Magomed Alamov is a human rights defender and lawyer of a Chechen origin. Up until very recently, he has collaborated with human rigths group Crew against Torture. Crew against Torture is an informal union of Russian lawyers who, in their individual capacity, continue the work they used to do as a Russian-based human rights organisation “Committee Against Torture” (CAT). CAT was shut down on 10 June 2022 after it was listed as a foreign agent. CAT, established in 2000, used to be a prominent human rights organisation in Russia which investigated allegations of torture by state agents and represented victims of torture’s interests in the investigative bodies and the court, including the European Court of Human Rights. Human rights defenders who used to work with CAT were regularly subjected to defamation campaigns, physical attacks, detentions, and judicial persecution because of their peaceful human rights work.
The environment for the work of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Russian Federation is difficult, especially for those who defend and promote the rights of LGBTI people, ethnic and religious minorities, refugees, as well as activists of the North Caucasus and the unlawfully annexed Crimean Peninsula. HRDs are often subjected to acts of harassment, surveillance, physical attacks, threat, raids and searches on their offices and homes, slander and smear campaigns, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention, and ill-treatment, as well as violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. There have also been cases where HRDs have been murdered as a result of their work.
