HRW report: Russia should end discrimination against women in custody
Human Rights Watch released a report on Thursday stating that Russia should end discrimination against women in custody. This comes after the European Court on Human Rights ruled in the case of Tapayeva and Others v Russia, that Luisa Tapayeva, a Chechen woman, should be reunited with her four daughters who were taken from her [...]
The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that the Russian authorities’ investigation into the circumstances of the death of human rights activist Natalia Estemirova was insufficient. Estemirova was abducted and murdered in July 2009 after having investigated various cases of “kidnappings, torture and extrajudicial killings in Chechnya.” She had publicly alleged and denounced various [...]
EU sanctions Russia officials over LGBTQ rights abuses in Chechnya
The EU sanctioned two Russian individuals Monday for their alleged human rights abuses including persecuting, detaining and torturing LGBTQ individuals in the Chechen Republic. Officials from the Chechen government have been repeatedly accused by international governments and human rights groups, like Human Rights Watch, of detaining, torturing and extrajudicially executing members of the Chechen LGBTQ [...]
Leaked Chechnya government documents confirm police role in 2017 extrajudicial killings: report
Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta released exclusive documentation leaked from a government source Monday confirming that 27 men who went missing and were presumed dead in 2017 were in fact detained by Chechnyan local police, undermining the Chechnyan authorities’ official denial of their involvement in the disappearances. The documentation comes in the form of internal [...]
The draft report by Secretary of State Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights has the Kremlin dancing a collective Barynya of glee. The current US administration and President Putin already share the parochial view that rights are derived from and informed by God rather than a person’s inherent dignity. This fact alone should concern anyone committed [...]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions against Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Monday due to human rights violations dating back more than a decade. Pompeo said the State Department has “extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and [...]
The Populist Assault on the Rule of Law, Civil Society and George Soros
Since its founding in 1959, the European Court of Human Rights — a court of last resort for disenfranchised people battling the power of often repressive regimes — has safeguarded rights and freedoms in its member states, now some 50 countries strong. Over the years, the court has forced reforms in Russian prisons, come to [...]
UN rights experts urge Russia to protect LGBT individuals in Chechnya
UN rights experts on Wednesday urged Russia to “act urgently to protect the rights of people who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay or bisexual in Chechnya, and investigate allegations of human rights abuses including two reported deaths.” The experts expressed concern over reported arrests of people “who are, or are perceived to [...]
Russia top court upholds border agreement between territories
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the highest court in Russia, on Thursday upheld a decision to draw a border between the Republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya. In September the two Republics signed an agreement to define the border between them. This was the first time that the border has been defined since the [...]
Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet introduced a bill on Tuesday that would legalize same-sex marriage. Bachelet said "We believe that it is not ethical or just to place artificial limits on love or deny essential...
