Russia : Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples’ and national minorities’ rights organisations in the list of “extremist organisations”

On July 25, 2024, the Russian authorities designated several Indigenous Peoples’ and national minorities’ rights organisations and other groups as “extremist organisations”. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and the Anti-Discrimination Center Memorial (ADC Memorial) urge the Russian authorities to put an immediate end to this escalating crackdown on organisations protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities in Russia and civil society in general.

Paris-Geneva-Brussels, August 2, 2024 – On July 25, 2024, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included 55 organisations, among them Indigenous Peoples’ and national minorities’ rights organisations in the list of “extremist organisations”.

These organisations have been labelled as “structural divisions” of the so-called “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement,” which was recognised as “extremist” and banned by Russia’s Supreme Court on June 7, 2024. This alleged movement, which does not formally exist, is defined by the Ministry of Justice as an “international public movement to destroy the multinational unity and territorial integrity of Russia.” This broad definition is considered to aim at facilitating repression against Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities organisations, who face up to six years in prison if accused of involvement in the banned “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement.”

Moreover, after their explicit inclusion in the list of “extremist organisations”, the organisations’ members face even higher risks of severe criminal prosecution and arbitrary imprisonment solely for their involvement in these organisations, preventing them from continuing their essential and legitimate actions in safe and effective conditions.

Among the organisations designated as “extremist” on July 25, 2024 is the Aborigen-Forum, an informal association of independent experts, activists, leaders, and public organisations of the small-numbered Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of Russia, and the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia (ICIPR), an international Indigenous-led organisation that was created in March 2022 as a reaction of several Russian Indigenous leaders and activists to the war in Ukraine.

In Russia, Indigenous communities and minorities face severe restrictions to their fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, the right to self-determination and cultural rights, as well as racism, structural discrimination and xenophobia. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the so-called partial mobilisation in September 2021 drastically and disproportionally affected young men from ethnic minorities and Indigenous people living in the poorest regions of Russia, leading to extremely high death rates among mobilised men from Indigenous communities and ethnic minorities. Some of the organisations now labelled as “extremist”, like the Free Buryatia Foundation founded in March 2022, which fights against Russia’s war in Ukraine, had already been designated as “undesirable” and “foreign agent” by the Russian authorities, highlighting that the shrinking civic space in the country is particularly affecting Indigenous Peoples’ and minorities’ rights organisations.

The recent decision to include these organisations in the list of “extremist organisations” is part of a context of increasing repression of critical voices in Russia. In a similar move, in March 2024, Russian authorities added the equally non-existent “international LGBT movement” to the list of “extremist and terrorist organisations”, also referring to “its structural units”, thus criminalising all LGBTQI+ activism. After this decision, multiple activists were arrested on grounds of being “extremists”. This decision illustrates a further escalation in efforts to silence the human rights movement.

The Observatory and ADC Memorial stand in solidarity with the targeted Indigenous Peoples’ and minorities’ rights organisations, and strongly condemn this unprecedented repression, as it appears to be aimed solely at punishing these organisations for their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory and ADC Memorial urge the Russian authorities to reverse this decision, put an end to the banning of Indigenous Peoples’ and minorities’ rights organisations and the criminalisation of their members, and allow them to continue their legitimate activities without any hindrance or fear of reprisal. The two signatory organisations further call on the authorities in Russia to guarantee in all circumstances the right to freedom of association, as enshrined in international human rights standards, and particularly in Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Observatory and ADC Memorial call upon international and intergovernmental organisations as well as governments and other diplomatic actors to condemn this decision and increase the scrutiny on the escalating situation facing Indigenous Peoples’ and minorities’ rights organisations in Russia. The signatory organisations further call upon them to reinforce the protection mechanisms to allow the organisations to continue their legitimate actions safely.