International Activities of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation: Content, Problems, Prospects

Abstract

The paper analyzes the activities of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation in the field of international cooperation on the protection of human and civil rights and freedoms from theoretical and practical standpoints. The author pays special attention to the place and role of the institution of the public defender of human rights during armed conflicts. The author considers state human rights activities related to international cooperation in the field of human rights in the context of the following four main sections: interaction with international organizations; cooperation with ombudsmen of foreign countries; protection of the rights of Russian citizens abroad; protection of the rights of foreign citizens located on the territory of the Russian Federation. The paper analyzes such new formats of state human rights activities as conducting a dialogue with the ombudsmen of «unfriendly states» with which there are no diplomatic relations, including during armed conflicts, on issues of assistance to Russian citizens whose rights are violated on the territory of these states; organizing work on family reunification, who find themselves on different sides of the contact line; the Ombudsman’s participation in the exchange of prisoners carried out by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the search for missing persons during armed conflicts; mutual visits to prisoners with ombudsmen of foreign states and the organization of the transfer of parcels for them from relatives; interaction of the Commissioner with the International Committee of the Red Cross on assistance in visiting prisoners, searching for missing servicemen; the Commissioner’s interaction with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in providing assistance to citizens evacuated to Russia. The proposals for improving the normative legal regulation of the activities of a state human rights defender in international cooperation, including during inter-state conflicts, both at the national and international levels, are substantiated.