The laws on “global security” and “strengthening republican principles” raised concerns in relation to mass surveillance as well as the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association. The authorities continued to use vague and overly broad criminal provisions to arrest and prosecute peaceful protesters and used dangerous weapons for policing public assemblies. In June, police used excessive force to disperse hundreds of people who had peacefully gathered for a music festival. In July, a coalition of organizations filed a class action lawsuit arguing that the government had failed to take measures to prevent racial profiling and systemic racial discrimination by police. Transgender people continued to be excluded from access to in-vitro fertilization. The authorities forcibly returned ethnic Chechens to Russia despite the high risk of their suffering serious human rights violations in the country. In February, an administrative court ruled for the first time ever that the authorities’ inaction in response to the climate emergency was illegal.
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