The Memorial Human Rights Center in Russia

The human rights center of the civil and human rights organization Memorial, founded in 1987, has become known above all for its intrepid documentation of human rights violations in Chechnya and other Russian republics in the North Caucasus. In 2009, Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the center, was abducted in Chechnya and later found murdered. In December 2021, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ordered the forced dissolution of Memorial International for alleged violations of the „Law on Agents“.

Following an arson attack on the office of the Human Rights Centre in Nazran in the North Caucasian republic of Ingushetia in January 2018, the Human Rights Foundation was able to contribute to the renovation of this office and thus to the rapid restoration of the organization’s work in this region.

We were also able to help the Human Rights Center by contributing to the legal costs incurred in connection with Oyub Titiev’s criminal defense. Oyub Titiev was managing the Human Rights Center’s office in Grozny when he was arrested in January 2018 and put on trial for drug trafficking. After being sentenced to four years in prison, he was released early on parole in June 2019. In October 2018, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe awarded Oyub Titiev the Council of Europe’s Václav Havel Prize for his outstanding work in the protection of human rights.

*** Translated with www.DeepL.com ***

„Banning Memorial International is a turning point“ – Press release on the Amnesty website

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