Geneva – “The repression is escalating”, targeting civilians, journalists and even the prisoners of the Ukrainian war in an attempt to silence the opposition and oppose the war in Ukraine.
Mariana Katzarova, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, which focuses on human rights in Russia, submitted its latest report, which said that the Russian authorities have risen their use of “criminal prosecution, long -term imprisonment, torture and poor treatment” to put out the opposition to the war ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
“The repression is escalating … and it becomes huge,” Katzarova told reporters before submitting the report to the Human Rights Council, who established her position after its full invasion of Russia to Ukraine in February 2022.
She said: “The mastermind of this repression uses new complex tools against complete impunity for their actions: torture is also part of this equation, as a tool.”
Its report said that over one year covered, starting in mid -2014, the number of prosecutions increased, “with at least 3905 individuals convicted of administrative or criminal charges of peaceful opposition.”
Recently, Katzarova noted that until July, more than 150 children between the ages of 14 and 17 have been added to the “extremist” and “terrorist” federal list, adding that some were accused of treason and were tortured to extract confessions.
By mid-July, a total of 1040 individuals and organization-nearly a quarter of journalists-were appointed as “foreign agents”, including 133 added since January.
The report said: “The torture and poor treatment in the Russian Federation remains widespread and organized, which affects not only the Russian citizens but also the prisoners of the Ukrainian war and civilian detainees.” “At least 258 cases of torture were documented by law enforcement, prison employees and prisoners who act under orders from the prison authorities on 2024/25.”
Katzarova recounted how a Ukrainian man was interrogated by Russian forces and was exposed to electric shocks. Then, the Moscow doctor had to work on him to save his life.
“The surgery was perfect, but when the man woke up, he saw that there were additional bandages on his stomach. This Russian doctor burned with the medical tool:“ Victory! Glory to Russia “on his stomach”.
The Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva refused to comment, in reference to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry earlier this month that Moscow “does not recognize the delegation of this illegal special measure” – the position that Katzarova held – and “any form of interaction with it is unacceptable to the Russian Federation.”