Office of Crew against Torture in Krasnodar raided
On 4 May 2023, representatives of the General Administration for Combating Extremism (Center ‘E’) in the city of Krasnodar raided the office of Crew against Torture in Krasnodar, in southern Russia. After the raid, law enforcement brought human rights defender and lawyer, Ilya Platonov, who was present at the office during the raid, in for questioning as a witness; he was let go later the same day. This is the third raid on Crew against Torture’s regional offices since 14 April 2023.
On 28 April 2023, representatives of the General Administration for Combating Extremism in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod raided the apartment of woman human rights defender and lawyer Olga Sadovskaya and the human rights group Crew against Torture’s office in Nizhniy Novgorod. The law enforcement officers also raided the apartments of two other representatives of the Crew against Torture, who decided to remain anonymous. Law enforcement continue to target representatives of the Crew against Torture in the context of the torture case they are litigating in the North Ossetia Republic.
On 14 April 2023, law enforcement officers in Pyatigorsk raided the premises of the North Caucasus division of Crew against Torture’s office in Pyatigorsk. The Head of the North Caucasus Division of the Crew against Torture, woman human rights defender Ekaterina Vanslova, was present during the raid. The law enforcement officials seized a flash drive and an old laptop.
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.
On 4 May 2023, representatives of the General Administration for Combating Extremism (Center ‘E’) in the city of Krasnodar raided the office of Crew against Torture in Krasnodar, in southern Russia. After the raid, law enforcement brought human rights defender and lawyer, Ilya Platonov, who was present at the office during the raid, in for questioning as a witness; he was let go later the same day. This is the third raid on Crew against Torture’s regional offices since 14 April 2023.
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.
On 4 May 2023, the representatives of Center ‘E’ raided the office of the Crew against Torture in Krasnodar, and brought human rights defender and lawyer, Ilya Platonov, in for questioning, releasing him later the same day. The raids were ordered by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of North Ossetia. The lawyers who are part of Crew against Torture have been systemically targeted, not only with raids on their offices, but also their homes, due to a torture case that they are currently litigating in the Republic of North Ossetia.
Similar raids on other offices of the Crew against Torture have been ordered by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of North Ossetia. On 14 April 2023, seven law enforcement officers from Pyatigorsk Investigative Committee raided the North Caucasus office of the Crew against Torture in Pyatigorsk. The Head of the North Caucasus Division of Crew against Torture, woman human rights defender Ekaterina Vanslova was present during the raid. The law enforcement officials seized a flash drive and an old laptop. On 28 April 2023, representatives of the Center ‘E’ in Nizhniy Novgorog raided the apartment of woman human rights defender and lawyer Olga Sadovskaya and Crew against Torture’s office in Nizhniy Novgorod. The law enforcement officers also raided the apartments of two other representatives of Crew against Torture, who decided to remain anonymous. The authorities seized Olga Sadovskaya’s laptop and phone from her apartment, but none of the documents related to the case in they are litigating in North Ossetia were seized.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the raid on Crew against Torture’s office in Krasnodar as well as the targeting of its representatives with house raids and equipment seizure in Krasnodar, Pyatigorsk and Nizhniy Novgorod. Front Line Defenders believes that this harrassment is motivated by Crew against Torture’s legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Front Line Defenders condemns the continued targeting of human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, as well as the state’s continuous effort to dismantle human rights work in the country and further isolate human rights defenders. Front Line Defenders urges the Russian authorities to ensure that human rights defenders and lawyers from Crew against Torture can continue their legitimate and peaceful work without fear of reprisals.
On 28 April 2023, representatives of the General Administration for Combating Extremism in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod raided the apartment of woman human rights defender and lawyer Olga Sadovskaya and the human rights group Crew against Torture’s office in Nizhniy Novgorod. The law enforcement officers also raided the apartments of two other representatives of the Crew against Torture, who decided to remain anonymous. Law enforcement continue to target representatives of the Crew against Torture in the context of the torture case they are litigating in the North Ossetia Republic.
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. Olga Sadovskaya is a woman human rigths defender and lawyer, who leads international advocacy and lititgation on behalf of the Crew against Torture. She is a laureat of the Moscow Helsinki Group award of 2023.
On 28 April 2023, at 7 am, representatives of the General Administration for Combating Extremism in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod raided the apartment of woman human rights defender and lawyer Olga Sadovskaya. During the raid the law enforcement officers seized the woman human rights defender’s phone, laptop, and 80 hunting cartriges, that belonged to Olga Sadovskaya’s ex-husband. On the same day, the representatives of the General Administration for Combating Extremism in the city of Nizhniy Novgorod raided the office of the Crew against Torture in Nizhniy Novgorod. Representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations arrived to the office and forced the doors open. According to Crew against Torture, the law enforcement officers were looking for the documentation concerning the case they are litigating in the North Ossetia Republic. The law enforcement officers also questioned representatives about this case. Earlier in April 2023, similar raids happened in the office of Crew against Torture based in Pyatigorsk.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the raid in Crew against Torture office in Nizhniy Novgorod as well as the targeting of its representatives with house raids and seizure of equipment. Front Line Defenders believes that this harassment is motivated by Crew against Torture’s legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Front Line Defenders condemns continued targeting of human rights defenders in Russia, as well as the Russian Federation’s continuous effort to dismantle human rights work in the country and further isolate human rights defenders and it urges the Russian Authorities to ensure that human rights defenders and lawyers from Crew against Torture can continue their legitimate and non-violent work without fear of reprisals.
On 14 April 2023, law enforcement officers in Pyatigorsk raided the premises of the North Caucasus division of Crew against Torture’s office in Pyatigorsk. The Head of the North Caucasus Division of the Crew against Torture, woman human rights defender Ekaterina Vanslova, was present during the raid. The law enforcement officials seized a flash drive and an old laptop.
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.
Ekaterina Vanslova is a woman human rights defender and a lawyer, who leads Crew against Torture’s work in the North Caucasus.
On 14 April 2023, seven law enforcement officers from Pyatigorsk Investigative Committee raided the office of the North Caucasus division of Crew against Torture in Pyatigorsk. The raid was sanctioned by the Investigator from North Osetiya. The Head of the North Caucasus Division of the Crew against Torture, woman human rights defender Ekaterina Vanslova, was present during the raid. The law enforcement officials seized a flash drive and an old laptop. According to Ekaterina Vanslova, the authorities targeted the office because of one of the torture cases that Crew against Torture is litigating in the North Osetiya region. The woman human rights defender reported that due to security precautions in place by Crew against Torture, none of the documents related to the case were seized by the law enforcement officers.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the raid in Crew against Torture office in Pyatigorsk and believes that this harassment is motivated by their legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Front Line Defenders condemns continued targetting of human rights defenders in Russian Federation, as well as Russia’s continious effort to dismantle human rights work in the country and further isolate human rights defenders.
