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Banned Russian human rights body Memorial launches Swiss chapter

Russian police arrest a woman protesting against the Ukraine war
Russia has been condemned for increasingly clamping down on free speech and heavy-handed tactics against dissenters. Keystone / Anatoly Maltsev

The banned Russian human rights organisation Memorial International has set up a Swiss branch to support the work of documenting abuses.

Memorial International relocated to Geneva after being banned by the Russian Supreme court in 2021. The launch of the Swiss chapter of the body was announced at the weekend.

“We want to support Memorial in its work to reconstruct historical truth and to uphold the memory of the victims of political oppression by totalitarian regimes,” Memorial Switzerland stated.

“The Swiss section of Memorial unconditionally condemns the current war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, while expressing its support for the Ukrainian people,” it added.

The new chapter will initially set to work translating documented evidence previously uncovered by Memorial Russia and Russian state propaganda.

Memorial International, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, documents the human rights atrocities of the Soviet era and ongoing abuses by Russia.

In 2021, Russia’s Supreme Court dissolved Memorial International and its sister organisation Memorial Human Rights Centre for allegedly distorting history and for acting as “foreign agents”. 

At the time, the Swiss foreign ministry condemned the decision as a “violation of fundamental freedoms”.

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