UN Chief Calls for Investigation Into Reported Death of Navalny

new york — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed shock Friday on the reported death of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and called for a credible investigation into his death.

“The secretary-general expresses his condolences to Mr. Navalny’s family and calls for a full, credible and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Navalny’s reported death in custody,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Navalny, 47, died Friday in the high-security Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence for extremism, Russia’s prison agency said. Navalny’s family was working Friday to confirm the veracity of the report.

He was a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, an anti-corruption campaigner, and had run for public office. His death comes less than a month before elections that are likely to give Putin another six years in power.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “Russia’s relentless persecution is responsible for his death.” 

The U.N. human rights office said it is “appalled” at the reports of Navalny’s death and called on Moscow to end the persecution of politicians, human rights defenders, journalists and others sentenced to jail for the legitimate exercise of their rights.

“Last August, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk highlighted that the latest 19-year sentence raised questions about judicial harassment and instrumentalization of the court system for political purposes in Russia and called for Navalny’s release,” spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement.

She said that if a person dies in state custody, “the presumption is that the state is responsible.” Throssell echoed the U.N. chief and urged “an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body.”

Alice Edwards, who is the U.N. special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, said on the social media platform X that she was devastated by the news. Edwards said she and several other special rapporteurs had tried to intervene on his behalf with the Kremlin.   

Edwards was joined by several other special rapporteurs, including the independent expert on the human rights situation in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, in demanding a full investigation and autopsy to determine the cause of Navalny’s death.

“The world is in shock at the allegations of Navalny’s death, a political figure who had the courage and moral conviction to confront the Russian authorities about the demise of rule of law, democracy and human rights in Russia,” the experts said. “These allegations must be urgently investigated and all those responsible prosecuted.”

They also called for the release of all political opposition activists, human rights defenders, journalists and anti-war activists arbitrarily detained for peacefully exercising their human rights and opposing Russia’s war against Ukraine. They specifically called for the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin and Alexei Gorinov, whose health and lives they said were in “serious danger.”

“This is not just a time to express condolences,” the special rapporteurs said. “This is a time to demand justice for Navalny and all other political activists and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation who have fallen victim to the system of repression and silencing of civil society and any dissent in Russia.”
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