Immediately before presenting her report to the General Assembly, Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federationsit down with UN Newsby Nargiz Shekinskaya and underlined that “torture is used as a State-sanctioned tool of systematic repression, to maintain control and to quell dissent.”
According to her research, this goes beyond isolated cases. Torture often targets political prisoners, critics of the ongoing war in Ukraine, and diaspora communities worldwide.
Normalize torture
One of the report’s most disturbing revelations is the depiction of torture in Russian media.
The independent expert described the aftermath of the March terrorist attack in Moscow, where members of the Tajik minority who had “not yet been tried and convicted” were tortured with electric shock and mutilation.
After the broadcast, there were reports of law enforcement conducting widespread raids, arrests, and alleged abuse of migrant workers from Central Asia.
LGBTQIA+ individuals in Chechnya have also received brutal treatment from State officials there. Ms. Katzarova said members of the LGBTQIA+ community are all systematically detained, tortured and threatened with death unless they agreed to volunteer as soldiers in Ukraine.
No criminal liability, no responsibility
An important issue raised in the report is that the Russian judicial system has not adequately prosecuted cases of torture. Under Russian law, torture is not considered a separate criminal offense, allowing perpetrators to escape justice through lesser charges such as “abuse of power or authority.”
“Here we have a justice system that is so politically influenced that there is no justice for victims of torture,” she expressed. Without recourse to the European Court of Human Rights, Russia’s victims must now rely entirely on the United Nations system. lack authority to pursue legal action.
Ms. Katzarova called on governments around the world to use their criminal justice systems to prosecute torture cases in Russia under universal jurisdictionan international principle that allows courts to try cases regardless of where the crime occurred.
The Special Rapporteur as well as all other independent human rights experts of the United Nations. work on a voluntary basis, are not employees of the United Nations and do not receive salary for their work. Experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and independent of any government or organization.
