Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic has published a letter addressed to the Minister of Interior of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, in which she highlights a number of human rights concerns related to the policing of demonstrations that have taken place in many Russian cities over the last few weeks.
The Commissioner stresses that the Russian authorities failed to uphold their obligation to ensure freedom of assembly and that restrictions applied on the grounds of the COVID-19 pandemic did not respond to public health considerations in a manner compatible with the principles of absolute necessity and proportionality established by international human rights standards.
The Commissioner also expressed concerns about the arbitrary arrests of a high number of individuals all across the country during the demonstrations, and enquired about the Ministry of Interior’s policy, methods and guidelines concerning the dispersal of peaceful assemblies and the deprivation of peaceful demonstrators’ liberty. She requested clarifications as to the reasons for the arrests of journalists and media workers reporting on those rallies, as these constitute serious restrictions of freedom of expression and media freedom as guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Council of Europe
