Crackdown on Ukraine-war dissenters in Russia a freedom violation: UN
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United Nations: United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al Nashif, openly denounced the intimidation, restrictive measures and sanctions Russia imposed on its own people who voiced opposition against the Ukraine war. Nashif warned that such actions undermine fundamental freedoms, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council 51st session, she said that suppression of the dissenting sections in Russia "undermines the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms, including the rights to free assembly, expression and association," AFP quoted.
Al Nashif, the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, decried the pressure burdened on journalists, blocking of internet sources and various forms of censorship. According to her, such coercive actions were not compatible with media pluralism, and they violated the right to access information.
She said that the UN urges the Russian Federation to reconsider measures taken to expand the 'foreign agent' label to include individuals branded to be 'under foreign influence. She asked Kremlin to stop criminalising people having undeclared contacts with representatives of foreign states or organisations, deeming it a threat to Russian Federation.
The Council had ordered top-end investigations into violations by Russian forces in Ukraine since the former's invasion of the latter on February 24. Along with that, there were incidents of rights abuses in Russia itself relating to the invasion.