Tension deepens in Russia over the persecution of dissent

The Russian judiciary’s request to declare the Anti-Corruption Foundation associated with the late activist Alexei Navalny a “terrorist” organization has raised new concern about attacks on critical expression by citizens.

A new judicial episode on Russia’s political stage has put international organizations on alert over the country’s tense relationship with sectors of political and social dissent. In this case, pressure from the authorities to declare the Anti-Corruption Foundation created by the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny a “terrorist” organization has raised concern in the international human rights sphere over a conflict that already has a long history.

In recent days, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office asked the Supreme Court to declare the organization founded by the opponent of Vladimir Putin’s government a “terrorist” entity. Navalny, a political leader imprisoned as a “prisoner of conscience” who later died in conditions of extreme confinement, became one of the most significant faces of the struggle of ideological, cultural and political dissent in that country. 

This new request by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office prompted statements from organizations such as Amnesty International (AI), whose director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers, was categorical in her message. The AI official maintained that this maneuver seeks not only to finish erasing Navalny’s political legacy but also to “crush” any remaining “core of dissent” in the country. 

In addition to calling for the requests concerning the Anti-Corruption Foundation and its participants to be withdrawn, the international organization also demanded that a “transparent investigation” into Navalny’s death itself be guaranteed.

This event comes amid weeks of intense tension across Russia’s political spectrum. On October 14, dissident political activists in exile grouped in the so-called Anti-War Committee were penalized by the Russian government. This organization, focused on denouncing Russia’s actions in the war against Ukraine, is considered “terrorist,” and Russia’s Federal Security Service announced legal action against several of its leaders.

Politics and gender as “extremist” actions

A not insignificant detail is that the aforementioned request before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to declare the Anti-Corruption Foundation will be assessed by the same judge who in 2023 ruled to ban the so-called “international LGBT movement,” deeming it “extremist.” In addition to the fact that no such movement exists, the decision once again put on the agenda the delicate situation facing diversity activism in Russia. 

Because they are classified as extremist, anyone involved in movements for the rights of the LGBTI community can face sentences of up to 5 years in prison merely for being “members,” and up to 10 years for those who organize any such entities.

In the same way, on the political front, the war against Ukraine unleashed a sharp confrontation with so-called “anti-war” activist groups. After the start of the war between the two countries in February 2022, anti-war street demonstrations were harshly repressed.

Concerns of international organizations

The United Nations special rapporteurship on human rights has repeatedly expressed concern regarding Russia. In the October 2024 report, Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova sets out serious violations in various areas. One such case is that of the Russian activist group Gulagu.net, cited in the report, which presented some 40 GB of video showing “beatings, torture and rape of inmates” at a health facility within the Russian prison system. According to the report, the facility was used as a center for torturing psychiatric patients and prisoners, all in the presence of police guards.

Attention is also focused on how Russia’s own legislative framework not only fails to help prevent these conflicts but even enables persecution. 

In its report “Russia’s Legislative Minefield: Traps for Civil Society since 2020,” the organization Human Rights Watch warns about how the laws passed from 2020 onward have laid the regulatory groundwork for persecution. The report focuses on specific areas such as electoral rights, freedom of expression, public assemblies, “historical truth” and educational regulations, among others.

It analyzes how legal frameworks and regulations have intensified their repressive and controlling aspects in areas such as those mentioned above. According to the organization, the laws have been geared toward classifying as “crimes” actions such as organizing street demonstrations without first requesting permits from the Government. In addition, the so-called “war censorship” laws prohibit the dissemination of information about the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine that does not match the Government’s official versions.

In Argentina, for instance, the Russian situation even became part of the local legislative agenda. In 2022, national deputy Waldo Wolff introduced a draft resolution in the National Congress on this issue. In the document, Wolff’s caucus expressed its concern and condemnation over the interventions then carried out by Vladimir Putin against platforms such as Facebook and ‘X,’ among other communication platforms, to restrict content on topics related to the war with Ukraine. 

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia