Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Reacting to the news that the family and lawyer of Nikita Zhuravel, who was sentenced in 2024 to 14 years’ imprisonment for “high treason”, “insulting religious feelings” and “hooliganism committed with religious hatred,” have raised concerns about his disappearance while being transferred to a penal colony, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

“Russian authorities must urgently disclose the fate and whereabouts of Nikita Zhuravel and ensure his immediate contact with his lawyer and family. A person vanishing within the state penitentiary system for months amounts to enforced disappearance.

A person vanishing within the state penitentiary system for months amounts to enforced disappearance

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director

“Nikita Zhuravel already experienced petrifying levels of lawlessness at the hands of the authorities, when he was detained and arbitrarily transferred to Chechnya after allegedly burning the Quran. Once there, he was brutally physically assaulted on video by the son of regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov. This assault was widely reported yet manifestly ignored by the federal investigation authorities.

“Аdding to this horror and injustice, Nikita Zhuravel’s initial sentence of three-and-a-half years was significantly extended after he was found guilty of ‘treason’ for alleged cooperation with the secret services of Ukraine. Against this backdrop, his enforced disappearance means that his life and health may be at risk.”

Background

Nikita Zhuravel’s family last heard from the 22-year-old on 24 December 2025, when they got a letter while he was transferred from Moscow to a penal colony in Ulyanovsk, Central Russia.

Originally from Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea, Zhuravel was detained on 20 May 2023 in Volgograd where he was living with his family. His arrest came a day after a video showing the burning a Quran in front of a mosque in Volgograd appeared online. He reportedly admitted guilt, stating that he had acted on instructions from an individual he believed to be a representative of Ukraine’s security services, in exchange for 10,000 rubles (approximately US$ 130).

In apparent violation of jurisdictional rules, he was transferred for trial to the Chechen Republic, where he was beaten in detention by Adam Kadyrov, the then 15-year-old son of Ramzan Kadyrov. Footage of the assault was later published online by Ramzan Kadyrov himself, who praised his son’s actions.

On 27 February 2024, the Visaitovsky District Court of Grozny found Nikita Zhuravel guilty of “insulting the feelings of believers” (Article 148(2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and “hooliganism committed on the grounds of religious hatred” (Article 213(2)) and sentenced him to 3.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony. On 25 November 2024, the Volgograd Oblast Court increased his prison term to 14 years after finding him guilty of “high treason” (Article 275) for allegedly having “proactively offered cooperation to a representative of the Ukrainian Security Service” by sharing video footage of military transport.

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Responding to a US jury finding that Meta and YouTube were liable for designing platforms that are harmful to children and young people, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said: 

“This damning verdict is a landmark moment in recognizing the harm caused by tech giants in the manipulative designs of their social media platforms. For years, social media companies including Meta and YouTube have profited from targeting children and young people with addictive design features that prioritize engagement over wellbeing. They have deliberately built into their platforms features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and persistent notifications that are engineered to ‘hook’ young users into compulsive use. 

“The toxic impact of these unsafe design features was laid bare during the trial when 20-year-old KGM told the court in Los Angeles how she began using YouTube at just six and Instagram at nine. She described being online ‘all day long’ as a child. Over time, her compulsive use of these social media platforms intensified, leaving her struggling with addiction and deepening depression. 

“This court decision is clear: these platforms are unsafe by design and meaningful change is urgently needed. 

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns

“Rather than using blunt tools like banning young teens from social media, states must require a fundamental overhaul of how these platforms operate, including addressing their addictive design. This is the only path to a truly safe social media.” 

Background 
 
Delivering the landmark judgement in KGM’s case, jurors said Meta and YouTube were negligent and ordered them to pay $6 million in damages. Meta and Google have both both stated separately that they disagree with the verdict and will appeal.  

Snap, the owner of Snapchat and TikTok were initially part of the case, but both companies reached a settlement before trial. 

The ruling could influence a raft of other cases accusing social media companies of causing children and young people harm. 
 
In a separate case in New Mexico, a jury also found Meta liable for harms to the mental health and safety of children in the state and ordered it to pay a hefty fine though Meta has indicated that it will appeal the decision. 

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Responding to the European Parliament’s vote on its position on the European Union (EU) Return Regulation today, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, said:

“Today the European Parliament has voted to expand the EU’s punitive and restrictive detention and deportation plans. This agreement – the result of a collaboration between the European People’s Party and political groups that support anti-migration policies – was rushed through negotiations without adequate scrutiny or meaningful human rights assessments.

“This marks a growing trend towards increasingly harmful, exclusionary, and draconian policies on migration, with worrying repercussions for due process and evidence-based policymaking. Far from reducing irregularity, these proposals risk trapping more people in precarious situations.

“Today, the European Parliament has voted to ramp up disproportionate requirements, sanctions and restrictions on people issued with a return decision, and to vastly expand its use of detention and for far longer periods, falling short of international legal standards.

“People will also risk being sent to ‘return hubs’ – offshore detention centres – in countries where they have never set foot. Amnesty International is unequivocal: return hubs carry grave risks of rights violations, cannot be implemented in a human rights compliant manner, and should be rejected in full.”

Background

The European Commission presented a proposal for a Return Regulation to replace the existing Return Directive in March 2025. In December 2025, Amnesty International warned that the European Council’s negotiating position on this proposal entailed “unprecedented detention, sanctions, and stripping of rights based on migration status.”

On 9 March 2026, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee adopted its position on the Return Regulation. This followed rushed negotiations and votes on two different texts, including an alternative compromise by the European People’s Party with support from the European Conservatives and Reformists, Europe of Sovereign Nations and Patriots for Europe. It was this text that both received the LIBE Committee’s final support and was endorsed today as Parliament’s negotiating position on the reform.

Today’s vote paves the way for trilogue negotiations with the Council before the Regulation can be formally adopted. These are expected to advance quickly.

For further information please see:

Joint statement over 200 civil society organizations calling for deportation rules to be rejected

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Reacting to the sentencing of opposition politician Elene Khoshtaria to one year and six months’ imprisonment for writing a slogan on an election poster, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director, said:

“For a symbolic act of protest – writing barely visible graffiti on a street poster – Elene Khoshtaria will spend a year and a half in prison. This is yet another example of the criminal justice system being instrumentalized to punish dissent. Criminal sanctions for non-violent minor offences committed while peacefully expressing dissent are likely to be a disproportionate restriction of freedom of expression. In these cases, prison sentences should be avoided.

“In Elene Khoshtaria’s case, the severity of the punishment appears related not to material damage, but to her political opinions and the symbolic damage she has inflicted on the ruling party. The authorities must immediately release her, review her sentence, in particularly by quashing the prison term, and end all politically motivated trials without delay.”

In Elene Khoshtaria’s case, the severity of the punishment appears related not to material damage, but to her political opinions and the symbolic damage she has inflicted on the ruling party. The authorities must immediately release her, review her sentence, in particularly by quashing the prison term, and end all politically motivated trials without delay

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director

Background

On 24 March, Tbilisi City Court sentenced the leader of the opposition party Droa, Elene Khoshtaria, to 1.5-years’ imprisonment under Article 187(1) of Georgia’s Criminal Code for “damaging or destroying another person’s property which has resulted in substantial damage”. She had written “Russian Dream” with a marker on election posters of the incumbent mayor of Tbilisi representing the ruling “Georgian Dream” party on 14 September 2025. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the damage amounted to 570 GEL (210 USD).

Elene Khoshtaria stated that it was an act of solidarity with activist Megi Diasamidze, who had been detained for a similar act of protest several days earlier. Megi Diasamidze has been released on bail, and her case is still pending.

For over a year, and especially since the widely contested parliamentary elections in October 2025, protests have continued daily. The authorities have responded with ever-increasing repression, including arbitrary arrests, abusive criminal prosecutions, intimidation and harassment of protesters and other critics of the government, as well as a tightening of administrative and criminal legislation that significantly restricts the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

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