‘Committee against Torture’ announces it will continue work as ‘Team against Torture’ after self-liquidation

The human rights organisation “Committee against Torture”, which was included into the NPO “foreign agent” list by the Russian Ministry of Justice and had to self-liquidate, announced it will be now working under the name “Team against Torture”. The organisation reported the news on its Telegram channel.

“The team remains and intends to stand up to torture in Russia: we won’t back down in the face of the Ministry’s absurd decisions, we will instead fight twice as hard. We have already helped victims receive more than 298 million rubles (€4,926 million) in compensation and made 159 government officials, accused of torture, appear in court. We are determined to hold responsible every official that let themselves resort to violence,” the organisation says in the message.

The “Committee against Torture” was pronounced a “foreign agent” on 10 June. The Russian Ministry of Justice characterised the work of the organisation as “representation of the claimant’s interests during the investigation and in court; help in receiving compensation, and also, if necessary, conduction of medical rehabilitation.”

On 12 June, “Committee against Torture” announced the liquidation of the organisation. They added that work on all open cases will continue.