The Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights (HRC) appealed to the Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the Director of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov and the Chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin with a request to check the validity and legality of the use of special means and physical force against participants in the protests on July 27, 3 and 10 August in Moscow, according to the HRC website.

“In order to prepare a traditional report to the head of state on the practice of exercising freedom of assembly, members of the Council organized monitoring of the observance of human rights during the suppression of public events held in Moscow on July 27, as well as on August 3 and 10, 2019 by law enforcement officers,” the statement notes. message. The HRC believes that in some cases, law enforcement officers violated the rights of citizens who participated in protests, as well as those who did not participate, but were in the places where they were held. The HRC website lists cases that show signs of human rights violations through abuse of power by law enforcement officers.

The protests on July 27 and August 3 were not coordinated with the Moscow authorities. They were held in support of unregistered candidates for Moscow City Duma deputies. The rally on August 10 was held on Sakharov Avenue and was approved by the Moscow mayor's office. It became the most popular in the last seven years - about 50,000 people visited it (data from the White Counter). Participants in the protest called for the release of those detained during previous rallies, including those involved in the case of mass unrest, and also for the registration of oppositionists as candidates for Moscow City Duma deputies. After the coordinated protest action, police began to detain protesters in the center of Moscow who did not want to disperse.

Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS On August 10, after the end of the agreed rally on Sakharov Avenue, h... Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS Sergei Savostyanov / TASS Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS Sergei Savostyanov / TASS Sergei Savostyanov / TASS Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS

The HRC asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian National Guard and the Investigative Committee to check cases of use of force against protesters