Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation Mariana Katsarova. The Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia presented a new report to the UN General Assembly Human Rights
The misuse of national and public security legislation in Russia to silence the voices of critics of the war against Ukraine has reached alarming levels, said the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katsarova. She presented her new report to the UN General Assembly.
“Politically motivated charges”
“Over the past three years, thousands of people have been jailed on politically motivated charges of treason, espionage, extremism and terrorism, often on the basis of fabricated evidence and in closed trials processes, and among the detainees there are children and elderly people,” Katsarova said in the report. Special Rapporteur.
Since 2022, she said, the number of treason prosecutions has increased sharply, from dozens of cases before 2020 to 760 convictions by mid-2025. Espionage, according to Katsarova, has become widely used as a tool with an expanded definition, in particular in the context of the war against Ukraine. 182 persons involved. Often, espionage charges were combined with charges of the crime of “terrorism,” which could lead to more severe sentences.In 2025, Russian courts will hand down more than five verdicts per day in terrorism-related cases, a record high. Meanwhile, the national “List of Terrorists and Extremists” has grown from 1,600 names in 2022 to more than 18,000 in 2025. The list includes more than 150 children and hundreds of organizations, according to Katsarova’s report.
On October 14, the Federal Security Service announced the opening of a terrorism case against 22 members of the exiled Anti-War Committee Russia.
“This demonstrates the authorities’ determination to spread repression beyond national borders,” Katsarova warned.
According to her, those being persecuted include prominent opposition politicians, businessmen, journalists, lawyers, cultural figures and scientists who criticize the war against Ukraine.
The special rapporteur noted that on October 22, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office demanded that the Supreme Court recognize the Anti-Corruption Foundation of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny as “terrorist” organization.”
As Katsarova’s report states, “extremism” provisions, which have no basis in international law, are being used to persecute anti-war critics, independent journalists and individuals associated with Navalny. The term “extremist” also applies to members of religious and ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples and the LGBT community. There have been hundreds of convictions for alleged “extremism,” including more than 100 in cases related to the activities of the LGBT community.The report also reveals systematic torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians in Russian custody. Most of the Ukrainian prisoners facing trial, Katsarova said, are accused of espionage and terrorism and face long prison sentences. The Special Rapporteur, stating that she had collected reliable evidence of the participation of medical personnel in torture. “Thousands of Ukrainian civilians deported to Russia are still missing; there is no information about their fate and whereabouts,” the expert noted. deaths in custody, and to an end to Russia’s misuse of national and public security laws to suppress dissent and opposition to war.
“It is impossible to achieve justice in Russia; those responsible for committing crimes enjoy complete impunity. When justice fails domestically, the international community must take action, including through universal jurisdiction, to bring those responsible to justice and protect those at risk,” the Special Rapporteur concluded.