EXPLAINING THE STRUGGLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIA |
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Hello and welcome back to the Digest. |
Today is all about important dates. We are celebrating our birthday and marking international Human Rights Day. Today’s digest was co-written with our crowdfunding team as it sheds the light on some of our fundraising initiatives. |
In solidarity, Dan Storyev |
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Trigger warning:
This is a newsletter about Russian repressions. Sometimes it will be hard to read. |
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On December 5 OVD-Info turned 13! It is amazing we have survived this long under the authorities’ pressure. We came a long way together with you, our readers, fighting for human rights and supporting those who face political persecution in Russia. |
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Over these years we have built something bigger than a simple initiative informing people about numbers and locations of detainees: we have become a powerful community uniting those who share our values of freedom and human rights. Together, we have achieved a lot: |
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Helping thousands. Our hotline and legal assistance have advised tens of thousands of people attacked by Putin’s regime. Our lawyers have been standing by and sometimes winning freedom for defendants in their care.
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OVD-Info lawyer Sergei Podolsky and 64-year-old St. Petersburg political scientist Yevgeny Bestuzhev, 5 November 2024. Bestuzhev was released from pre-trial detention after a court handed down a suspended sentence in a case accusing him of ‘fakes’ about the military in his anti-war publications / Photo: courtesy of Sergei Podolsky |
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Documenting repression. With reliable information on Russian repression becoming progressively scarce, we have built a robust data source analysing the various data available to us. Our databases, monitoring activities, and research help shed light on the scale of repression and its toll on society.
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Running public campaigns. We work with international organizations to help improve the human rights situation in Russia; we believe that systemic changes are both possible and necessary.
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Alexei Moskalev hugs his daughter Masha after his release from a penal colony in Novomoskovsk, Tula region, Russia, 15 October 2024. Alexei became a defendant in a case of “discrediting” the army after Masha drew an anti-war drawing at school. OVD-Info provided Moskalev with a lawyer and ran a public campaign to draw attention to his case / Photo: OVD-Info |
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But our greatest success is you. You, reading these words right now. You, supporting us with your donations, having our back in the direst of moments. It's your help that keeps us fighting and believing that change is possible. By expanding the communities of defenders, volunteers, donors, and supporters of the project, we can collaborate effectively and in the interests of society.
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We know that 13 years is just the beginning. Fighting against the Kremlin is a marathon, not a sprint. To celebrate this anniversary we have launched a new donation campaign — read more about it via the link, where we explain how we help defendants in detail. |
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Your help will let us celebrate many more anniversaries together! Your donation, however small, will become one more brick in the wall of protection we are building for those in need. Thank you for being with us! |
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On December 10th the world marks International Human Rights Day — a date that reminds us that freedom, dignity, and equality are important for everyone. International Human Rights Day was established in 1948 to honor the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that set the baseline for defending rights and freedoms worldwide. The Declaration proclaimed that human rights belong to everyone with no exception — regardless of race, gender, language, beliefs, or other distinctions. It serves as a moral and legal compass guiding the work of human rights organizations like ours.
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In today's world, the protection of human rights is still necessary, especially in regions where freedom is restricted, and people are persecuted for their beliefs. OVD-Info’s mission is to safeguard these rights, defending those in need. Here's how we protect those rights: |
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Imagine a person detained for participating in a peaceful protest. Thanks to your support, after receiving initial detainee information via our bot, our hotline operators would promptly contact this person and their loved ones, provide initial legal advice, and send a trusted defender to assist the detainee.
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Once the detainee reaches out to us for help, we not only provide legal protection but also bring their case to a wider audience through our website and social media. We also engage independent media to ensure that the stories of those facing repression become part of the public discourse.
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In this hypothetical case, we not only defend an individual but also include their case in a larger narrative about freedom. That’s why we collect data on political repression and create public reports that not only reveal the scale of repression happening now but also preserve a chronicle of events for future generations. Additionally, we collaborate with international institutions to ensure the global community understands the real situation in Russia and that decision-makers can take effective action.
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Such stories are not uncommon, and each one is unique because there is a real person and their future behind it. Take the case of jailed anti-war activist Igor Baryshnikov who was able to receive life-saving medical care in prison thanks to our campaign. Or the case of young activist Egor Balazeykin, who was transferred to better holding conditions. Or the case of anti-fascist Lev Skoryakin, who was let go altogether— after being illegally kidnapped abroad and disappeared to Moscow. We aim to prove that human rights protection is not an abstract idea but real work. And at every stage of this work, you and thousands of other supporters make it possible, which means...
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Today, we want to congratulate not only human rights organizations and activists but also you. Every donation, repost, or any other form of support for OVD-Info is a valuable contribution to our common future. You prove that solidarity and engagement are enough to enable us to provide protection and drive systemic change. OVD-Info works endlessly to defend human rights, and the outcome is the result of the collective efforts of many people. By funding our hotline and legal assistance, you provide critical help to someone at the moment they need it most. By sharing our materials and reports with your friends, you help to make information about political repression more accessible.
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You are a human rights defender, even if you've never called yourself one. Every contribution to human rights protection, even if it seems small, brings us closer to a more humane and equal society. Thank you! |
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Please answer our questionnaire so we can better understand our audience! |
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Sources cited in the reading list are not necessarily aligned or in a formal partnership with us. It is just what the editor finds interesting. |
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The Digest is created by OVD-Info, written by Dan Storyev, edited by Dr Lauren McCarthy |
OVD-Info English newsletter privacy policy: how we work with your data |
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