UN rights expert says torture ‘a tool for repression in Russia, aggression abroad’

By Anjali Sharma

UNITED NATIONS – UN independent expert on human rights in Russia Mariana Katzarova in a new report report launched on Tuesday exposed alarming patterns of torture used as a State-sanctioned tool of repression to stifle dissent and intimidate communities abroad.

Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation underlined that “torture is used as a State sanctioned tool for systematic oppression, to maintain control and to stifle dissent.”

She said torture is frequently aimed at political prisoners, critics of the ongoing war in Ukraine, and migrant communities worldwide.

One of the report’s most unsettling revelations is the portrayal of torture in Russian media.

She described the aftermath of a March terrorist attack in Moscow, where members of the Tajik minority “who haven’t been tried yet and haven’t been found guilty” were tortured through electric shocks and mutilation.

Mariana Katzarova said there were reports of law enforcement carrying out widespread sweeps, arresting and allegedly abusing migrant workers from Central Asia.

LGBTQIA+ individuals in Chechnya have also received brutal treatment from State officials there.

Ms. Katzarova reported that members of the LGBTQIA+ community were systematically detained, tortured, and threatened with death unless they agreed to volunteer as soldiers in Ukraine.

She raised a key issue in the report is the failure of the Russian judicial system to prosecute torture cases adequately. Under Russian law, torture is not classified as a distinct criminal offence, allowing perpetrators to evade justice through lesser charges such as “abuse of power or authority.”

“Here we have a judicial system which is so politically influenced,” she expressed, “that there is no justice for the victims of torture.”

Russian victims must rely solely on the UN system, which lacks the authority to pursue legal action without recourse to the European Court of Human Rights.

Ms. Katzarova urged governments worldwide to use their criminal justice systems to prosecute torture cases from Russia under universal jurisdiction, an international principle that allows courts to try cases regardless of where the crime occurred.