Chechnya – Repression Without Borders
On 22 November, an essay was launched by the Foreign Policy Centre (UK) compiled by an anonymous Human Rights Defender from Chechnya in cooperation with Civil Rights Defenders about the repressions faced by Chechens living abroad. Chechens who run afoul of the Russian republic’s autocratic leader Ramzan Kadyrov find there are few places where his security forces cannot reach them.
Kadyrov uses both traditional strong-arm tactics and electronic surveillance to keep tabs on Chechen refugees, economic migrants, journalists, and political exiles from the Middle East to Vienna and Strasbourg.
Those accused of committing real or imagined crimes against the state – as well as their friends and families – find that international borders are not significant impediments to Kadyrov’s ability to terrorise, torture, and murder Chechens with impunity.
The essay forms part of a larger publication written by several contributors regarding the harassment of human rights activists abroad by intelligence services from the former Soviet Union. You can view the specific article by clicking on the following link: Chechnya – Repression Without Borders. The article is written in cooperation between an anonymous Chechen human rights defender and Civil Rights Defenders.
