees are at risk of death due to "ongoing torture and ill-treatment."
This is the first time in the history of the UN Human Rights Council that a mandate has been issued to examine the human rights record in one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. There was no immediate comment from the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva. Moscow has previously described criticisms of its human rights record as unfounded and denied targeting civilians in Ukraine, where it claims to be conducting a "special military operation" to destroy military infrastructure. The report concludes that "(the expert) has documented recent legislative restrictions used to silence civil society and punish human rights activists and others for their anti-war stance."
