Quaker speaks on human rights in Russia
'Although at first many people were protesting, with tens of thousands being arrested, after so many imprisonments the demonstrations stopped.'
Friends discussed how they could support human rights defenders in Russia this month.
Sergei Nikitin, formerly of Friends House Moscow, talked about how Russian legislation has changed since the war began in February. The Woodbrooke talk, ‘Supporting Human Rights and Peace in Russia’, began with Sergei describing how, as a former head of Amnesty International in the country, they had an ‘unbelievable amount of freedom’ from 2003 to 2011, introducing human rights education into police training. They also had good contacts with ministers. Things changed around 2012, he said, when Vladimir Putin was returned to office for his third term, followed by a crackdown on protests and media outlets, and a slew of draconian legislation, including a 2015 law banning ‘undesirable foreign organisations’. From 2012, the charity started witnessing enormous police brutality against protestors, he said. Amnesty’s activism had to switch to single-person pickets, and they were also watched and harassed by the authorities, with pro-Kremlin television claiming the charity was a foreign organisation that supported terrorists.
Sergei told the gathering how the situation has changed since the war began. Although at first many people were protesting, with tens of thousands being arrested, after so many imprisonments the demonstrations stopped. People instead found covert ways, spreading anti-war messages via bank notes or stickers. One shopkeeper covers his shop with anti-war material, despite repeatedly being fined. ‘Hundreds of thousands’ of people have left the country since the mobilisation was announced, said Sergei. New legislation includes the banning of any LGBT ‘propaganda’. ‘There is no freedom of assembly,’ he said, ‘no freedom of expression’, with the closures of media outlets and lots of journalists fleeing the country. Friends also heard of a new law introduced this month, against people ‘under foreign influence’. He is also concerned about Jehovah Witnesses, with 111 so far being convicted.
Sergei listed three ways that Friends could support human rights defenders, such as writing to Russian prisoners of conscience and political prisoners via the website https://rosuznik.org/#mail (in Russian). Simon Cosgrove’s website ‘Rights In Russia’ (https://www.rightsinrussia.org) is a great source of information, he said. Meanwhile, OVD-info (https://donate.ovd.legal/en) provides legal assistance, with information on arrests.
The talk can be seen on: https://youtu.be/BUtGLW452ms.
