UN Special Rapporteur Warns of Intensifying Repression and Widespread Torture as Russia Targets Dissent

UN Special Rapporteur Warns of Intensifying Repression and Widespread Torture as Russia Targets Dissent

Despite the extreme dangers, human rights defenders, lawyers, independent media, and civil society continue their work both inside and outside Russia.

RMN News Human Rights Desk
September 23, 2025

GENEVA, 22 September 2025 – The Russian Federation is experiencing an alarming escalation in repression aimed at silencing human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, political opponents, and anti-war activists, according to a report released by a UN expert. The targeting of dissent is not incidental but is “coordinated and central to State policy,” warned Mariana Katzarova, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation, in her latest report to the Human Rights Council.

Special Rapporteur Katzarova stated that this policy is utilized to create so-called internal and external “enemies of the motherland,” which the Russian State then uses to justify repression domestically and aggression abroad. She further noted that this strategy deepens discrimination, normalizes violence, and emboldens impunity.

The crackdown on media freedom has been particularly severe. Russia is now reported to be the world’s third-largest jailer of journalists, with 50 journalists currently behind bars on lengthy sentences. One documented case involves journalist Olga Komleva, who was sentenced to 12 years on charges including “extremism” and “fake news” about the Russian army for reporting on anti-government protests and Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Political detainees, such as Ms. Komleva, are described as facing torture and ill-treatment in harsh penal colonies. This abuse includes being denied adequate medical care, subjected to psychological abuse, and placed in solitary confinement (SHIZO) for speaking out.

The report documents the growing weaponization of counter-terrorism legislation to suppress opposition to the war. Extremism-related charges are continuously applied against individuals associated with the name of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. For instance, four journalists—Antonina Favorskaya, Konstantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin, and Artyom Kriger—each received prison sentences of five and a half years simply for reporting on Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Courts often focus on the political message attributed to the accused rather than assessing any real public danger. Novelist Boris Akunin, who dissented against the war and supported Ukraine, was sentenced in absentia to 14 years on “justifying terrorism” charges.

The repression has reached the legal profession, especially lawyers working on politically sensitive cases. In Kaliningrad, lawyer Maria Bontsler was detained on spurious charges, denied the counsel of her choice, and forced into a sham process after defending clients accused on politically motivated grounds.

Beyond the political opposition, the report raised the alarm regarding the escalated targeting of LGBT communities, Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minorities, migrants and asylum-seekers. It also highlighted normalized gender-based violence against women and girls.

Torture in the Russian Federation remains “systematic and widespread,” with 258 documented cases in 2024–2025. The Special Rapporteur also expressed concern over the revival of punitive psychiatry, citing the sentencing of journalist Maria Ponomarenko to prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment for her anti-war stance.

The report detailed shocking instances of the participation and complicity of doctors and medical personnel in the torture of Ukrainian detainees. Witnesses and victims—including prisoners of war and civilians—reported experiencing starvation, the use of electric shocks, rape and sexual violence, and killings while in detention. At least 206 Ukrainian prisoners of war have died in Russian captivity, with their bodies showing signs of torture.

Given that “Justice inside Russia is unattainable,” the Special Rapporteur urged the international community to mobilize accountability frameworks, including universal jurisdiction, to prosecute perpetrators of torture and other serious crimes.

Despite the extreme dangers, human rights defenders, lawyers, independent media, and civil society continue their work both inside and outside Russia. Their survival, according to Ms. Katzarova, now depends on safe relocation options and sustained support in host countries, as well as protection against refoulement.

Mariana Katzarova is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, an independent human rights expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council.