Russian Federation: UN Special Rapporteur Reports a Strategy of Fear Against Dissent at Home and Abroad

Summary

On 26 October 2026, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, presented her report to the General Assembly's Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). The report, "Traitors to the Motherland": the strategy of fear and punishment of the Russian Federation to erase dissent at home and abroad (A/81/374), is dated 15 September 2026 and covers information received up to 11 September 2026.

According to the report, repression in the Russian Federation has become further institutionalized and increasingly militarized, and domestic repression and the war against Ukraine are "mutually reinforcing". The Russian Federation has not engaged with the mandate.

Background

The Special Rapporteur was appointed by the Human Rights Council, and the present report was submitted pursuant to Council resolution 60/21. According to the report, the Russian authorities continued to ignore the Special Rapporteur's requests for engagement or a country visit.

The report states that it draws on submissions from Russian, Ukrainian and international organizations; consultations with more than 150 civil society representatives, including activists in exile and Indigenous Peoples' advocates; testimony of victims, relatives, witnesses and defence lawyers; and analysis of legislation, court documents, official records and verified open sources. In September 2026, the Special Rapporteur also presented a separate thematic report on transnational repression to the Human Rights Council.

Key Findings of the Report

Civic Space and Political Prosecutions

The report states that by early September 2026, the "foreign agent" register contained 1,262 entries and that 415 organizations had been designated "undesirable", up from 245 a year earlier. It describes Federal law No. 284-FZ of 4 August 2026, which allows the freezing of bank accounts and the denial of most consular and electronic government services to certain persons convicted of politically motivated offences and living abroad.

According to the report, as of early September 2026, 4,968 persons were subject to politically motivated criminal prosecution, including 2,178 who were incarcerated, figures it describes as conservative. The average prison term in politically motivated cases rose from six years and seven months in 2021 to 11 years in 2026. In her statement to the General Assembly, as published by UN Special Procedures, the Special Rapporteur said treason and espionage convictions rose 30 per cent in 2025 to 468, with no acquittals.

Transnational Repression

The report states that documented incidents of transnational repression rose roughly eightfold annually on average after February 2022, and that sentences imposed in absentia rose from 4 in 2022 to 157 in 2025. It refers to the abuse of extradition, International Criminal Police Organization mechanisms and mutual legal assistance, and to financial restrictions propagated through international banking compliance databases.

Detention, Torture and Militarization

According to the report, at least 55 political prisoners have died in detention since 2022, at least six of them in 2026, and torture and ill treatment remain "widespread, systematic and part of a government strategy". The Special Rapporteur's statement also referred to Ukrainian authorities' report that 438 Ukrainian detainees have died in Russian captivity, and to the recruitment of foreign nationals from more than 45 countries into the armed forces. The report further states that the militarization of childhood intensified, with a sharp increase in membership of children's military patriotic movements.

Statements During the Interactive Dialogue

Presenting the report, the Special Rapporteur said, according to the UN Special Procedures press release of 26 October 2026: "Repression at home and aggression abroad are one policy. Transnational repression is where the two meet."

Delivering a joint statement on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic countries, Mia Hallén, Head of Department for International Law and Human Rights at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, welcomed the report and the extension of the mandate. She said it was "unacceptable" that the Russian Federation continues to deny the Special Rapporteur access to its territory, urged the release of arbitrarily detained persons, including deported Ukrainian children, and asked which issues the Special Rapporteur considers most urgent.

According to the report, the Russian authorities have not engaged with the mandate and did not respond to requests for engagement or a country visit. A statement by the Russian Federation at the 26 October dialogue was not available in the sources reviewed.

Recommendations

The report calls on the Russian authorities to cooperate with the mandate and grant country access; repeal the "foreign agent", "undesirable organization" and war censorship frameworks; release all persons detained for the peaceful exercise of their rights; prevent and investigate torture and deaths in custody; release arbitrarily detained Ukrainian civilians, including children; and cease all acts of transnational repression.

It recommends that the international community maintain scrutiny and preserve evidence for future accountability processes; protect human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, anti-war activists and conscientious objectors from transnational repression and refoulement; reject politically motivated extradition, INTERPOL and mutual legal assistance requests; and ensure that banks and compliance database providers do not give automatic effect to Russian designations without vetting.

Relevant International Standards

Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protect freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, subject only to restrictions that are lawful, necessary and proportionate. Article 7 of the Covenant and the Convention against Torture prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the principle of non refoulement prohibits returning any person to a place where they face a real risk of such treatment.

Taskforce Note

The Global HR Taskforce will continue to monitor responses by States to the Special Rapporteur's findings and the Third Committee's consideration of related draft resolutions during the eighty first session. Sources: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, A/81/374, 15 September 2026; UN Special Procedures press release, 26 October 2026; Joint Nordic Baltic statement, Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations, 26 October 2026.