The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the decision of the Moscow City Court to liquidate the Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia’s oldest and most influential human rights group founded in 1976. “The liquidation of the Moscow Helsinki Group…is a disturbing new illustration of the repression and harassment faced by human rights defenders in Russia,” Dunja Mijatović said in a statement released Wednesday by the Security Council. Europe. Mijatović pointed out that, like previous decisions, including the liquidation of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning NGO Memorial and the All-Russian Human Rights Movement, this decision is based on false accusations and aims to interfere with legitimate human rights activities. organizations. “Many of the remaining independent human rights groups, such as the Sakharov Center, face continued harassment and risk being forcibly dissolved under so-called ‘foreign agent’ laws. and ‘unwanted’ NGOs,” the statement said. – In recent years, the suppression of freedom of expression, assembly and association has become a key element in the erosion of the rule of law and democracy in Russia. This atmosphere of persecution and intimidation has made the work of human rights defenders extremely difficult and dangerous, and ultimately the possibility for the Russian people to exercise their rights freely and safely. Dunja Mijatović said that despite the aforementioned circumstances, Russian human rights activists and the lawyers who defend them show an extraordinary commitment to democracy and freedom, condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine. Mijatovic called on the Member States of the Commission to recognize the leading role of civil society in Russia in the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, to condemn their persecution and to provide them with political and practical support.
