Russia uses Soviet tactics to suppress anti-war sentiments, UN says
Illustrative photo: Russia uses Soviet methods to suppress dissent (Getty Images)
Russia is reviving the Soviet practice of forced psychiatric treatment to suppress anti-war voices, stated a report by UN Special Rapporteur on rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, Reuters reports.
Human rights advocates have noted that since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, authoritarianism in Russia has intensified.
Specifically, Katzarova’s report says that repression in Russia is increasing and becoming systemic. The Russian authorities are using national security laws and other measures as a cover.
"Punitive psychiatry has returned as a tool against anti-war voices," Katzarova said.
Katzarova said that dissenters are subjected to torture, criminal prosecution, and forced psychiatric treatment. Since 2022, forced psychiatry has been used an average of 23 times per year, compared with roughly five cases annually from 2015 to 2021.
"It's the old Soviet tool of getting dissidents, in this case, anti-war activists, also journalists," she added.
Russia detained a Ukrainian journalist
In June, journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko of the Crimea.Realities project was released after four years in prison in temporarily occupied Crimea.
He was tortured in prison by Russian authorities for publishing truthful information about events in Crimea.
