New information
RUS 007 / 1121 / OBS 117.3
Judicial harassment /
Stigmatisation
Russian Federation
24 April 2026
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed of the continued judicial harassment against the Russian human rights organisation Memorial, one of the oldest and most prominent human rights organisations in the country, the recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. Founded in the late 1980s, Memorial documents human rights violations and supports victims of political repression in Russia.
On 9 April 2026, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation accepted a request from the Ministry of Justice to designate the so-called “International Public Memorial Movement” as an “extremist organisation”. The court hearing was held behind closed doors, and no lawyers representing Memorial were allowed to participate in the proceedings. As a result, it remains unclear on what specific grounds Memorial was designated as an “extremist organisation”.
This decision effectively bans and criminalises any activities of organisations that form part of “Memorial” in Russia. Organisation leaders face up to ten, and staff members face up to six years of imprisonment (Article 282.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code); likewise, almost any form of support – including sharing and liking content or donating money to “Memorial” – can be punishable by up to six years of imprisonment under the same Article.
The Observatory recalls that there is no organisation registered as “International Public Memorial Movement”: “Memorial” (or “Memorial International”) was originally established in the late 1980s in the Soviet Union as a movement to record Stalinist-era crimes and to preserve the memory of the victims of the repressions. One of its founders was Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov. In 1993, several members of “Memorial International“ founded the “Memorial Human Rights Center” (“HRC Memorial”), a human rights organisation and FIDH member, which has documented human rights violations committed by the Russian authorities, including crimes committed by the Russian Armed Forces in Chechnya and Georgia. At the same time, local organisations bearing the name “Memorial” were established in many cities across Russia, working to collect information and preserve the memory of victims of Stalinist repression in their respective regions. In total, more than 80 such organisations exist across Russia and abroad, including in Germany, France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
The Observatory further recalls that since 2013, Russian authorities have consistently targeted “Memorial International” and HRC Memorial, including by labelling them as “foreign agents”, imposing heavy fines, and conducting unjustified searches of their premises. Both organisations have paid millions of rubles in fines stemming from alleged violations of the “Foreign Agent” Law, which has been found to violate both international and domestic law. In particular, the long-awaited judgement “Ecodefence and others v. Russia” of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), published in 2022, concluded that Russia had breached the rights of 73 Russian NGOs after their activities were restricted on the basis of the “Foreign Agents” legislation, and stated that attaching the label of “foreign agent” to NGOs had been “unjustified and prejudicial”, with the possibility to have a “strong deterrent and stigmatising effect on their operations”.
This campaign finally culminated in the liquidation of HRC Memorial by the Moscow City Court for allegedly violating the “Foreign Agent” Law on 29 December 2021, just one day after the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation had ordered the liquidation of “Memorial International” on the same grounds, ignoring an order of the ECtHR to “suspend” the enforcement of the decisions to liquidate both “Memorial International” and HRC Memorial under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court.
Following the liquidation of HRC Memorial, its staff and supporters established the “Memorial Human Rights Defence Center”, which has since operated largely in exile and remains a member organisation of FIDH. On 1 March 2024, the Russian authorities labelled “Memorial Human Rights Defence Center” a “foreign agent”, and designated further associated organisations, such as the Swiss-based “International Memorial Association” and “Zukunft Memorial”, as “undesirable organisations” in 2026.
The Observatory strongly condemns the designation of the “International Public Memorial Movement” as an “extremist organisation”, which is only aimed at sanctioning all organisations associated with Memorial for their legitimate human rights activities and their exercise of the rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression.
The Observatory urges the Russian authorities to immediately repeal this decision and to put an end to any act of harassment against all Memorial organisations and their members as well as against all organisations defending human rights in the country.
The Observatory also strongly condemns the trend of designating unregistered “public international movements” as “extremist” to facilitate the persecution of human rights organisations and defenders.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of the Russian Federation, urging them to:
– Immediately repeal the designation of the “International Public Memorial Movement” as an “extremist organisation” and to put an end to any act of harassment against all Memorial organisations and their members, as well as against all organisations defending human rights in the country;
– Put an end to all acts of harassment and arbitrary restrictions against all Memorial organisations and their members, as well as against all human rights defenders and organisations in the Russian Federation;
– Ensure that human rights defenders and organisations in Russia are able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all undue restrictions;
– Guarantee, in all circumstances, the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, as enshrined in international human rights law, and particularly in Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Addresses:
• Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, Twitter: @KremlinRussia_E
• Mr. Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Twitter: @GovernmentRF
• Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, e-mail: ministry@mid.ru
• Mr. Igor Krasnov, General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, e-mail: pressa@genproc.gov.ru
• Mr. Alexander Bortnikov, Director of Federal Security Service (FSS), e-mail: fsb@fsb.ru
• Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, E-mail: mission.russian@vtxnet.ch
• Embassy of the Russian Federation in Brussels, Belgium, e-mail: mission.russian@vtxnet.ch
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of the Russian Federation in your respective countries.
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Paris-Geneva, 24 April 2026
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
· E-mail: alert@observatoryfordefenders.org
· Tel. FIDH: +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18
· Tel. OMCT: +41 (0) 22 809 49 39
