Russian NGOs have applied to the Council of Europe with a report on freedom of assembly in Russia

11 Russian human rights organizations prepared a report for the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. According to its materials, in 2021 the number of administrative cases under “rally” articles increased from 13.7 thousand to 16 thousand compared to the previous year. About it writes “Kommersant”.

The reason for the appeal was the CMCE meeting, which will be held in March. At it, the committee will have to evaluate for the fourth time the implementation by Russia of the recommendations of the ECHR on changing the “rally” legislation.

The appeal was signed by the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Committee against Torture, the information center “Indigenous Russia”, the Batani International Fund for the Development and Solidarity of Indigenous Peoples, the Justice for Journalists Foundation, the For Human Rights Association, and OVD-Info ”, “Public Verdict”, “So-so-so” fund, “Sphere” charity fund and “Memorial” human rights center.

In the report, human rights activists described and analyzed the events of 2021, which, in their opinion, influenced the situation with freedom of assembly in Russia.

“We point to an increase in administrative cases under “rally” articles: from 13.7 thousand in 2020 to about 16 thousand in 2021. We are talking about 170 criminal cases against participants in rallies in support of Alexei Navalny. We are talking about particularly harsh detentions with the use of special equipment – stun guns – during actions in St. Petersburg, ”said Alexandra Chilikova, lawyer for OVD-Info, to the publication.

According to her, since 2017 there have been “no changes for the better” in the issue of freedom of assembly in Russia.

Earlier, the Russian authorities sent a report on the improvement of the situation to the Committee of Ministers, the newspaper notes.