Sfera and other rights groups urge the UN to renew the Special Rapporteur's mandate on Russia
September 2026. An international coalition of human-rights organizations appealed to the UN Human Rights Council — the persecution of LGBTQ+ communities is among the key concerns listed.
An international coalition of human-rights organizations has called on the UN Human Rights Council to renew, at its 63rd session, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia. The letter, published on 4 September, was signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Memorial, OVD-Info, the LGBTQ+ group Coming Out, the Sfera Foundation and around a dozen other organizations.
The authors note that since the last renewal of the mandate the situation in the country has deteriorated further: repressive measures that intensified after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine are becoming permanent and squeezing out independent civil society.
What is listed among the alarming trendsAmong the most troubling developments recorded since September 2025, the letter names:
— the designation of Memorial-affiliated organizations and the OVD-Info project as “extremist” in April 2026;
— the use of “foreign agent” and anti-extremism laws against anti-war politicians and opposition candidates ahead of the State Duma elections (in August 2026 the Supreme Court barred Yabloko — the only registered party openly opposing the war — from the elections);
— the continued persecution of the LGBTQ+ community under anti-extremism legislation;
— reports of torture, denial of medical care, prolonged punitive isolation and restrictions on detainees' access to lawyers;
— pressure on rights defenders and critics living abroad, including frozen bank accounts, restrictions on property and the denial of consular services.
On LGBTQ+ people specifically, the signatories cite the assessment of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who noted in a June report that Russia is intensifying its persecution of these communities: in the preceding three months alone, at least nine organizations protecting their rights had been designated “extremist.” The Special Rapporteur, the letter stresses, remains the only independent international mechanism systematically documenting human-rights violations inside Russia, and the work is vital to sustaining international attention to the persecution of civil society.
The outcomeThe appeal was heard. On 6 October 2026 the UN Human Rights Council renewed the Special Rapporteur's mandate (the post is held by Mariana Katzarova) for another year: the resolution passed by 21 votes to 5 with 21 abstentions — the highest number of votes for the mandate since it was established in 2022. Russia, which does not recognize the mandate and does not admit the rapporteur to the country, withdrew its amendment to delete the renewal.
Source: joint appeal by human-rights organizations (Amnesty International, 4 September 2026); Human Rights Watch.
An international coalition of human-rights organizations has called on the UN Human Rights Council to renew, at its 63rd session, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia. The letter, published on 4 September, was signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Memorial, OVD-Info, the LGBTQ+ group Coming Out, the Sfera Foundation and around a dozen other organizations.
The authors note that since the last renewal of the mandate the situation in the country has deteriorated further: repressive measures that intensified after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine are becoming permanent and squeezing out independent civil society.
What is listed among the alarming trendsAmong the most troubling developments recorded since September 2025, the letter names:
— the designation of Memorial-affiliated organizations and the OVD-Info project as “extremist” in April 2026;
— the use of “foreign agent” and anti-extremism laws against anti-war politicians and opposition candidates ahead of the State Duma elections (in August 2026 the Supreme Court barred Yabloko — the only registered party openly opposing the war — from the elections);
— the continued persecution of the LGBTQ+ community under anti-extremism legislation;
— reports of torture, denial of medical care, prolonged punitive isolation and restrictions on detainees' access to lawyers;
— pressure on rights defenders and critics living abroad, including frozen bank accounts, restrictions on property and the denial of consular services.
On LGBTQ+ people specifically, the signatories cite the assessment of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who noted in a June report that Russia is intensifying its persecution of these communities: in the preceding three months alone, at least nine organizations protecting their rights had been designated “extremist.” The Special Rapporteur, the letter stresses, remains the only independent international mechanism systematically documenting human-rights violations inside Russia, and the work is vital to sustaining international attention to the persecution of civil society.
The outcomeThe appeal was heard. On 6 October 2026 the UN Human Rights Council renewed the Special Rapporteur's mandate (the post is held by Mariana Katzarova) for another year: the resolution passed by 21 votes to 5 with 21 abstentions — the highest number of votes for the mandate since it was established in 2022. Russia, which does not recognize the mandate and does not admit the rapporteur to the country, withdrew its amendment to delete the renewal.
Source: joint appeal by human-rights organizations (Amnesty International, 4 September 2026); Human Rights Watch.