Human Rights Council

Fifty-seventh session

9 September–11October 2024

Agenda item 4

Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 10 October 2024

5 7 / 20. Situation of human rights in the Russian Federation

The Human Rights Council,

Guidedby the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international human rights treaties and instruments,

Reaffirming that it is the primary responsibility of each State to respect, protect and fulfil human rights in accordance with its obligations under international human rights law,

Reaffirming also its strong commitment to the sovereignty and political independence of the Russian Federation within its internationally recognized borders,

Recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 51/25 of 7 October 2022 and 54/23 of 12 October 2023 on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation,

Recalling alsoall relevant statements made by the Secretary-General, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the treaty bodies concerning the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, including those by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation,

Recalling furtherthe alarming findings in the report of the Moscow Mechanism of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on the legal and administrative practices of the Russian Federation of 22 September 2022, as well as of its reports of 4 May 2023 and 25 April 2024,

Gravely concernedat the continued significant deterioration of the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, in particular at reports of the extrajudicial killing of government critics, severe restrictions on the rights to freedoms of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, both online and offline, to silence dissent, anti-war expression and other peaceful activities vital for the functioning of a democratic society, resulting in an unabating systematic crackdown by the Russian authorities on civil society organizations and representatives, human rights defenders, particularly women human rights defenders, who face specific sexual and gender-based violence and threats, independent media outlets, journalists, media workers, Indigenous Peoples, persons in vulnerable situations, children and their families, persons belonging to minorities, lawyers, political opposition representatives, and other individuals exercising their human rights,

Expressing its deep concernat the reported mass arbitrary arrests, detentions and harassment of the persons referred to in the previous paragraph, including persons peacefully protesting and speaking out against the deterioration of the rule of law in the Russian Federation and the war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and the excessive use of force against these individuals, as well as at the lack of an independent judiciary, denial of the right to a fair trial and legal assistance of their own choice, including for those detained, and the intimidation of, arbitrary disciplinary measures against, and disbarment and criminal prosecution of lawyers for performing their professional duties, including lawyers defending those arrested and sentenced on politically motivated grounds,

Expressing concern at thetorture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees, including acts involving the denial of access to adequate medical care, and their arbitrary placement in punitive solitary isolation cells or solitary confinement; at the unwillingness of the authorities to investigate allegations of enforced disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as of sexual and gender-based violence against persons in detention; at the situation of individuals, especially children, deported to the Russian Federation; and at the persistent impunity for these acts,

Expressing g rave concern at the death of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny in detention, and the failure of the Russian authorities to conduct an effective, independent and impartial investigation into the circumstances of his death,

Calling up on the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release and effectively rehabilitate all those persons arbitrarily or unlawfully detained, arrested, charged or sentenced on politically motivated grounds or for exercising their human rights,

Expressing its concern at the mass forced shutdowns of civil society organizations, including Memorial, the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Sakharov Centre, the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, the Centre for Support of Indigenous Peoples of the North and the human rights organization Man and Law, the blocking and forced closure of nearly all independent media outlets, including radio channels, television channels, online media and newspapers, the bans on foreign media and the targeted revocation of registration of foreign organizations by the Russian authorities, and also at the limited access of Russian civil society to information and communications infrastructure and to independent information, and the increase in offline and online censorship and disinformation, as well as the pervasive new cybersurveillance systems to control information and intimidate and silence critics,

Noting with deep concernthe legislative measures to increasingly restrict the freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information, both online and offline, notably the laws on so-called “foreign agents”, “extremism” and “undesirable organizations”, as amended, the law on “fake news about the Russian army” and “discreditation of the use of the Russian armed forces” of March 2022, amending the Code on Administrative Offences and the Criminal Code, and general prohibitions on the dissemination of information based on vague and ambiguous notions, as well as the misuse of the court system for political purposes, which together have the effect of suppressing peaceful, independent and pluralistic views through the application of steep fines, arbitrary detention and lengthy prison sentences,

Concerned at the human rights violations stemming from the arbitrary use and instrumentalization of laws relating to the “security of the State”, including “treason” or anti-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation with an excessively broad interpretation beyond their stated purpose, aimed at silencing dissenting voices, and at extrajudicial restrictions, the secret trial of civilians by military courts and laws that are used in practice to limit freedom of expression and association, and in this regard expressing concern at the addition of at least 55 Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and other regional and minorities groups to the list of “extremist organizations”,

Alarmed that legislative measures are being used by the authorities against Russian civil society, human rights defenders and Indigenous Peoples to penalize and criminalize cooperation with international organizations, including as intimidation and reprisal for cooperation with the United Nations human rights mechanisms, and that the enforcement of such legislation is reportedly leading to self-censorship and dissuading civil society actors from publicly engaging with the United Nations and other organizations,

Convincedthat the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the integrity of the judicial system and an independent legal profession are essential prerequisites for the protection of human rights, the rule of law, good governance and democracy, and for ensuring that there is no discrimination in the administration of justice, and that they should therefore be respected in all circumstances,

Deploring the continuing social, political and economic discrimination and violence against women and girls and individuals in vulnerable situations and the level of sexual and gender-based violence in the country, and urging the Russian authorities to take effective measures to criminalize in national law all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and to prevent, investigate and ensure accountability for sexual and gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, as well as, in particular in the North Caucasus region, gender-related killings, such as “honour” killings, forced marriage and the practice of female genital mutilation, and to take a survivor-centred approach to fighting sexual and gender-based violence and abuse,

D eploring also that the Russian authorities have designated some human rights organizations and groups of persons in vulnerable situations as “extremist” and added them to the list of “undesirable” organizations, which has reportedly resulted in these persons suffering greater physical and verbal abuse, persecution, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and torture, and other crimes committed against them with impunity,

Regrettingthat, despitethe two postponements granted by the Human Rights Committee, the Russian Federation did not participate in the constructive dialogue with the Committee during its 136th session, and taking note of the Committee’s concluding observations on the eighth periodic review of the Russian Federation, the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of the Russian Federation and the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the combined twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth periodic reports of the Russian Federation,

Recallingthat the Russian Federation ceased to be a high contracting party to the European Convention on Human Rights on 16 September 2022, and that 8,350 applications directed against the Russian Federation are currently pending before the European Court of Human Rights, which remains competent to deal with cases concerning acts or omissions that took place before that date, and recalling also that the Russian Federation remains bound by the decisions taken by the European Court of Human Rights on the aforementioned pending cases,

1.Strongly urges the Russian authorities to comply with all of the State’s obligations under international human rights law;

2.Urges the Russian authorities to uphold the fundamental freedoms of thought, conscience, religion or belief, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, and political participation, and a democratic election process, in particular by removing restrictions on diversity in ideas, criticism and dissent, as well as associated rights to liberty and security of person; to put an immediate end to the reported violations of the rights to a fair trial and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, misuse of the judicial system, in particular the arbitrary use and instrumentalization of laws on “security of the State”, including on “treason”, or anti-terrorism and anti-extremism laws, to suppress the rights of journalists and other media workers, cultural figures, lawyers, researchers, historians, civil society and human rights defenders, and peaceful anti-war protesters, notably women and persons in vulnerable situations; and to release immediately and unconditionally all those arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared, and to ensure the safe return of deported individuals, especially children;

3. Welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation;

4.Decides to extend the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation as defined by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 54/23 for a period of one year, and requests the mandate holder to hold consultations with all stakeholders, including civil society inside and outside the Russian Federation, and to present a comprehensive report to the Council at its sixtieth session and to the General Assembly at its eightieth session;

5.Calls uponthe Russian authorities to establish full and non-selective engagement with all United Nations human rights mechanisms, including constructive communication and full cooperation with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, to allow the mandate holder unhindered access to visit the country and to meet freely with relevant stakeholders, including civil society and human rights defenders, as well as individuals in detention, including prisoners of war and civilians deported to the territory of the Russian Federation, and to provide the Special Rapporteur with the information necessary to properly fulfil the mandate, and also calls upon the Russian authorities to cooperate fully with all other special procedure mandate holders, the treaty bodies, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as all stakeholders in the context of the universal periodic review, and to refrain from all forms of intimidation and reprisal against persons and associations for their cooperation with these bodies;

6.Requeststhe Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide the Special Rapporteur with all assistance and adequate human, technical and financial resources necessary to enable the effective fulfilment of the mandate.

48th meeting 10 October 2024

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 20 to 8, with 19 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Albania, Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands (Kingdom of the), Paraguay, Romania, United States of America

Against:

Burundi, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, Viet Nam

Abstaining:

Algeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Somalia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates]