Russian Federation - May 2024

Restrictions on civil liberties and harsher punishments for a wide variety of real and fictive infractions are growing in both scope and scale as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues into its third year. The list of 'terrorists and extremists' maintained by the state financial intelligence agency Rosfinmonitoring has been increasing by about 100 names every month and now includes more than 14,500 people and 550 organizations. Those on the list have heavily restricted access to all financial services, usually lose their jobs, and have their freedom of speech further legally restricted. On 6 May, the Duma passed a law that bars those on the separate “foreign agents” registry from running for any political office. Investigative journalists also found that compulsory psychiatric treatment as a punishment in political cases has increased by 500 per cent since the full-scale invasion began.

Sources: Meduza, The Moscow Times, Agentstvo

Gender-based and domestic violence have become more prevalent since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and cases involving veterans have almost doubled since February 2022. Fifty-nine misdemeanour and 33 felony domestic violence cases were charged in 2020-2021, and 104 and 64 were charged in 2022-2023, respectively. The Rights advocates say official figures are undercounts as cases are rarely reported or investigated in Russia. Felony battery cases have also risen significantly, from 3,750 in 2019 to 13,241 in 2023.  Judges usually assign the weakest punishment allowed by law (a fine of RUB 5,000 RUB, or USD 55), and veteran status is frequently cited as a mitigating factor for punishment.

Rights group Coming Out’s annual survey report on the state of LGBTQIA+ rights in Russia similarly found that repression of the community increased significantly from 2022 to 2023. Forty-four per cent of respondents reported experiencing violence or pressure in 2023, up from 30 per cent in 2022. Reports of threats and violence also increased year-on-year, and the percentage of hate crime victims who reported them to police fell to 14 from 20 per cent.

Sources: Verstka Media Coming Out, BBC Russian