Belarusian human rights center Viasna has commented on the decision by Russia’s Supreme Court, which on April 9 designated the Memorial movement an “extremist organization” and banned its activities.
Viasna chairman Ales Bialiatski called the decision absurd and pointed out that it had been made in record time at a closed hearing following a lawsuit by the Justice Ministry, based on accusations unknown both to the defendants and to the public.
“At the same time, it was announced that the authorities wanted to designate a non-existent ‘International Public Movement Memorial’ as an extremist organization.
The Supreme Court ruled that ‘the movement’s activities are extremist in nature and pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order, the integrity and security of the Russian Federation, and are aimed at undermining historical, cultural, spiritual and moral values, as well as inciting social and religious hatred’.
There are many different organizations with the name ‘Memorial’, working in very different fields — studying the history of Soviet repression, protecting human rights and opposing various forms of discrimination. It is a multitude of independent organizations with different mandates, working methods and people. But it is obvious that this is not a mistake. The authorities have already used this convenient wording about non-existent ‘international public movements’ to ban a broad range of phenomena they dislike: ‘LGBT’, the ‘Anti-Russian Separatist Movement’”, the statement said.
Bialiatski drew a parallel with Belarus: in August 2023, Viasna itself was designated an extremist formation by the Belarusian Interior Ministry. According to him, dictatorships adopt repressive practices from one another, but attacks by the authorities have not stopped the organization’s work.
“We express solidarity with Russia’s oldest human rights organization and call on our Russian colleagues to strengthen human rights work to protect human rights in Russia”, the head of Viasna said.
Memorial was established in the last century to study political repression in the Soviet Union. The movement also aimed to promote the development of civil society, legal awareness among citizens and a democratic rule-of-law state in order to prevent a return to totalitarianism, assist in promoting democratic values and the rights of individuals, preserve the memory of victims of political repression and restore historical truth.
