Analytical Review of the Human Rights Situation in the Russian Federation Based on the Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Russian Federation Dated October 11, 2024, No. A/79/508 https://docs.un.org/A/79/508

Prepared by: HUMAN RIGHTS & ANALYTICAL HOUSE, INC.
March 6, 2025, United States

Introduction
The report of the UN Special Rapporteur, presented to the General Assembly, provides a detailed analysis of the worsening human rights situation in Russia. It places special emphasis on the systematic use of torture, legislative loopholes, repression against civil society, and crimes against individuals committed by state authorities—often systematically rather than episodically.

Major Threats to Human Rights and Freedoms in Russia

1. State-Endorsed Torture

• Torture in Russia is used as a tool to suppress dissent and control society.
• Widespread use of torture in places of detention, including police stations, pre-trial detention centers, prisons, and psychiatric institutions.
• The application of physical and psychological torture methods such as strangulation, rape, mock executions, electric shocks, and solitary confinement.

2. Impunity of Law Enforcement Agencies

• Russian legislation lacks a clear article criminalizing torture.
• The judicial system systematically ignores complaints from victims of torture.
• In 79% of cases, investigations into torture complaints end in a refusal to open a criminal case.

3. Political Repression

• Persecution of opposition politicians, human rights defenders, and journalists.
• Use of punitive solitary confinement and special detention regimes for political prisoners.
• Complete absence of independent oversight over the conditions of detainees.

4. Use of Repressive Psychiatry

• Forced institutionalization of political activists in psychiatric facilities.
• Use of coercive psychiatric treatment to suppress dissent.
• Lack of independent psychiatric evaluations.

5. Gender-Based Violence and Repression Against Women

• Impunity for domestic violence and lack of protective mechanisms for victims.
• Sexual violence as a method of torture in prisons.
• Persecution of female activists and human rights defenders.

6. Forced Mobilization and Violence Against Conscientious Objectors

• Forced deployment to war, torture, and killings of conscientious objectors.
• Discrimination against ethnic minorities during mobilization.
• The existence of secret detention facilities for those refusing military service.

7. Repression in Chechnya
Mass abductions and extrajudicial executions.

• Forced disappearances of dissidents.
• Collective punishment of oppositionists’ families.

Conclusion: Severe Deterioration of Human Rights in the Russian Federation.

The UN report demonstrates that the human rights situation in Russia is deteriorating and taking on a systemic nature. The state deliberately employs repressive mechanisms to suppress civil society, blurs the line between law and lawlessness, and criminalizes any form of opposition.

Recommendations for Improving the Situation

1. Adoption of a clear law criminalizing torture in accordance with international standards.
2. Independent investigation of all cases of torture and prosecution of perpetrators.
3. Cessation of politically motivated persecution and release of political prisoners.
4. Ban on the use of psychiatry for repressive purposes.
5. Establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism for the penitentiary system.
6. Protection of women's rights and enforcement of penalties for gender-based violence.
7. Immediate cessation of extrajudicial executions and abductions in Chechnya.
8. Implementation of personal international sanctions against individuals involved in repressions.

Summary

UN report A/79/508 is evidence that Russia continues its movement toward a police state with complete disregard for human rights, and the violations themselves are systemic. The international community must increase pressure on the Russian authorities to stop these violations. Sanctions should be imposed on specific individuals rather than on the state as a whole, governmental organizations, or economic sectors, as experience shows that such an approach is counterproductive and leads to the opposite effect. Personal sanctions, on the other hand, contribute to the awareness of individual accountability, even when an official is forced to carry out unlawful orders from the political leadership of the Russian Federation.

Prepared by: HUMAN RIGHTS & ANALYTICAL HOUSE, INC.
March 6, 2025, United States. https://hrhouse.us