Olga Nikolaenko
Olga Nikolaenko is the head of the Adaptation and Education Centre for Refugee Children, a volunteer project of Civic Assistance Committee. The Centre was established in 1996 with the aim of helping refugee children to adapt to their new life in Russia. The Civic Assistance Committee works on a broader range of issues, providing legal and humanitarian assistance to refugees in Russia. On 20 April 2015, the Committee was enlisted as a 'foreign agent' by decision of the Ministry of Justice of Russia.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Russian Federation have been subjected to acts of harassment, surveillance, violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, violent attacks, raids and searches on their offices and homes, slander and smear campaigns, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment. Among the HRDs who are particularly at risk are those involved on issues such as the situation in the North Caucasus (particularly Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan).
