While we welcome Russia’s acceptance of certain recommendations relating to the investigation of mass detentions, torture and killings of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender and inter-sex individuals in Chechnya in 2017, recommendations to take concrete actions to protect LGBT persons, to repeal laws violating LGBT rights or to include an explicit provision on prohibition of discrimination based on gender were rejected.
We greet the fact that numerous recommendations were made by states to abolish the list of professions banned for women, as advocated by the ADC "Memorial" campaign "All Jobs for All Women". The fact that Russia accepted that its legislation should not discriminate against women in their professional career is a positive sign to our organisations. The next step should be to fully support recommendations to abolish the given list.
Russia has also acknowledged that is has to take further action in order to eliminate discrimination of Roma and the accepted several recommendations relating to the rights of indigenous people. We welcome the fact that it supported the recommendations to step up action in order to decrease statelessness, including among representatives of minority groups, especially by establishing safeguards to guarantee birth registration to stateless children.
However, while Russia continues to promise it would consider ratifying the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons as well as the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, it explicitly refuses to accede to them, as in case of other important recommendation to ratify the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention.
Our organisations are deeply disappointed by the government’s decision not accept recommendations relating to the repressions against Jehova’s Witnesses and of Crimean Tatars. The latter are subjected to intensified persecution under various pretexts and with the apparent goal of completely silencing dissent on the peninsula annexed in 2014.
Finally, we are disappointed by the government’s decision not to extend an open invitation to all UN special procedures.
*The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. The UPR is a significant innovation of the Human Rights Council which is based on equal treatment for all countries. It provides an opportunity for all States to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to overcome challenges to the enjoyment of human rights. The UPR also includes a sharing of best human rights practices around the globe. Currently, no other mechanism of this kind exists.