The Civic Assistance Committee
The Civic Assistance Committee is a regional human rights public charitable organisation based in Moscow and established in 1990, that provides assistance to refugees and migrants. The Civic Assistance Committee provides assistance through legal counseling on asylum and citizenship, protection in courts, assistance in dealing with government agencies, protection of rights to housing, employment, medical care and education. In 2015, the Ministry of Justice included the Civic Assistance Committee into the foreign agents list.
The environment for the work of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Russian Federation is difficult, especially for those who defend and promote the rights of LGBTI people, ethnic and religious minorities, refugees, as well as activists of the North Caucasus and the unlawfully annexed Crimean Peninsula. HRDs are often subjected to acts of harassment, surveillance, physical attacks, threat, raids and searches on their offices and homes, slander and smear campaigns, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention, and ill-treatment, as well as violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. There have also been cases where HRDs have been murdered as a result of their work.
