Black Year for Human Rights Activists in Russia

The penalties imposed on opposition figures and critics in Russia this year have been draconian. Disfavored organizations and media outlets have been banned. While there is still a civil society, the question lingers: for how much longer?

A dozen people stand in the thick snowfall in front of the remnants of a notorious former prison complex in Moscow. They attentively listen to a young woman who showcases old photos and documents, tracing the lives of individuals to make the horrors of Stalinist terror tangible.

This is more important than ever today, one of the listeners remarks, as the number of political prisoners in Russia is on the rise. “It is crucial to remember how things were. And how terrible it will be if we really return to those times.”

550 politically motivated judgments

Comparisons with the Stalin era were never as frequent as this year. By December, the civic rights portal OVD-Info had counted more than 550 politically motivated judgments, surpassing the previous year, according to lawyer Polina Kurakina. Additionally, there are harsher sentences, stricter judgments, more solitary confinement, and sometimes cruel detention conditions.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, 25 years in labor camp; Alexei Navalny, 19 years; Dmitry Ivanov, 8.5 years; Sasha Skotschilenko, seven years; Igor Baryshnikov, Alexei Moskalev, Alexander Nosdrinov – the list of those landing in Russian penal colonies for alleged violations of law and order grows longer every month.

Not only prominent critics condemned

However, it is no longer just prominent critics of the regime enduring years or even decades in a penal system rooted in the infamous Soviet Gulag system. It is also ordinary people who dared to express their opinions, condemning the war in Ukraine, trying to awaken their fellow citizens from widespread political apathy.

A wrong word during a street survey, a blank sheet of paper, or a critical post on social media – it doesn’t take much, says Oleg Orlow, co-founder of the human rights organization Memorial. People are prosecuted for private conversations – discussions about the war on the street or because they talk to neighbors and get reported.

Orlow himself in court

The 70-year-old is already in court because, despite massive pressure from the authorities, he continues to express his opinions publicly. He describes Putin’s system as fascist and totalitarian – and the war, officially called a “military special operation”: war.

The prosecution now accuses him not only of repeatedly discrediting the Russian armed forces but also destabilizing Russian society. Through his critical statements in interviews, he undermines Russia’s political and constitutional order.

Many organizations banned

Criticism is branded as treason to the people and the homeland. Anything and anyone not on the prescribed line can be targeted. Based on vaguely formulated, constantly tightened laws.

The Moscow Helsinki Group was forcibly dissolved, the Sakharov Center banned, the human rights group Agora declared undesirable – as well as Greenpeace, WWF, the Meduza internet portal, the Doschd TV channel, and the investigative journalists of the Conflict Intelligence Team. What operates independently, whether on a large or small scale, is unwelcome.

The list of those who must self-defame as “foreign agents” with every post, every email, is growing month by month. Local politicians, actors, band leaders, authors, journalists, scientists, experts, bloggers – not even the lawyers who legally challenge arbitrary government decisions or flimsy charges are safe anymore.

“There is still a civil society”

Yet, they persist. Because there is still a civil society in Russia, says human rights activist Orlow. However, their scope is tightly restricted. Opposition figures, activists, media representatives, and civil rights activists often have only their appearances in court to ask critical questions before a small audience. To hold a mirror to the judiciary as a compliant part of the system and society.

“Why is our country like this?” asks an elderly lady softly, with a sad voice. Despite the snowfall, she has been tracing the traces of state violence in Moscow for two hours with the diverse group. Actually, she adds, they are not so few.

The twelve who have come together on this day try to encourage each other. Yet, there is a subtle doubt. Many expect that the pressure will increase again before the presidential election in March of the coming year – as predictable as the result may be.