The United Nations said Wednesday it deeply regretted Russian court decisions to ban the country’s most prominent rights group, Memorial, saying the moves further weakened Russia’s “dwindling human rights community”. The UN Human Rights Office said the legitimate voices of civil society should not be stigmatised, after a Moscow court hit Memorial with a second dissolution order in as many days.
“We deeply regret the Supreme Court decision to shut down Memorial International, and the Moscow City Court decision to shut down its sister organisation, Memorial Human Rights Centre,” a spokeswoman told AFP. “These actions dissolve two of Russia’s most respected human rights groups and further weaken the country’s dwindling human rights community.”
Judge Mikhail Kazakov on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of Memorial’s Human Rights Centre, which campaigns against contemporary rights abuses in Russia, at the request of prosecutors. They accused the centre of failing to use on its publications the “foreign agent” label, which denotes organisations that receive funds from overseas.
On Tuesday, the country’s Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Memorial International, the group’s central structure which chronicles purges under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s rule, and maintains the group’s extensive archives in Moscow.
“A free, diverse and active civil society is crucial for any society, and the legitimate voices of civil society should not be stigmatised, including through use of the term ‘foreign agent’,” said the spokeswoman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.
“We urge the Russian authorities to protect and support people and organisations that work to advance human rights across the Russian Federation.”
The court cases cap a year that began with the jailing of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top critic Alexei Navalny.
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