The Russian prosecutor’s office has filed a motion to liquidate the Memorial Human Rights Center. The head of the «Gulagu.Net» project, Vladimir Ossekin, was declared wanted. The former head of Navalny’s headquarters in Ufa, the pregnant Lidia Khanyshova, is being held in pre-trial detention. How do these and other national and global news stories relate to Muslims? Let’s discuss them one by one.
To understand what the Memorial Human Rights Center has done for Muslims, it is enough to enter this word in the search form on our website (at the top) and familiarize yourself with dozens of materials in which it is mentioned. For those who do not want to or cannot do this, we will briefly explain that Memorial has drawn attention to the repression against Muslims in Russia more than any other human rights organization. And under the conditions of the almost complete eradication of Muslim human rights defenders in Russia (may Allah protect the last of them who continue to fight), whose capabilities were already limited in comparison to Memorial, the loss for the Muslim part of Russian society from the ban on Memorial can hardly be overestimated.
As for Russian society as a whole, there is nothing to say. Memorial is practically the oldest of the Russian human rights organizations, having existed for 30 years. It is an organization that has done more than anyone else to perpetuate the memory of the victims of political repression in the Soviet era, to build monuments and memorials to them, which is why its name was chosen. And how many people at that time, when society began to condemn the political repression of the Soviet period and to honor the memory of its victims, could have imagined that those times would return and that Memorial itself, which courageously spoke out about them, would be banned?
Similarly symbolic is the announcement of a search for Vladimir Ossekin, the head of another human rights project, Gulagu.Net. If Memorial can be considered the oldest Russian human rights organization associated with political repression, then Vladimir Ossekin and his associate Sergei Saveliev have recently become known worldwide for exposing the systemic torture conveyor belt in Russian prisons and pre-trial detention centers.
In principle, it was clear from the beginning how this would affect Muslims, of whom there are large numbers in Russian prisons, including prisoners of conscience, about whom we are most concerned. But in addition to defending the rights of prisoners in general, Ossekin pays considerable attention to the protection of Muslims, drawing attention to their oppression in Russian prisons on religious grounds.
Finally, Lidia Chanyshova. Now, one might wonder what supporters of Navalny have in common with Muslims. However, in one of Russia’s largest Muslim republics, she actively defended prisoners of conscience such as Ayrat Dilmukhametov and Ramil Saifutdinov, and worked closely with Bashkir activists in the common struggle for civil rights.
Therefore, it should be obvious that the repression in the country as a whole, the suffocation of human rights activists, and the shrinking of the space for a free society directly affect Muslims. For example, for many years, the exposure of repression in the media, the involvement of human rights defenders, etc., could have had little impact on this repression. But at least we knew what was going on. And now, in the case of Aslambek Ezhaev, who was arrested this year, there is no public discussion at all, and as far as we know, even for the sake of «decency», no proper procedural measures are being taken against him. In other words, a person was just arbitrarily thrown into pre-trial detention and now they are thinking of fabricating a case against him. A few years ago, human rights activists and the media would have screamed about this, and therefore the security forces would not have dared to do such a thing — they would have fabricated a case first and then proceeded with it. But now they are not afraid of any publicity; on the contrary, their victims are afraid to publish anything and draw attention to their cases.
Russia has been under a regime of terror for a long time — this must be recognized. More precisely, in the «Union State of Russia and Belarus» of two dictators who compete with each other in the degree of repression. Currently — since 2020 — Belarus is in the lead. And now it openly engages in terrorism against the rest of the world. Specifically, demographic terrorism, deliberately importing recruited «refugees» from far-flung lands and pushing them to break through the borders of neighboring countries, with barrier troops behind them, in the «best» Soviet tradition.
However, according to statements by top Russian officials this week, it has become absolutely clear that this is all a coordinated operation. For example, Sergei Lavrov «proposed» to the European Union to buy off Alexander Lukashenko with funding similar to what Turkey is providing to keep refugees and prevent them from going to Europe. Unprecedented cynicism and comparing the incomparable — if Turkey is really forced to support millions of refugees fleeing to it from neighboring countries, Belarus has no refugees fleeing to it, for example, from Russia or Ukraine. They are deliberately brought there from other continents as weapons in the fight against countries that have dared to condemn Lukashenko’s tyranny and support the part of the Belarusian population that is fighting for its freedom. Vladimir Putin openly acknowledged this during the week, «advising» EU countries that have boycotted the Lukashenko regime to «resume interaction» with him to ensure their own security.
At the same time, the Kremlin is unequivocally supporting Belarusian provocations by providing it with Russian military aviation and other forces. At the same time, military experts and analysts are again sounding the alarm about the build-up of Russian military forces on the border with Ukraine, pointing to the possibility of starting a large-scale war against Ukraine.
A war against the free part of its society, terror against it and intimidation of the countries that dare to oppose it and its allies — that is the essence of this regime. A regime of internal and external terror. This should be the starting point for any reasonable Muslim when assessing any situation in which he is involved.