Sphere Foundation Activity Report 2022

Strategic Programs

Advocacy

National Advocacy

Our main activity in advocating for the rights of queer persons in Russia is a campaign to combat state queerphobia.

Since June 2022, we have been following the introduction of bills to the State Duma on a complete ban on “LGBT+ propaganda”.

Immediately after the introduction of the third version of the bill, it became clear that it would be adopted. In cooperation with other LGBT+ organizations and democratic political movements, we organized a campaign to send letters to deputies. We sent 14,854 letters to deputies, to which 972 responses were received.

In addition, two petitions have been launched as part of the campaign: the petition on Change.org has gained more than 84,000 signatures, and the All Out petition — more than 45,000. We have not yet achieved the repeal of the law, but we have consolidated the active part of the LGBT+ community around us and provided them with tools to fight for their rights.

International advocacy

Alternative reports for the UN Human Rights Committee

Russia has avoided participation in the consideration of the report on compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the UN Human Rights Committee for three times in 2022. We submitted our versions of the report to the Committee in March, June, and October. In March and October, representatives of the Sphere also participated in the sessions of the Committee. In its concluding remarks, the Committee mentioned aspects of violation of the rights of LGBT+ people in Russia that concern us.

These include:

— Responsibility for alleged human rights violations committed in the North Caucasus Federal District;

— Racism, xenophobia, and racial profiling (in the context of hate speeches);

— Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The final hearings on Russia’s report at the UN were held on October 17th, which coincided with the parliamentary hearings of the State Duma of the Russian Federation on a bill proposing a complete ban on LGBT+ propaganda. The Committee took into account our concerns about the passage of the new law, and the report called for the repeal of not only the 2013 law, but also any new laws that stigmatize or discriminate against LGBT+ people.

However, the concluding remarks of the Committee did not address the problems faced by LGBT+ people in the following areas:

— Sexual violence and harmful traditional practices (such as corrective rape);

— Torture and ill-treatment (related to the rights of LGBT+ people in places of detention);

— Asylum and non-refoulement (in relation to the specific situation of LGBT+ refugees in the Russian Federation).

Opinion for the European Court of Human Rights in the case ‘Fedotova vs Russia’

Despite Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe in 2022, we were able to work on one case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In February 2022, Sphere’s lawyers prepared an amicus curiae observation for the ECHR in the Fedotov vs Russia case. This observation was the first document of this level filed by the Sphere.

Sphere’s lawyers illustrated the need to legalize same-sex marriages by pointing out that same-sex partners are forced to testify against each other in criminal cases, and that they are limited in their social and family rights, right to inheritance, access to a partner in intensive care, and other areas. The rights of same-sex couples are not protected in any way by the Constitution or other legislative acts in Russia.

Launch of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism in 2018 and additional reports in 2022

In 2018, the OSCE, proactively fostered by the Sphere staff, launched the Moscow Mechanism against Russia to investigate the murders of homosexual people in the Chechen Republic.

In 2022, the Moscow Mechanism was launched again in response to human rights violations in Chechnya, and we prepared a report for the experts of the organization. We informed the OSCE about the use of the propaganda law, the counteraction of hate speech in the Russian Federation, the persecution of LGBT+ activists for their human rights campaigns, the violation of LGBT+ rights in places with limited freedom such as prisons, army, and psychiatric hospitals, as well as the rights of LGBT+ people in North Caucasus and the rights of LBT women. Due to Russia’s exclusion from the Council of Europe in 2022, we are trying to refocus our international advocacy to UN institutions.

Monitoring

In 2022, we almost completely reorganized the work of the Sphere’s monitoring team.

Additionally, we restructured the database containing the cases of discrimination against LGBT+ people since 2015, and, with a lot of effort over the past 3 years of the program, found a convenient solution for the database. However, the quantitative indicators for 2022 were not as high as in previous years. Only 122 cases were recorded in 32 regions of the Russian Federation compared to 212 cases in 2021 – this is a noticeable drop. At the moment, we have not yet completed the formation of the database for 2022.

Despite the problem with the volunteer motivation crisis, we have managed to keep in touch with those who are ready to continue recording and publishing information about violations of the LGBT+ people’s rights in Russia. We have also maintained connections with regional partner organizations that are ready to cooperate and exchange data.

Equality Federation

In September 2022, we launched a new direction for ourselves. As part of this program, we support initiatives to ensure gender equality in Russia and work in partnership with them to counter the anti-gender movement.

By the end of 2022, we have almost completed the preparatory work:

— an algorithm has been developed to study the situation of women* in a situation of domestic violence;

— we have collected a database of feminist associations.

Strategic Litigation

In 2022, the Strategic Litigation program was working on 20 cases.

Strategic cases were handled by lawyers cooperating with the Sphere team.

In 2022, 4 cases were won:

Beating based on hatred towards the LGBT+ community.

R. was beaten by teenagers due to their hatred towards the LGBT+ community, to which R. belongs. After R. reported the assault to the police, his attackers also reported to the police, falsely claiming that they were harassed by R. As a result, the police began an investigation, repeatedly detaining R. and checking his phone. On his phone, police officers found a chat on social media where LGBT+ teenagers communicated. The investigator initiated an audit under Art. 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and Art. 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The Sphere Foundation found a lawyer to represent R. in court for the “propaganda” case. R. was fined 50,000 rubles, which the Sphere Foundation helped him pay. Despite repeated attempts by the lawyer to appeal against the refusal to initiate a criminal case on the fact of R.’s beating, the investigator refused to initiate a criminal case against his attackers.

Although R. received an administrative penalty in the form of a fine, this case could be considered a win, as the lawyer managed to stop the investigation under Art. 133 of the Criminal Code by agreeing with the investigator that R. would withdraw his statement about the attack. This outcome was favorable for R., as he is a young man living in a small provincial town, where cases related to the initiation of a criminal case under Art. 133 of the Criminal Code do not go unnoticed by neighbors and the media. Moreover, the detention of a young openly gay man could put him in danger.

Case of incapacitation.

After coming out to his mother, V. was subjected to domestic violence by his mother and brother. V.’s brother repeatedly beat him, and his mother even applied to the court to have him declared incapacitated. V. believed that his mother’s actions were connected to her desire to receive a portion of his property and to be able to dispose of it. Since V. had attended a psychiatrist since childhood and received periodic treatment, his mother managed to convince doctors of his “inadequate” behavior and had him placed in a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment. After the end of compulsory treatment, she filed a lawsuit in court to have V. recognized as incapacitated. A lawyer representing V.’s interests entered the case, and a psychiatric examination was conducted as a result of which the court refused to satisfy the mother’s demands. This case highlights the strong stigma against people with mental differences.

Murder of a transgender person.

In 2019, a young transgender woman was killed; her partner was detained on suspicion of committing the crime. The partner later confessed to the crime. An investigation was conducted and court hearings were held between 2019 and 2022. In 2022, the court delivered a guilty verdict and ordered compensation for moral damages in the amount of 500,000 rubles to the victim’s mother.

Restriction of parental rights.

A case involving the restriction of parental rights of a transgender person was heard in Novosibirsk. The plaintiff in the case was the guardianship authority, which argued that the mother’s transgender status could “negatively affect the development of the child.” However, the court refused to meet these requirements and the case was won.

Unlike last year, 2021, most of the cases handled by lawyers were not from Moscow and St. Petersburg, indicating that information about the Foundation and its activities has become more accessible to people in these areas.

Direct assistance for queer people

On communications and donations