people continued to face discrimination. encountered difficulties, with many having to Arbitrary deportations of refugees and pay for their vaccination. asylum seekers persisted. FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND Public assemblies organized by the The parliamentary election in September was opposition were mostly prohibited, including accompanied by unprecedented pressure on under the pretext of public health restrictions, independent opposition candidates, including unlike pro-government mass events. through barring them from running on Individuals staging single-person pickets spurious grounds. A record number of were routinely arrested and prosecuted, in violations were reported by independent violation of an unduly restrictive law.1 election monitors over three days of voting. Rallies in support of opposition leader Corruption remained pervasive. Aleksei Navalny resulted in unprecedented 2 Low Covid-19 vaccine uptake and a rapid numbers of mass arbitrary arrests and growth in the infection rate led all regional administrative and criminal prosecutions on 3 governments to introduce mandatory spurious charges. In Moscow, facial vaccination for certain groups of workers. The recognition technologies were reportedly government repeatedly announced fully paid used to identify and reprimand peaceful “non-working days” to halt the pandemic’s protesters. spread, forcing businesses to pick up the Police enjoyed impunity for the unlawful use cost with limited government support. of force, including with stun guns, against 4 Unprecedented wildfires raged in Siberia peaceful protesters. and the Far East following record-breaking Around 10 criminal cases for “repeated heat and drought. Toxic smoke spread widely, violation of public assembly regulations” were further reducing the already poor air quality opened. In October, environmental activist in large cities. Vyacheslav Egorov was sentenced to 15 Russia continued to occupy Crimea and months’ imprisonment for organizing a other territories. peaceful protest. RIGHT TO HEALTH FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION Soaring Covid-19 infection and death rates Civil society organizations suffered further exacerbated problems in healthcare, already reprisals and restrictions due to newly dismal in some places. Worn-out amended legislation on “foreign agents” and infrastructure, negligent use of equipment “undesirable organizations”, which widened and underfinancing, for example, were cited their scope (for instance, outlawing among the reasons for a cut in oxygen supply cooperation with “undesirable organizations” in a North Ossetian hospital in August, abroad) and increased respective resulting in the deaths of at least nine administrative and criminal sanctions. patients on life support. Despite a shortage of In July, the Council of Europe’s Venice healthcare workers reported across the Commission sharply criticized the new country, the government adopted further cuts amendments to the “foreign agents” to the health budget. The large number of legislation noting that “they constitute serious hospitalized Covid-19 patients led to delays in violations of basic human rights”. It urged planned medical care. Russia to “abandon” this special regime or The vaccination of homeless people and alternatively revise “the entire body of the undocumented migrants against Covid-19 legislation”. The government ignored these was complicated by a requirement for recommendations. identification documents and medical A further eight NGOs were added to the list insurance, often unavailable to such groups. of “foreign agents”, including the Documented migrant workers also independent health workers’ union, Doctors’ Amnesty International Report 2021/22 310