UN Report Calls for Treaty on Russian Transnational Repression
A new UN report documents nearly 400 cases of state-sponsored harassment and violence against dissidents abroad, urging the creation of a binding international convention.
Key points
- UN Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova presented a report documenting nearly 400 cases of Russian transnational repression, urging a new binding treaty.
- The report highlights an eightfold increase in annual incidents since 2022, including assassinations, financial blacklisting, and the abuse of INTERPOL notices.
- Russia enacted a law in 2026 that imposes 14 categories of restrictions on designated individuals abroad, effectively rendering them stateless.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia has urged member states to adopt a binding treaty specifically targeting transnational repression. In a report presented to the Human Rights Council, Mariana Katzarova detailed what she described as a systematic campaign by Russian security services to silence critics abroad, including assassinations, poisonings, and forced returns. The findings highlight a significant gap in international law, as no existing convention explicitly categorizes state-sponsored persecution of individuals outside their home country as a distinct legal offense.
According to the report, titled “Nowhere is safe,” the intensity of these actions has increased sharply following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The document draws on a database of nearly 400 documented cases, noting that the practice coincides with an estimated exodus of 650,000 to 900,000 people. Civil society data cited in the analysis indicate that the average annual number of incidents rose roughly eightfold when comparing the period from 2014 to 2021 with the years from 2022 to 2024.
Documented Violences and Legal Measures
The report catalogs specific high-profile killings, including the 2019 shooting of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin and the 2024 killing of military pilot Maxim Kuzminov in Spain. Beyond physical violence, the document details non-kinetic methods such as financial blacklisting and the abuse of INTERPOL mechanisms. For instance, it references a Red Notice against businessman Igor Pestrikov that INTERPOL’s oversight body later determined was predominantly political. The report also notes a dramatic rise in in absentia sentences targeting critics abroad, which increased from four in 2022 to 157 in 2025.
Recent legislative changes in Russia have further exacerbated the situation for citizens abroad. A law enacted in August 2026 places individuals convicted of crimes or designated as “foreign agents” on a public list that triggers fourteen categories of restrictions. These measures include frozen assets and revoked passports, which Katzarova argues render affected individuals de facto stateless. Additionally, a Russian list of “terrorists and extremists,” which banks in Europe and the Americas treat as a red flag, has grown to include over 21,000 individuals.
Diplomatic Rejection and Legal Gaps
The report states that Russian authorities have ignored information requests from the Special Rapporteur and have repeatedly refused to allow her to visit the country. This lack of cooperation aligns with broader UN criticism of Russia’s domestic crackdown on civil society, which the report suggests has been exported abroad through designations such as “undesirable organization.” While existing human rights conventions apply to the underlying abuses, the report emphasizes that there is currently no treaty that specifically targets transnational repression as its own legal category.
Katzarova recommended that UN bodies support the drafting of a new convention that defines the practice and sets binding prevention and accountability duties for states. The report also calls for binding regional standards and the suspension of Russia’s rights to process requests through the INTERPOL National Central Bureau. According to Jurist.org, any such convention would require negotiation and adoption by UN member states, a process that has no set timeline as the Human Rights Council’s current session continues.
Future Negotiations and Council Sessions
The forward path involves complex diplomatic negotiations among the 193 UN member states. The adoption of a binding treaty would represent a significant shift in international legal norms, potentially altering how states cooperate on intelligence and law enforcement matters. As the Human Rights Council’s 63rd session proceeds through October 7, observers will be watching for any initial steps toward defining the legal framework for transnational repression. The outcome of these discussions could set a precedent for addressing state-sponsored harassment of diaspora communities globally.
