The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on October 7 prolonged the mandate of the special rapporteur on the scenario of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, for another year.
The UNHRC’s renewed commitment to very closely check the human rights scenario in Russia, a Safety Council veto-wielding state, is a lifeline for the country’s besieged civil society This dedicated, independent monitoring tool, as exhibited in the rapporteur’s most recent September record , beams a spotlight on how the Kremlin is significantly fighting dissent by itself dirt in parallel to its abusive war against Ukraine.
The listing of political prisoners preserved by Memorial, a popular Russian human rights company, currently stands at 1, 129, compared to 771 a year ago
In January-October 2025, the authorities added 74 groups to their register of “undesirable organizations,” the highest possible number considering that 2015, when the register was set up. 2 hundred and sixty-nine organizations are currently outlawed as “unfavorable.”
This year is additionally on course to have the highest possible number of people and teams assigned as “foreign agents.” There are 853 active entries on that particular list , all of them based on difficult and discriminatory guidelines and stigmatizing labeling requirements.
Russian authorities likewise added lots of repressive regulations to their already large toolkit of repression They have worked non-stop to remove all types of political dissent , targeted lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals as “extremists,” funnelled prejudice , expanded their censorship and security facilities , and weaponized their wide and unclear anti-extremism, anti-terrorism, and state security legislation. They are unrelenting in their initiatives to reduce any expression of public advocacy, civils rights job, and independent reporting. To this end, just this year, prosecutors outlawed Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, and ousted Russian media outlet Mirror.
Despite Russian authorities’ initiatives to target the nation’s human rights protectors for bringing documents of misuses to the focus of the UN and various other worldwide bodies, the required will certainly stay a crucial focus point for interaction with Russia’s civil society
With the strong global emphasis rightly on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, it is only suitable that the international rights body maintains the spotlight on what’s taking place within Russia also.