UN Working Group Condemns "Pattern of Discriminatory Detention of Jehovah's Witnesses" and Demands Their Immediate Release

Unlawful deprivation of liberty, criminal prosecution for peaceful practice of faith, and discriminatory persecution on religious grounds — these violations were documented by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention with respect to 26 Jehovah's Witnesses. The relevant opinion was adopted by the body on March 30, 2026. The full text is available on the official website.

The cases cover events from 2018 to 2025 and concern 19 men and 7 women from Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod Region), Birobidzhan, Konakovo (Tver Region), Prokopyevsk (Kemerovo Region), Rubtsovsk (Altai Territory), Kostroma, Moscow, Astrakhan, Kholmskaya (Krasnodar Territory), and Yaroslavskiy (Primorye Territory). Most are still held in pretrial detention; others are already serving actual prison terms in penal colonies. Only one of the applicants is currently not behind bars — Oleg Postnikov. His criminal case has been sent for retrial.

"The Working Group is particularly concerned that, according to available information, 17 of the persons mentioned have been continuously subjected to some form of deprivation of liberty before trial for several years, beginning in 2019. This further exacerbates the severity of the unjustified use of preventive measures against them," the opinion states (§ 129). Among those whose detention has lasted for years are 68-year-old Aleksandr Ivshin (more than 5 years), 60-year-old Anna Safronova (over 4 years), and 57-year-old Andrey Vlasov (about 4 years).

The Working Group determined that the criminal prosecution of the applicants was a direct result of the believers exercising their freedom of religion, expression, and peaceful assembly. "Searches, detentions, charges brought, and remand in custody were applied against numerous followers of this religion, often solely due to their participation in joint meetings for worship. No substantiated counterarguments have been presented [...]. These cases indicate the existence of a practice of discriminatory detention and deprivation of liberty of Jehovah's Witnesses," the opinion states (§§ 143, 144).

The experts demanded that Russia immediately release all 26 applicants, grant them the right to compensation, conduct a full and independent investigation, and take measures against those responsible for the unlawful detentions. At the same time, the group pointed to the need to bring legislation and law enforcement practice in line with the country's international obligations.

This is already the fourth instance in which the UN Working Group condemns the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Although opinions of the UN Working Group are not decisions of an international court, the Russian authorities are not entitled to ignore them. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, in its Order of June 9, 2015 No. 1276-O, noted that the Russian Federation is required to give due consideration to such findings and to review the issue of restoring violated rights, up to revising court decisions that resulted in the established violation. How the authorities will respond to the new opinion of the Working Group remains to be seen. Russia has 6 months to provide information about the measures taken.