Reveal the whereabouts of jailed activist Andrei Pivovarov, who has been subjected to enforced disappearance for a month

© KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images.

In response to the continued enforced disappearance of opposition activist Andrei Pivovarov, deprived of liberty in Russia on politically motivated charges and whose whereabouts have been unknown since January 18While being transferred to a penal colony, Natalia Zviagina, Director of Amnesty International Russia, said:

“Andrei Pivovarov is not only serving an unjust sentence on politically motivated charges for a ‘crime’ that does not exist under international law, but the authorities are subjecting him to enforced disappearance —a crime under international law— by not revealing his fate and whereabouts.”

“Russia’s terrible system of transporting prisoners is reminiscent of the practices of the gulags, such as documented in 2017 International Amnesty. There has been no improvement in the years since then; they are weeks of transporting prisoners to unknown places, which constitutes forced disappearance. This remains a characteristic feature of the Russian prison system, which inflicts an additional inhumane punishment to the inmates, and suffering to their relatives.

“The Russian authorities must without further delay reveal the whereabouts of Andrei Pivovarov and release him immediately and unconditionally. Likewise, the prisoner transportation system must be completely reformed so that it conforms to international human rights standards.”

Additional information

In July 2022, Andrei Pivovarov, an opposition activist, human rights defender and former leader of the movimiento Otkrytaya Russia (Open Russia), currently dismantled, was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in a penal colony. In application of a law that clearly violates the right of association, he was found guilty of directing an “undesirable organization.” After losing the appeal in November, he applied the sentence.

On 30 December 2022, Andrei Pivovarov was taken from the Krasnodar pre-trial detention center in southern Russia to a penal colony to serve his sentence. Over the next three weeks, he was transferred to the city of Voronezh, some 800 kilometers away, and then to Yaroslavl, a city in central Russia, another 800 kilometers away, and on January 18, he arrived in Saint Petersburg, his hometown. According to the last letter that Andrei Pivovarov sent that same day to his partner, they were about to transfer him to a penal colony located in the Republic of Karelia, in northern Russia.

Forced disappearance is committed when a person is deprived of their freedom, legally or illegally, and then the authorities refuse to acknowledge said deprivation of liberty or hide the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person.