Rights in Russia Rights in Russia

Welcome to the twentieth edition of our Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas. My guest today is Olga Sadovskaya, a lawyer from the civil society group, Team Against Torture. The project’s members have been investigating complaints by Russians about torture for over two decades. Thanks to their work, hundreds of cases of torture by law enforcement officers have reached the courts and compensation from the state has been awarded to their victims. Olga Sadovskaya lives and works in her native city of Nizhny Novgorod. She graduated from Lobachevsky State University with a degree in Public International Law, defending the first thesis in Russia on the prohibition of torture and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights on this issue. She has been taking cases to the European Court of Human Rights for over 20 years. This podcast was recorded on 20 June 2024.
My questions include:
 You chose a rather unusual topic for your diploma. In 2003, when you defended it, what did you think the future held for you in terms of a profesion?What do you think it was that brought you to this choice?How did it happen that you specialised in the issue of torture?In Russia, it seems to me, few people worry about torture – people think ‘that’s just the way it is’, or ‘they deserve it, that’s all.’ How do you explain the rather high tolerance for violence in Russia?Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has the Russian public’s attitude to torture changed? Has it become better, worse, or have moral and ethical guidelines shifted in general?Previously, in such situations it was common to appeal to the ECtHR, but in 2022 the Russian Federation withdrew from the jurisdiction of the European Court. What tools are now left for Russian human rights defenders to seek justice?What levers of pressure or influence do international courts have on Russian authorities in cases of torture on the territory of Russia – or in Ukraine?I read somewhere that you said that “all wars end peacefully.” In your opinion, will Russia’s war against Ukraine also end peacefully? With the intervention of international forums, or do the warring parties perceive them as longer trustworthy?What is it like for you and other human rights defenders working under current conditions?Since the spring of 2022, since when the register of foreign agents has been updated every Friday, have many of your colleagues left the country or given up human rights work?How does the ‘foreign agent’ label affect your professional work. And can you explain what is an “undesirable organisation”?Have you ever received any threats yourself? Or have there been administrative cases initiated against you?What is meant by the word “torture” and what should a person do if they find themselves in a situation where, in their opinion, they are being subjected to torture?And what if they are in detention when that happens?Is there such a thing as psychological torture? Have you experienced it yourself in your work as a human rights defender?Can such a term be applied to what happened to your fellow resident of Nizhny Novgorod, Irina Slavina, who committed suicide in the most horrible way in front of the Interior Ministry building in the city centre in 2020?You said somewhere that ‘even if a person is not themselves directly involved in torture, they may be a full participant in the system of violence.’ Can you explain what you meant by that?What does the police treatment of the suspects in the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall in March this year tell us about today’s Russia?Today in Russia everyone is living in conditions of uncertainty. What options for the future of your work do you see?Can you imagine ever being forced to give up your work – that the screws will be tightened to such an extent that it will be impossible to do this work?

Our guest today is Iryna Khalip, a Belarusian journalist and participant in the 2010 protests against election fraud in the presidential elections in Belarus. Her husband is the politician Andrei Sannikov who ran as an opposition presidential candidate in those very elections. Since 2006, Iryna has been working as Belarus correspondent for Novaya gazeta, now Novaya gazeta – Evropа. Before that, Iryna worked in local opposition media, was an activist, was sent to prison, subjected to threats from the Belarusian special services and was a victim of psychological threats from the authorities. Today we will talk to Iryna about herself, the war in Ukraine, and the relationship between Lukashenka and Putin, between Russia and Belarus.
This podcast was recorded on 30 May 2024.

Our questions include:
Iryna, I was honestly amazed when I read about you in Wikipedia. Tell us about your activism against President Lukashenka of Belarus and his unlimited power in the country?  When did you start your activism and what have been the consequences for you personally?You took part in the protests against election fraud in 2010. How did the 2020 protests differ from the 2010 protests?What are the reasons for the failure of the latest protests, perhaps the most massive protests in the history of Belarus? It is said that the prison system and the situation of political prisoners in Belarus is much worse than in Russia.  Can you comment on this?  Have they tightened the screws in prisons since you were there?What made you decide to leave Belarus?Today there is a lot of talk that Russia is following the path that Belarus has already travelled. Is this true?What has changed in Belarus since Russia announced the Special Military Operation on February 24, 2022?  How has Russia’s war against Ukraine affected the relationship between Belarus and Russia?What does Lukashenka see as Belarus’ role in this war?   How can one explain the location of the Wagner base, and previously Prigozhin himself, on the territory of Belarus?  How would you describe the state of democratic forces in Belarus today?  Do they have a chance to influence the situation in the country? How would you characterize relations between those who left the country and those who stayed? In Russia, the gap between the two seems to be getting wider and deeper.We know about the changes in school textbooks in Russia, especially in Russian history, about the militarization of education even in elementary schools.  What is the situation in Belarus?  Is it true that many children study abroad?What can be said about the shortage of labour in Belarus? Can we assume that Belarus has its own path for the future? What will it look like? Can the West somehow influence the political future of Belarus, or is it doomed to remain a satellite of Russia?Do you think you will ever return home? And what needs to take place in the country for that to happen?

My guest today is Leyla Latypova, a journalist who works as a special correspondent for the English-language newspaper The Moscow Times. An ethnic Tatar from the republic of Bashkortostan, Leyla writes about politics and civil society in Russia’s regions and national republics.  In her work, she promotes and defends the rights of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in the Russian Federation. She now lives in Amsterdam. In this edition of “Then & Now,” we talk to Leyla about the war, about national movements and about the future of ethnic minorities in Russia – and of Russia in general.
My questions include:
Where were you when you heard President Putin’s announcement about the Special Military Operation in February 2022? What was your first reaction?What were your thoughts as to the future impact of the war on ethnic minorities in Russia?Why is it that a disproportionate number of conscripts from ethnic minorities in Russia’s regions serve in the Russian army – Buryats, for example, or Tatars?Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you born, what did your parents do, and do you have any key memories that have particularly shaped your life?Have there been times when you personally encountered Russian chauvinism or observed its impact on others in Bashkortostan?Do you sense an imperial mindset in Russian people? What do you attribute this to?What was your motivation when you decided to change your place of residence and move to another country? Was it related to Putin’s policies?How do you work as a journalist when you are located far from your sources?Tell me about the recent protests in Bashkortostan? After all, they were quite large-scale and yet little is known about them in the West.Do you think the war against Ukraine could be a catalyst for major changes in Russia?When people talk about the de-colonization of Russia, what does it mean?At the beginning of the war, many analysts believed that the logical outcome of the war would be the collapse of the Russian Empire. They see this as a process which began in 1917, continued in 1991, and has not yet been completed. They see the war against Ukraine as striking a kind of a death blow to the empire. In your view, is the further disintegration of the Russian Empire inevitable? How might the country look in the future?

Our guest today is Zoia Svetova, renowned journalist and human rights activist. She continues to live and work in Moscow.  She is the author of several books, including Priznat’ nevinovnogo vinovnym [To Find the Innocent Guilty]. Her voice is perhaps one of the few authoritative oppositionist voices still heard in Russia today.  
This podcast was recorded on 26 March 2024.
My questions include:
When it became known that Russian troops had invaded Ukraine in 2022, could you ever have imagined such a thing happening?You decided to stay in Russia. Did you discuss with your family, your four adult children, whether to leave or stay in Russia?Can I ask you to tell us a little about your family? After all, you are part of Russia’s hereditary dissident aristocracy, if I may put it like that. Tell us about your parents, what you most remember about them, about their lives? Your husband was also involved in the dissident movement.  How did you meet? And how did you bring up your children, what were the main moral values you tried to pass on to them?When Putin became president in 2000, did you have any hopes?Was there a key episode when it became clear for you which direction his regime was heading?The title of this podcast, “Then and Now,” is associated with the fateful date of 24 February 2022. But there has since been another terrible date that will be a significant event in the perception of the world and of Russian public opinion  – 16 February this year. What was your first reaction when you learned of Aleksei Navalny’s death in the Polar Wolf penal colony.What did Navalny mean for Russia, what did he symbolise? And what did his death in prison mean for the future of Russia?You were at Aleksei’s funeral in Moscow. Could you share the mood that prevailed there, what you observed –  tell us about your impressions.Should other political prisoners in Russia now fear for their lives?Just recently, a presidential election was conducted in Russia. If I’m not mistaken, you were abroad at that time. Did you take part in the “Noon against Putin” protest? Did the protests bring any benefits? And is there any difference between such protests in Russia and abroad?Your sons Tikhon and Filip are engaged in interesting work abroad. Does the fact that Tikhon is on the register of foreign agents and is editor-in-chief of the Dozhd TV company, which has been declared an undesirable organization in Russia, affect your life in Moscow in any way?After the attack on Leonid Volkov, a leading member of Navalny’s team, in Vilnius, do you fear for your own children and other Russian oppositionists living outside Russia? What would have to happen in Russia for you to change your mind and leave the country?What needs to happen in Russia for your children and grandchildren to return home? What are your thoughts about the recent terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow?  Do you think 22 March 2024 will be another milestone in the history of the Putin regime?

My guest today is Anastasia Burakova, a human rights lawyer and democratic activist from Russia. 
We are still in shock at the news of the murder of Aleksei Navalny in a high-security penal colony in the settlement of Kharp. 
Aleksei Navalny’s political star rose as a leader of the opposition to the Putin regime in 2011.  That year, 2011, played a significant part in the  political coming of age of  today’s guest - Anastasia Burakova, a Russian human rights lawyer and activist for democratic change in Russia - and influenced the trajectory of her professional life.
However, ten years later, in November 2021, Anastasia was forced to leave Russia. She moved to Georgia after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, where she founded the Ark Project (‘Kovcheg’). Initially, set up to offer help to exiled Russians because of their opposition to the war, over time, Ark’s activities have broadened.
This podcast was recorded on 22 February 2024.
My questions include:
I am haunted by two thoughts that never leave me now – the death in prison of Aleksei Navalny and the second year of war inUkraine. What thoughts have occupied you most this past week?In an interview almost one year ago, you talked about a ‘white rose’ of resistance in Russia. Are there grounds for optimism in Russia today?The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko wrote in her book about Russia: “Why did I ever think my life would be different?” Do you have an answer for her?Tell us a little about your childhood. Were there any key moments in your biography that led you to your choice of profession and the path you followed?You have said that the year 2011 played a big role in your own development. What does 2011 in Russia mean to you? What are your most vivid impressions of that year?You left Russia at the end of 2021, just 10 years later. What happened in the intervening years in the field of civic activism?To what extent did human rights and civic activism face new and more difficult challenges in the period leading up to the invasion of Ukraine? What defined the relationship of the authorities to civil society?Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you founded the Ark Project. What was the idea behind the project and who are the beneficiaries?Is there any real hope for the Russian opposition in exile? What can it really do? What do the countries that have welcomed Russian exiles have to gain from their presence? Aleksei Navalny from prison urged the Russian people to act. He proposed that people should go to the polling stations on the last day of the election, 17 March, at 12.00 noon local time, and stand in line outside the polling station in protest. Do you think there’s a chance that many will do this following his assassination in prison by the Russian authorities?What do you think the future holds for you? And what are your thoughts about the future of Russia?

Welcome to the fifteenth edition of our Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas. 
My guest today is Anna Karetnikova. Until recently, Anna Karetnikova lived and worked in Moscow.  In 2016, she was appointed lead analyst to the Federal Penitentiary Service – FSIN. Prior to that, she served for eight years as a member of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) in Moscow and worked closely with the human rights organisation “Memorial”.
Anna Karetnikova exemplified that rare combination in Russia of someone who was both a human rights activist and a government-appointed official working for the FSIN. For several years she pulled this off brilliantly. But just over a year ago, she was forced to leave Russia. The events that led to this decision and how she feels about life in exile are among the topics we will be talking about.
This podcast was recorded on 8 February 2024.
ou can also listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, Podcasts.com, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts and YouTube. 
My questions include:
Before your appointment to the Federal Penitentiary Service, you worked in the Public Oversight Commission in Moscow. What were the functions of this commission and how did your work there lead to your appointment to the Federal Penitentiary Service?Did you have any interests or occupations from a young age which helped you decide to take up this kind of work?How did it happen that you were invited to join the FSIN? What did  your work there involve?  Is it true there is no such position as lead analyst in any other regional branch of the FSIN?How does the system of corresponding with political prisoners work? Do they really receive letters of support from people they don’t know? Do the authorities still allow this?Unlike many of your colleagues, acquaintances and friends in human rights organizations, you stayed in Russia after the Special Military Operation was launched on February 24th 2022? Was leaving Russia not an issue for you at that time?What changed in the FSIN system that prompted you to decide to leave Russia almost a year later?What was your reaction when you learned about the recruitment of lifers in the penal system to the Wagner private military company? What did it say about the attitude of the authorities both to the war and to society as a whole?What changes did you observe in the FSIN and in the regime to prisons and penal colonies after the start of the war?And in the treatment of prisoners? Were there problems, for example, with supplies? Or other issues? xould they still correspond with relatives and have visits from them?Would you say the numbers of political prisoners has increased since the start of the war?With your experience and knowledge of the penal system in Russia, what can you comment about the treatment of Aleksei Navalny in the penal colony? To what extent does his treatment differ from the treatment of other prisoners? And how?And Vladimir Kara-Murza? Could you comment on his recent transfer to the correctional colony No. 7 Omsk. You currently live in France. Why France?How do you see your future?  And the future of Russia?