Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Seventy-eighth session

Summary record of the 34th meeting*

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Tuesday, 9 September 2025, at 3 p.m.

Chair:Ms. Saran

Contents

Consideration of reports

(a)Reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

Seventh periodic report of the Russian Federation

The meeting was called to order at 3 p.m.

Consideration of reports

(a)Reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

Seventh periodic report of the Russian Federation (E/C.12/RUS/7; E/C.12/RUS/Q/7; E/C.12/RUS/RQ/7)

At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of the Russian Federation joined the meeting.

A representative of the Russian Federation, introducing his country’s seventh periodic report (E/C.12/RUS/7), said that the Russian Federation was a social State that ensured all persons equal human rights and freedoms and prohibited any restriction of rights on grounds of social, racial, ethnic, linguistic or religious affiliation. Economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health protection and medical care, were established in the Constitution.

In the previous two years, the national economy had grown at a rate above the global average, with gross domestic product increasing by 4.1 per cent in 2023 and 4.3 per cent in 2024, owing primarily to growth in domestic demand, productivity and real incomes and a fall in unemployment. The Government had achieved significant success in supporting exports, liberalizing trade regulations and improving the effectiveness of State programmes and the investment climate. It continued to make significant efforts to preserve the population level and improve health and well-being, including by undertaking to improve the healthcare system and life expectancy. The Government ensured that all students, including those with disabilities, received high-quality, accessible education. The Strategy for the State Cultural Policy for the period up to 2030 had been updated in 2024, with a focus on access to knowledge, information and cultural values and the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation.

Under the Constitution, as amended in July 2020 with the support of the majority of citizens, the minimum wage must be at least the minimum subsistence level of the working population throughout the country; pensions must be indexed at least once a year; social benefits must be indexed to at least the inflation rate; and citizens were entitled to compulsory social insurance and targeted social support. To promote public policy in the area of family protection and preservation of traditional family values, 2024 had been declared the Year of the Family, which had resulted in the adoption of the strategy on family and demographic policy and support for large families for the period up to 2036. The Government employed a family-centred approach to the development of territories, industries and services. The President had recently launched an integrated support system for families with children, beginning at the early stages of pregnancy and covering the period from the child’s birth to the completion of his or her schooling.

With regard to equality of rights of all citizens, it should be emphasized that the Soviet Union had been the first country in the world to enshrine equal rights for women and men in its Constitution, in 1918. The Russian Federation, as the successor of the Soviet Union, had upheld those rights in its laws. It was a priority of State policy to preserve conditions conducive to women’s full and equal participation in political, economic, social and cultural life, and women’s rights were treated as an integral component of human rights in the updated National Strategy for Women for the period 2023–2030. The updated strategy for older persons for the period up to 2030 included a range of measures aimed at preserving older persons’ health and social, psychological and material well-being, and efforts were being made to ensure their active ageing and participation in political and social life. All citizens of the Russian Federation were entitled to receive a pension when they met the relevant conditions. Integrating persons with disabilities into society and ensuring mandatory accessibility in all areas of life was a major priority of State policy, the Constitution provided for their social integration without any discrimination and the policy framework for increasing the employment rate of persons with disabilities for the period up to 2030 was expanding the range of employment opportunities available to them.

To increase incomes and reduce poverty, which was especially important given the pressure that was being imposed on the country through sanctions, the minimum wage had been increased several times. In 2025, it had been increased by 16.6 per cent compared to its level in 2024. A key element of the support system for low-income families with children was the single benefit, which had been rolled out throughout the country in January 2023. Before the benefit had been introduced, in 2019, the poverty rate had been 12.4 per cent. That figure had fallen to 7.2 per cent in 2024, which was the lowest rate on record. The social treasury system used digital technologies to link together data from various government systems to facilitate the payment of benefits at the federal level. Businesses and non-profit organizations had cooperated to develop electronic identity documents for large families and electronic certificates for assistive technology for persons with disabilities.

Since 2020, the unemployment rate had fallen steadily, from 6.4 per cent to a current all-time low of 2.2 per cent. Measures to provide vocational and additional training were being taken under the national human resources project. “Work in Russia”, a single digital platform, provided information about employers and employment opportunities, and Federal Act No. 565-FZ of 12 December 2023, the Employment Act, established the organizational framework for combating illegal employment.

The Constitution and federal and regional laws established all of the fundamental individual and collective rights of the country’s 47 numerically small Indigenous Peoples, and the policy framework for the sustainable development of the numerically small Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East for the period up to 2036 had been updated to take into account current challenges and threats.

The Government was making systematic efforts to protect the economic, social and cultural rights of people in the Russian Federation. He would like to see the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people respected and discrimination against Russian compatriots around the world prevented.

Mr. Hennebel (Country Rapporteur) said that he wished to know what steps the State Party had taken to ensure the right to self-determination of people in the territories under its jurisdiction or effective control, particularly in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and to prevent the economic exploitation of natural resources in those territories, in conformity with international humanitarian law and its obligations under the Covenant. He wondered whether local communities in those territories had been consulted and were able to give their free, prior and informed consent on the management of such resources.

It would be helpful to know whether the Covenant was directly applicable in the domestic legal order of the Russian Federation and whether any judicial decisions had been taken that recognized the justiciability of the rights that it established. He would like to know what training and awareness-raising activities regarding the Covenant were provided for judges, procurators and lawyers and would welcome details of the budget allocated to such activities and their national scope. It would be helpful to know whether people working in the justice sector were familiar with the provisions of the Covenant and any examples of cases in which they had been referred to in court would be welcome. He wondered whether any measures had been put in place to ensure that the obligations arising from the Covenant were systematically reflected in the drafting of laws and public policies, particularly with respect to budgetary, social and environmental matters.

He wished to know how, given the information provided by the delegation about economic growth, increasing gross domestic product and the low unemployment rate in the country, the State Party could justify reductions in social sector expenditure in key areas such as health, education and housing, and what measures it had taken to strengthen transparency and efficiency in the allocation of budgetary resources for enforcing economic, social and cultural rights. It would be useful to know whether an analysis of the impact of military spending on the progressive realization of the rights established in the Covenant had been carried out and, if so, whether its results were publicly available, and whether that analysis had taken into account the impact on the most vulnerable groups in society.

It would be helpful to hear what legislative and institutional measures had been taken to combat corruption, particularly in sensitive areas such as health, education, social housing and public procurement. He wondered whether an independent anti-corruption body had been established and, if so, whether it had investigatory powers and how it responded to complaints. He wished to know whether the State Party made available data, disaggregated by sector, on corruption cases and would appreciate information on the judicial follow-up given to them.

He wondered whether the State Party intended to adopt framework legislation prohibiting all forms of direct and indirect discrimination, particularly on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic origin, disability and migration status; whether a mechanism for handling complaints of discrimination had been established; and whether data on inequalities in access to education, healthcare, employment and housing were made available. He wished to know what specific policies had been implemented to reduce the gender pay gap, to repeal the list of prohibited occupations for women and to analyse the impact of fiscal, budgetary and social policies on gender equality.

He would like to know what reforms had been envisaged in response to the downgrading of the status of the national human rights institution by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. He wondered whether that institution had an explicit mandate to cover economic, social and cultural rights, whether it operated a complaints mechanism and what resources were allocated to it. It would be useful to know what specific measures were taken to ensure the independent appointment of judges, their irremovability, their protection from political, security-related and other pressure and their ability to rule on difficult human rights-related matters. He wished to know what mechanisms were used to discipline judges and whether access to justice was guaranteed throughout the State Party, including in rural areas and autonomous regions.

He wondered whether the State Party had adopted a legislative or regulatory framework for the protection of human rights defenders and what specific steps it took to prevent reprisals, threats and abusive legal action against them and their criminalization. It would be useful to know whether the State Party had any plans to amend or repeal legislation on foreign agents or undesirable organizations in accordance with the recommendations made by various international organizations. He would like to know whether the State Party had adopted a national action plan on business and human rights and whether it imposed due diligence obligations on companies, particularly in the extractive, energy and arms sectors. He wished to know what judicial mechanisms had been established to guarantee Indigenous Peoples the right to free, prior and informed consent, what policies in the areas of language, healthcare and education were implemented to prevent the marginalization of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and whether such peoples were able to access culturally adapted services using their native languages. It would be helpful to hear what measures the State Party had taken to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement, particularly in terms of energy transition and emissions reduction.

With regard to conflict areas, he wished to know what measures the State Party had taken to prevent, investigate and stop attacks on hospitals, schools and other infrastructure essential to the exercise of the rights protected by the Covenant and to prohibit the military use of such infrastructure. He wondered what guarantees had been put in place to ensure that persons living in the occupied territories of Ukraine had non-discriminatory access to healthcare, education and social protection. He would like to know what measures had been taken to protect Ukrainian-language teaching and cultural heritage in the occupied territories; to ensure that educational, linguistic and cultural policies applied in the occupied territories did not violate the rights of local people to preserve their language, culture and collective identity; and to prevent any form of forced cultural assimilation. He wondered what steps the State Party had taken to ensure that its actions did not prevent the full exercise of the rights protected under the Covenant. He wished to know what steps had been taken to ensure that serious violations of economic, social and cultural rights, such as destruction of civilian infrastructure, deprivation of livelihood and restriction of access to water or food, were investigated promptly, independently and effectively and persecutors were prosecuted, and what reparation mechanisms were available for victims. Lastly, he wondered what steps the State Party had taken to ensure compliance with articles 2 and 4 of the Covenant by preventing any derogation from the rights protected therein and ensuring that any limitations of those rights were strictly managed, even in a state of emergency.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that approximately 9 million km2 of territory was recognized by law as traditional Indigenous lands. Various legal regimes provided that exploitation of natural resources was contingent on prior consultation with those peoples and their compensation for any losses incurred. In the case of development projects requiring the enforced resettlement of Indigenous persons, their free, prior and informed consent had to be sought in consultations that had to be conducted in compliance with special procedures provided for by law that took into account the specific characteristics of their way of life.

A large number of Indigenous Peoples lived in autonomous areas, in which they enjoyed the highest level of self-determination. There were regional ombudsmen for Indigenous People’s rights, and Indigenous Peoples were represented in regional governments and high-level decision-making bodies. Reports on the views of Indigenous Peoples regarding national laws affecting them were available online in English.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the Constitution and labour laws prohibited discrimination in the workplace and provided for equal rights and opportunities for all workers. Unfair refusal to hire or dismissal of pregnant women or women with children under the age of 3 years were criminal offences. Women now represented half of the workforce and the majority of workers in the education, healthcare, social services, financial, insurance and trade sectors. A total of 30 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses were headed by women. Women held a large majority of posts in the civil service, local government and judicial and procuratorial bodies.

As a result of ongoing work with trade unions and employers aimed primarily at eliminating working conditions that posed a threat to women’s reproductive health and the health of their unborn children, the list of prohibited occupations for women had been reduced from more than 450 positions in 2019 to 100 in 2025. Employers could employ women in positions on the list if a special assessment determined that no such conditions were present.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the Constitution established the right to free general education. The study of 58 native languages of numerically small Indigenous Peoples was currently covered by federal educational standards, and corresponding study materials were available.

With regard to the territories that had reunified with the Russian Federation, all educational institutions in zones for which Russia was responsible had begun the academic year on 1 September 2025. The Government had assumed responsibility for fully restoring damaged school buildings. Access to the study of Ukrainian in those territories, which could be studied as an extracurricular subject, had been ensured and corresponding study materials had been provided. Approximately 1,500 students in Kherson Oblast and 2,800 students in Zaporizhzhia Oblast were studying Ukrainian.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that a specialized department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had been given the necessary powers to identify and combat corruption in cooperation with other law enforcement bodies. The Government had identified reducing corruption as a priority for the development of public administration and had adopted an economic security strategy in 2017. More than 21,000 offences involving corruption had been identified in 2024, which represented an increase of 20 per cent compared with 2023. The number of cases identified had increased by almost 22 per cent over the previous five years. In the course of investigations, 29.9 billion roubles in losses had been identified and property worth more than 41 billion roubles had been seized. Criminal proceedings had recently been initiated against the general director of the Kursk Region Development Corporation for misappropriation of more than 20 million roubles.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that, in addition to cooperating with other bodies to combat corruption, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation worked to improve the skills of anti-corruption investigators and responded to complaints submitted by victims of corruption. In 2024, it had submitted 11,500 corruption cases to the courts, and 486 persons with privileged legal status, including 28 members of the judiciary, had been implicated in such offences. Thus far in 2025, it had submitted more than 5,000 corruption cases to the courts and 596 persons with privileged legal status, including 16 deputies, 1 senator, 98 lawyers, 9 procurators and 6 judges, had been criminally prosecuted. Steps were also being taken to prevent and combat acts of corruption by both foreign nationals and officials in the area of migration.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that article 15 of the Constitution stated that treaties ratified by the Russian Federation formed part of the country’s legal system. The Covenant was directly applicable, and its provisions had been reproduced in several laws.

All national laws and regulations to combat corruption had been evaluated by experts. The sectors with the highest levels of corruption were construction, transport and procurement. In 2024, more than 13,000 cases of corruption had been tried by the courts and over 12,000 people had been convicted, including around 750 public officials and more than 1,000 law enforcement officers. More than 8,000 people had been convicted of bribery. For example, a police officer had been convicted of accepting a bribe from a business enterprise in exchange for ending an ongoing investigation into the business. He had been sentenced to 10 years’ deprivation of liberty in a strict regime correctional colony, a fine of 10 million roubles and the forfeiture of his and his relatives’ property, acquired through unexplained wealth, worth more than 200 million roubles, among other penalties.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the rights set out in the Covenant were enshrined in the Constitution. The Covenant had been invoked in 21 decisions handed down by the Constitutional Court between 2017 and 2025 and in almost 5,000 rulings issued by national courts in 2023 and 2024. Information about the Committee’s interpretation and application of the Covenant was provided to judges and court staff and digests of its jurisprudence were prepared and made available online and on judicial databases.

The principle of the independence of the judiciary was enshrined in the Constitution and guaranteed by several laws, which, for example, prohibited any interference in the administration of justice on pain of prosecution and established procedures for suspending or removing judges from office. Professional misconduct by judges was punishable by disciplinary measures that were determined by a qualification board of judges. Judges could not be held liable for any opinion expressed or decision made, provided it was issued within the scope of their authority and in accordance with the law.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that a system of indexation had been introduced to ensure that social payments, including pensions, were increased on a regular basis in line with – or even above – the rate of inflation. More than 10 million families were entitled to receive the single benefit for families with children. The benefit, which had been introduced in 2023, had already helped to reduce the country’s poverty rate significantly.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that health expenditure had risen steadily over the previous few years. Foreign nationals from countries belonging to the Eurasian Economic Union who were living and working in the Russian Federation on a temporary basis were covered by compulsory medical insurance and had access to free medical care under that insurance on an equal basis with nationals. Foreign nationals from other countries could obtain compulsory medical insurance after spending three years in the country. All foreign nationals who were employed in the Russian Federation could obtain voluntary medical insurance by purchasing it themselves or through an agreement with their employer. Emergency medical assistance was provided free of charge in situations where the health or life of a person was at risk.

Residents of the new constituent entities that had been reunited with the Russian Federation were subject to the same laws and enjoyed the same level of health protection as citizens in other parts of the country. They were entitled to receive medical care without discrimination on the basis of age, medical condition or other factors.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the principle of equality before the law was enshrined in the Constitution. The law did not provide for separate liability with regard to the rights of human rights organizations and human rights defenders. They themselves had the same administrative and criminal liability as other organizations and individuals and were not held to different standards.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the purpose of the legislation on foreign agents was to enable the State to protect its sovereignty and national interests by preventing foreign interference in internal affairs. Foreign agent status was assigned to individuals and organizations on the basis of clear criteria, which included being under foreign influence and carrying out activities in areas that were strategically important for Russian society, such as the military sphere. The notion of “foreign influence” was defined broadly in national law simply because the methods used by foreign States to promote their agendas were many and varied. While foreign agents were required to keep the public informed about their work and to submit reports to the competent bodies, they were not deprived of their rights or prohibited from carrying out their activities, and legal protection mechanisms were available to them. It was possible for foreign agent status to be revoked.

Currently, fewer than 1 per cent of all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) registered in the country were classed as foreign agents. Over the course of 2025, some 50 NGOs had been removed from the register of foreign agents because the nature of their operations had changed.

Mr. Hennebel said that it would be helpful if the delegation could expand on its responses to his questions concerning the management of natural resources, including in the occupied territories of Ukraine; social expenditure; business and human rights; the State’s obligations in respect of climate change; and the application of the Covenant in situations of armed conflict. The Committee was deeply concerned by reports that the authorities of the Russian Federation in the occupied territories were pursuing policies that amounted to forced cultural assimilation, in flagrant violation of the Covenant. According to numerous sources, steps were being taken to weaken or erase the cultural identity of the Ukrainian population, including the abolition of education in the Ukrainian language and the removal of Ukrainian cultural symbols. He would like to invite the delegation to comment on those reports.

Ms. Lee (Country Task Force) said that, in the light of reports that the diversion of resources to war-related activities had put pressure on public services and exacerbated inequalities, she would like to know how the significant increase in military expenditure had affected the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, particularly among low- and middle-income households. She wished to know what measures had been taken to ensure that residents in the occupied territories of Ukraine were not required to obtain Russian passports in order to gain access to employment, healthcare, education and other services. She wondered what was being done to address the persistent underrepresentation of women in decision-making and senior management positions in both the public and private sectors. Lastly, she would be interested to know whether the State Party planned to review the law aimed at protecting children from information advocating the denial of traditional family values, in view of concerns that it might reinforce gender stereotypes and result in discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Mr. Fiorio Vaesken said that he would like to know what percentage of corruption cases had been tried by the courts. The State Party had reported that more than 60 per cent of the persons convicted of corruption had committed offences directly related to bribery in the public or private sector. It would be useful to know what proportion of those offences had involved the public sector only, the private sector only, or interaction between both sectors. Lastly, he wondered whether there was an inter-institutional mechanism responsible for monitoring the implementation of recommendations received from treaty bodies and other human rights mechanisms.

Mr. Windfuhr said that it would be helpful if the delegation could comment on reports that the new list of numerically small Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East had introduced complex requirements for Indigenous persons to register their claims for the use of hunting and fishing grounds. He would appreciate more information on the “no-objection” principle for the preferential rights of Indigenous Peoples to have access to fishing resources, mentioned in the State Party’s replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/RUS/RQ/7, para. 44). Lastly, he would like to know why work on the amendment of Federal Act No. 49-FZ of 7 May 2001 on Territories of Traditional Resource Use by the Numerically Small Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East had been suspended.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the list of Indigenous Peoples was in no way discriminatory and had been developed at the request of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East of the Russian Federation with the aim of removing barriers to the implementation of the social and economic rights of Indigenous Peoples. The information included in that register was provided by citizens on a voluntary basis. Indigenous persons who had chosen not to submit information were not deprived of their rights.

The purpose of Federal Act No. 49-FZ of 7 May 2001 on Territories of Traditional Resource Use by the Numerically Small Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East was to protect the ancestral habitat and traditional way of life of Indigenous Peoples. The Act established protected territories in 14 of the 28 regions where Indigenous Peoples lived.

The Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs was responsible for protecting ethnocultural rights and ensuring the free development of all peoples, including Indigenous Peoples. Certain aspects of Indigenous culture were dealt with by other authorities, such as Indigenous fishing, which was covered by a specific legal regime and fell under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that fines accounted for 48 per cent of sentences handed down for corruption, while suspended sentences represented almost 27 per cent and custodial sentences 21 per cent. The most common additional penalty was forfeiture of the right to occupy certain posts or engage in certain activities. The public prosecution service had stepped up its efforts to confiscate illegally acquired property, and the number of convicted persons subjected to that measure had increased by 40 per cent between 2023 and 2024.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that residents of the new constituent entities of the Russian Federation enjoyed all the social rights that were enshrined in the Constitution. All social policy measures were being fully implemented in those regions: regional programmes for older persons for the period up to 2030 had been developed, multifunctional family centres had been established and new health and education infrastructure was being built. Those measures were provided for in the federal budget.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the residents of the reunified territories had voted by referendum to reunite with the Russian Federation. They could apply for Russian citizenship on a voluntary basis, and there was no discrimination against those who chose not to do so.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that, in accordance with federal law, measures were taken to protect children from information and propaganda that was harmful to their health and development, including information that promoted non-traditional sexual relations or preferences. There were no plans to amend the legislation in that area.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that national education law was applicable in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Since, by law, education in the Russian Federation must be provided in Russian, all schools in those territories were required to conduct their activities in Russian. Nevertheless, Ukrainian enjoyed the status of a native language in those territories and could be studied on a voluntary basis. Around 1,500 children in Kherson Oblast and around 5,280 children in Zaporizhzhia Oblast were studying Ukrainian.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the post of Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs’ Rights had been established to protect businesses against abuse by State and municipal authorities. The Commissioner had broad powers, including unrestricted access to government bodies, participation in on-site inspections of enterprises, the right to visit persons accused of business crimes and the issuance of relevant recommendations to the authorities. In addition, a federal project had been launched to support small and medium-sized enterprises, including financial support.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the federal budget allocation for social policy, including pensions and support for families with children, had amounted to 7.9 trillion roubles in 2024. The budget of the Pension and Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation had amounted to 16.3 trillion roubles, with 11.1 trillion going towards the payment of pensions.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that expenditure on health had increased by 7.3 per cent from 2022 to 2023 and by 13.6 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was implementing an environmental well-being project that included initiatives to reduce air pollution, preserve water resources and develop ecotourism. In that regard, more than 1 trillion roubles had been allocated, over a six-year period, to the achievement of the objectives set by the President; 50 per cent of the funding was from the State budget and between 30 and 40 per cent was from extrabudgetary sources.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the relevant law enforcement agencies had been set up in the reunified territories with the aim of ensuring public order and preventing attacks on public infrastructure, including schools. Administrative and criminal legislation was enforced in those territories in the same manner as in the rest of the Russian Federation.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that women accounted for 78 per cent of leadership positions in public bodies and for 80 per cent of the judiciary. The authorities offered management and leadership development courses for women interested in public and political life. A new national strategy to promote the interests of women had been adopted for the period 2023–2030; its key pillars included increasing women’s role in socioeconomic activities, strengthening their representation in politics and protecting their health. The necessary budgetary and other resources had been allocated for the implementation of the strategy and for women’s well-being programmes, including for older women. A network of family centres was being developed.

Ms. Lee (Country Task Force) said that she would like to know how the State Party addressed the underlying causes of the reportedly high rate of informal employment in the State Party. It would be useful to understand how the misuse of civil law contracts and repeated fixed-term contracts was monitored and addressed and what measures had been taken to help people transition from the informal to the formal economy and to ensure that labour regulations were enforced in a transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory manner. The delegation might provide an account of any measures that were in place to remove barriers allegedly facing ethnic and religious minorities, in particular persons from the North Caucasus and Central Asia, in obtaining equal access to employment and protection from discrimination. She would be interested to know what safeguards and remedies were in place to prevent and address arbitrary profiling and discrimination in access to employment, with a particular focus on people listed in the so-called preventive register (profuchet) in Dagestan.

She wished to know what was being done to prevent, prohibit and punish the reported coercive recruitment into military service of foreign nationals, stateless persons, residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine and persons deprived of their liberty and to ensure the independent monitoring of recruitment. She wondered whether firewalls had been put in place to ensure that immigration enforcement was separate from military recruitment. She would welcome details of the number of complaints of coercion, deception or abuse that had been received in connection with military recruitment and of the remedies that had been provided in response.

She would like to know what concrete legislative and other measures the State Party had taken to prevent, investigate and punish the exploitation of migrant workers, in particular those from Central Asia, India, Pakistan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and whether complaint mechanisms, interpretation services and legal aid were available to such workers.

The delegation might comment on the steps taken to facilitate the reporting of occupational injuries and hazards and to increase prevention-focused labour inspections in sectors where accidents were more frequent.

In the light of reported restrictions on trade union rights, she would like to know how the authorities ensured that the right to freedom of association was respected and that workers engaging in trade union activities were effectively protected from harassment and intimidation. She wondered what steps had been taken to ensure that the broad definition of “essential services” in the Labour Code did not unduly restrict the right to strike.

She would welcome details of the measures that had been taken to expand social security coverage for persons engaged in informal or non-standard forms of work, self-employed persons and migrant workers. The delegation might comment on how the impact of high inflation on wages and social security benefits was assessed and on what was being done to ensure that the amount and duration of such benefits, including unemployment benefit, adequately reflected the cost of living.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that, in 2023, legislation had been introduced to address illegal employment. Regional commissions, comprised of representatives of the executive authorities of the constituent entities, law enforcement agencies, trade unions and other relevant public bodies, had been established to ensure the proper functioning of the mechanism responsible for giving effect to labour law. The Federal Labour and Employment Service conducted oversight of compliance with labour legislation.

More than 13 million people had registered as being engaged in self-employment since that tax category had been introduced on a pilot basis. Registration policies made it possible to identify cases of illegal employment and take employers to court. The Federal Labour and Employment Service monitored an online reporting portal where complaints of labour violations could be registered. All complaints were reviewed within a month of submission.

The right to freedom of association and to form trade unions, was guaranteed in the Constitution. Foreign nationals and stateless persons living in the Russian Federation were permitted to join trade unions. Trade unions were able to monitor the conduct of employers; any employer alerted to a labour violation must take action within one week to address the issue. Relations between the State and trade unions were regulated by the Tripartite Commission, which included representatives of the main trade unions and met monthly.

The right to strike was protected in the Labour Code and the Constitution. Participation must always be voluntary, and striking workers were entitled to keep their job for the duration of the strike, although their wages could be withheld. Anyone who was prevented from working owing to a strike must be paid as usual. Certain professions that were engaged in ensuring the well-being of the population were excluded from the right to strike, as set out in the relevant legislation.

The right to just and favourable conditions of work was enshrined in the Constitution. With regard to occupational injuries, compensation schedules were in place for workplaces deemed hazardous or dangerous. Persons employed in such places were entitled to additional benefits such as extra pay, an extra leave allowance and reduced working hours. Thanks to the Government’s efforts, the number of injuries and deaths resulting from workplace accidents had been reduced by approximately 20 per cent between 2015 and 2024. Workers who sustained a workplace injury that left them unable to work were entitled to a lifetime allowance, as well as medical and rehabilitation services.

The level of the minimum wage had trebled since 2017, enabling people to meet their basic needs, and a target had been set to raise it to 35,000 roubles per month by 2030.

Foreign nationals who were legally employed had the same labour rights as Russians. Special agreements were in place for the recruitment of nationals of the States members of the Eurasian Economic Union under a quota scheme. A separate recruitment pathway was available for highly qualified workers who required a visa to enter the country.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the procuratorial authorities monitored compliance with labour legislation and addressed violations thereof, irrespective of the nationality, sex or religion of the complainant. Vulnerable persons were entitled to free legal aid. In 2024, 154,000 wage violations, 107,000 occupational health and safety violations and 29,000 violations in the area of employment had been identified; 76,000 applications against abusive employers to remedy breaches of the law had been received, 37,000 lawsuits had been brought to protect employees, 41,000 officials had been found administratively liable for labour violations and 920 criminal cases had been initiated. The figures were lower than in previous years thanks to increased efforts to uphold human rights in the workplace. In the previous five years, more than 500 employers had received fines or suspended custodial sentences for failure to pay wages in full for more than two months.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that a mechanism had been introduced to ensure that anyone hired on the basis of a civil law contract was provided not only with a pension but also short-term disability coverage, with the aim of removing any financial incentive for employers to replace employment contracts with civil law contracts.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that preventive registers served as a mechanism to prevent the commission of criminal or administrative offences. They involved preventive measures such as interviews with the persons listed in the register and visits to their places of residence, solely for the purpose of protecting the rights of other persons from repeat offences by those offenders. They had no impact on employment rights or on the rights of the persons concerned.

Foreign nationals in places of detention were able to take up employment on a voluntary basis; there was no coercion in such situations.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the Code of Criminal Procedure established the right of persons to give testimony in their native language or a language that they knew. Where necessary, interpretation services and translations of documents were provided at all stages of criminal proceedings. The parties involved were entitled to be informed of their rights and ask any questions they might have.

Ms. Lee said that she would like to know what steps the State Party had taken to make it easier for trade unions to register with the relevant authority of the Ministry of Justice and to ensure that the requirement for unions to do so did not unduly restrict workers’ right to freely form and join trade unions. She would also welcome information on any measures introduced to guarantee equal access to employment for persons with disabilities and the adequate provision of reasonable accommodation.

Ms. Rossi said that the delegation might explain whether quotas for the employment of persons with disabilities were in place in both the public and private sectors and, if so, provide details of any steps taken to assess the effectiveness of such quotas and any relevant figures. It would be helpful to know whether the State Party had drawn up a national plan to tackle trafficking in persons and, if so, whether the plan had its own budget and established mechanisms designed to provide victims with shelter and support their social and economic reintegration. Data on the number of trafficking investigations initiated and the sentences handed down to the perpetrators would be welcome. She would be interested to hear about the duration and actual use of maternity, paternity and parental leave, the public and private care services available for young children, older persons and persons with disabilities and the implementation of flexible working arrangements to help persons, in particular women, achieve a work-life balance.

Mr. Palmisano said that he wished to know whether the State Party intended to take steps to address the discrepancy in length between mandatory military service (one year) and alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors (21 months).

Ms. Chen said that she would appreciate an update on the implementation of the Long-term Programme to Promote Youth Employment and clarification on the seemingly contradictory data provided in paragraphs 14 and 15 of the State Party’s replies to the list of issues, which concerned the number of people who had been lifted out of poverty in recent years.

Mr. Hennebel said that he would like to know what measures had been introduced to prevent and punish violations of economic, social and cultural rights committed abroad by military or private security companies registered in the State Party, in particular in the context of armed conflicts or occupation. It would be useful to learn, for example, whether such companies were required to fulfil certain due diligence obligations and extraterritorial responsibilities, in line with the Covenant and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The delegation might describe what had been done to ensure that individuals in the occupied territories of Ukraine were able to work without coercion, in addition to the steps taken to protect civilian personnel, in particular the highly qualified staff working at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, from all forms of intimidation, arbitrary detention, torture or threats aimed at forcing them to accept the de facto administration. He would welcome the delegation’s comments on reports that civilian workers, including those working in nuclear power stations, the prison service, the emergency services and healthcare, had been forced to sign new employment contracts under threat or systematic harassment. The Committee had received reports of restrictions on access to basic social services, pensions and health and disability services in the occupied territories, which, in some cases, had resulted in persons being forced to enter conflict zones or obtain a Russian passport to use such services. He would thus like to know what measures had been taken to guarantee that persons in those territories could continue to enjoy their social rights without discrimination or conditions linked to their citizenship or political allegiance.

Ms. Pérez (Country Task Force) said that she wished to know whether the State Party had drawn up a plan on business and human rights that was focused on protecting its population from possible human rights violations committed by companies.

Mr. Bouzid said that he would appreciate information on the content of article 144.1 of the Criminal Code, which concerned the unjustified refusal to hire and the dismissal of persons nearing retirement age.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that approximately 30 per cent of persons with disabilities of working age were currently employed. Almost half of the 41,000 persons with disabilities who had applied to the public employment service in July 2025 had been placed in a job. The Employment Act contained a specific chapter on persons with disabilities, details of which were set out in paragraph 70 of the replies to the list of issues. Job vacancies and training opportunities for such persons were posted in a dedicated section of the country’s digital platform for employment-related matters. Quotas for the employment of persons with disabilities were provided for in law. More than 130,000 organizations had established such quotas, and 83 per cent of the 451,000 posts covered by the quota system had been filled. The Government provided employers that recruited a person with disabilities with a sum of 200,000 roubles to spend on making the adjustments and providing for the assistive technology required to ensure that that person would enjoy adequate working conditions.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that a quota had been established to ensure that at least 10 per cent of free places at higher education institutions were granted to persons with disabilities. The quota was generally filled to around 40 per cent, which meant that all persons with disabilities who wished to study could do so free of charge. Certain persons with disabilities were entitled to embark upon a second free higher education course in order to increase the employment opportunities open to them. Specific educational centres for such persons would be set up to ensure that they received comprehensive support during and after their professional training.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that trade unions were subject to registration like any other legal entity entered in the unified State register of legal entities. Given that trade unions operated independently, unlike other legal entities, they were registered through a notification process. The registration authority and its regional branches had no control over trade unions’ activities and had no right to refuse a registration request unless there were legal grounds for doing so. Such refusals would be justified, for example, in cases in which the trade union’s charter contained provisions that ran counter to the Constitution and other laws, the trade union failed to submit the necessary documents or its name was offensive to public morals or citizens’ ethnic or religious sensitivities. Any association that had been denied registration had the right to challenge that decision before the courts.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that women were entitled to take up to three years’ maternity leave, of which 18 months would be paid. The law had recently been amended so that women who opted to return to work could continue to receive childcare allowances. Steps had been taken to create the conditions necessary to support remote working, with a view to making it easier for women to remain in employment while raising their children. Pensions and other social allowances were paid to every eligible person living in the territory of the Russian Federation, including the reunified constituent entities, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The social legislation was applied uniformly to Russian citizens residing in that territory, without any exceptions.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that tackling trafficking was a priority for the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, which was working to identify and dismantle the organizations involved in that crime. Both trafficking in persons and slavery were criminalized under the Criminal Code. Between 2021 and 2024, the number of trafficking cases referred to the courts had ranged from 8 to 18 per year. The low number of such case brought before the courts was owing to a high level of underreporting. An investigation was currently being conducted into a criminal group that had sold 15 newborn infants who had been removed from their mothers, who had no intention of raising them. The case was extremely complex, which explained why the investigations took time and why only a small number of such cases were brought before the courts.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that the Criminal Code provided for the punishment of child abduction and sexual exploitation. In 2024, hundreds of cases involving child prostitution or the receipt of sexual services from minors had been brought to light. There had also been almost 1,000 cases involving the production or distribution of pornographic material. The Intergovernmental Programme of Joint Measures to Combat Crime for the period 2024–2028, including abduction, trafficking in persons and the sexual exploitation of women and children, had been established by the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2023.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that employers that refused to recruit persons who were within five years of retirement age were liable to prosecution. Pursuant to the Labour Code, certain groups of the population were entitled to work reduced hours. One such group was parents of children with disabilities, who were granted 24 additional days of leave to help them care for their child.

Ms. Pérez said that she wished to know whether the State Party had a specific legal framework for preventing and addressing cases of domestic violence and what steps it had taken to train law enforcement officers, judges and social workers in identifying such cases and applying emergency protection measures. She wondered whether systems for monitoring gender-based violence and mechanisms for inter-institutional coordination and the compilation of data on that matter were fully operational in all regions and what was being done to protect women and girls, in particular those in the North Caucasus region, from gender-based violence, so-called “honour crimes”, forced marriage and community reprisals. The delegation might explain what was being done to prevent the institutionalization of orphaned children with disabilities and children from poor families and whether the State Party had considered establishing a comprehensive care system aimed at reducing the care burden on women, contributing to the protection of persons with disabilities or special needs and supporting the care of older persons. It would be helpful to learn, too, whether the State Party conducted time-use surveys to gauge how much time persons dedicated to unpaid domestic work.

It would be useful to know what measures were in place to ensure that children who had been displaced from the territories under the State Party’s effective control were not separated from their families, adopted or subjected to a change in their legal status without the free, informed and verifiable consent of their parents and to guarantee respect for those children’s best interests and cultural identity by the relevant institutions. She was curious to know what judicial and diplomatic measures had been introduced to ensure the identification, return and reunification with their families of Ukrainian children who had been transferred or deported to the State Party from the territories under its occupation. She would be grateful for information on the steps taken to guarantee access to social protection for the families of persons who had been detained on political grounds, in particular in the occupied territories.

The delegation might describe what national strategies were being implemented to combat chronic and multidimensional poverty, in particular among persons in rural areas, Indigenous communities or single-parent households, and what methodology was used to set official poverty thresholds, how often such thresholds were updated and to what extent they were used to assess social and fiscal policies. It would be helpful to learn what legal, procedural and judicial guarantees were in place to regulate evictions, in particular those carried out owing to resettlement, urban gentrification or the implementation of extractive projects, and whether policies had been drawn up to prevent the forced eviction of marginalized communities. Information on the steps being taken to increase affordable, continuous and non-discriminatory access to drinking water, sanitation and basic digital services, including in remote regions, would be welcome, as would details of any plans to increase investment in those areas, in particular in rural and peri-urban areas. Had the State Party adopted any policies to regulate the property and rental markets?

She would appreciate information on healthcare coverage in rural areas, Indigenous communities and the occupied territories and on the percentage share of gross domestic product that was allocated to the health sector. It would be interesting to learn what was being done to boost prevention efforts, in particular in terms of vaccinations, infant nutrition, noncommunicable diseases and environmental health. She wished to know what policies were being implemented to guarantee equal access to maternal healthcare in Indigenous and remote communities and to comprehensive sex education and reproductive health services such as safe abortions, emergency contraceptives and prenatal and postnatal care. Information on any specific programmes for persons deprived of their liberty and transgender persons with HIV would be welcome, as would a description of any strategies that had been adopted to reduce the likelihood of persons developing drug-related disorders. She would be grateful for the delegation’s comments on reports that the lack of harm reduction programmes in place for persons who injected drugs had resulted in an increase in cases of HIV/AIDS.

She would be interested to learn what steps had been taken to prevent stigmatization and abuse in psychiatric facilities, enhance community mental healthcare and promote a transition towards deinstitutionalization. It would be useful to know how often the State Party published health-related data that were disaggregated by region, gender, ethnicity, migration status and socioeconomic category and whether efforts to tackle inequalities were informed by such data. The delegation might explain whether complaints and redress mechanisms were accessible to victims of medical negligence or discrimination within the public health system and describe what was being done to guarantee continuous access to basic medical care for refugees, asylum-seekers and persons receiving temporary protection. She wondered whether measures had been adopted to guarantee equitable, continuous and unimpeded access to medical care in the occupied territories and ensure that that access was not contingent on possession of a Russian passport or identity document.

The meeting rose at 6 p.m.