21. Russian Federation
90. On 10 May 2018, the Chair and the Focal Point for Reprisals for the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wrote to the Government about allegations of reprisals by the authorities against Ms. Yana Tannagasheva and Mr. Vladislav Tannagashev, human rights defenders advocating for the rights of the Shor indigenous people of southern Siberia. 19 They had engaged with the Committee in relation to the twenty-third and thirty-fourth periodic reports of the Russian Federation in August 2017.
91. Following their collaboration with the Committee, Ms. Tannagasheva and Mr. Tannagashev were subject to harassment and intimidation by authorities of the Kemerovo district and representatives of Yuzhnaya coal company. They were urged by the police to renounce their activities, and were placed under surveillance by the police and security service, and had their phones tapped. Threats were made by security service agents concerning their children, and their relatives and friends were summoned for questioning. Further, Ms. Tannagasheva was dismissed from her job as a teacher at a local school and her house was burned down in a suspected arson attack, following which no investigation took place. As a result, both fled the country with their children out of fear for their safety. The Committee expressed their grave concern for the allegations of reprisals against Ms. Tannagasheva and Mr. Tannagashev, which appear to be a direct consequence of their engagement with the Committee. At the time of writing the Government had not responded to the Chair and the Focal Point for Reprisals of the Committee.
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