Natalia Guseva is a woman human rights defender who works on the issue of voters’ rights. She is the chairperson of Golos-Ural, the Ural branch of one of the most prominent Russian voters’ rights movement. On 17 August 2023, her home was raided alongside with other persons affiliated with Golos. She was then charged with so-called “discrediting of the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” a criminal offence envisioned by Article 207.3, part 1, of the Russian Criminal Code.
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.
