UN Special Rapporteur on Russia calls for independent investigation into Navalny’s death

Mariana Katzarova, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Russia, called on the Russian authorities to begin an immediate investigation into the death of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny in comments to Novaya Gazeta Europe on Friday.

Katzarova called Navalny’s death “a terrible tragedy for all democratically minded people around the world”, adding that he hadn’t been “afraid to speak about the deteriorating human rights situation in Russia, about the corruption of the authorities, or of key politicians”.

Mariana Katzarova

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Russia

“If confirmed, his death needs to be immediately investigated and not just by the Russian authorities. I understand that the prison authorities have sent a commission to actually look into the circumstances of the death of Navalny. However, there should be an independent investigation into how he died, in what circumstances, including an independent autopsy. And I think it’s absolutely essential that the Russian authorities give access and allow such an independent civilian investigation very separate from the authorities and from the government of Russia to be able to investigate the death.”

“In the past few years, the conditions of his detention amounted to torture. He was repeatedly and regularly kept incommunicado in punishment cells, for prolonged periods of time. His health has been deteriorating during this process, and he wasn’t given access to adequate medical care while in detention. Three of his lawyers were detained in Russia in October and are currently in prison on charges of extremism. Two of Navalny’s lawyers who are now in exile were sentenced to imprisonment in absentia a couple of days ago.”

“The health of many of these political opponents and anti-war critics has deteriorated. Today, we call for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Russia: Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, and Alexey Gorinov, whose health has deteriorated in prison as well.”

“Today, we ask: who is next? Who could be next after Navalny among all these dissidents and human rights activists? That’s why they need to be immediately released.”

“Several things need to happen. One is an immediate and thorough investigation by a civilian independent body separate from the Russian government into the circumstances of Alexey Navalny’s death, along with an independent autopsy of his body. There must be access to his body, so that his lawyers and family can get to the truth of the circumstances of his death. But secondly, and most importantly, now we need to ensure that we call on the Russian authorities to immediately release all political prisoners in Russia and all the dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists and activists who are currently imprisoned in Russia.”