OVD-Info () is an independent
Russian human rights media project aimed at combating political persecution.
History
OVD-Info was founded in December 2011 by Moscow journalist Grigory Okhotin and programmer Daniil Beilinson. They witnessed mass arrests of participants in the
rally on December 5, 2011 against the rigging of
parliamentary elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. First, they posted on
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
the total number of detainees and their names. Seeing the demand for their work, by December 10, on the eve of the rally on
Bolotnaya Square
Bolotnaya Square (russian: Болотная площадь, ''Bolotnaya ploshchad'') is a square in the center of Moscow, in Yakimanka District, south of the Moscow Kremlin, between the Moskva River (north) and the Vodootvodny Canal (south). Th ...
in Moscow, they launched the OVD-Info website. The name of the project comes from the abbreviation Department of Internal Affairs ().
Since February 1, 2013, the main partner of the project is the
Memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
Human Rights Center.
On 29 September 2021 the
Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation
The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (russian: Министе́рство юсти́ции Росси́йской Федера́ции, Миню́ст Росси́и) is a ministry of the Government of Russia responsible for the l ...
designated OVD-Info as a "
foreign agent". Critics say the decision is designed to stifle dissent.
On 25 December 2021 the
(Roskomnadzor) blocked the website of OVD-Info after a court ruling. A representative for OVD-Info said that they had not received any notifications from the government and the reason for the blocking was unknown to them.
During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, OVD-Info kept track of Russians who were imprisoned because they protested against war and mobilization .
Activities
Monitoring
OVD-Info monitors politically motivated persecutions and cases of abuse of authority by Russian police officers towards detainees. OVD-Info publishes information in the form of express news and stories told by the victims themselves.
Legal assistance
The project provides legal assistance in the form of legal advice and a round-the-clock telephone
hotline
A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. An example would be a phone that automat ...
(through the hotline the project receives most of the information, which it then publishes in its bulletins on the website), visits of a lawyer to the
police department
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...
, legal assistance in courts (up to filing a complaint to
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
).
Informing
The project monitors cases of violence against political prisoners by
Federal Penitentiary Service. The website also maintains a mailing list with reports on political persecution in Russia.
OVD-Info publishes lists of detainees by police departments to which they were delivered. In 2018, the project assisted 660 people in police departments, about 200 people in administrative and 32 in criminal cases.
The project covers events at many protests in Russia. In particular, OVD-Info published detailed statistics on arrests at
anti-corruption protests in March 2017, at
protests against raising the retirement age in 2018. In June 2019, the project played a significant role in drawing public attention to the case of journalist
Ivan Golunov
Ivan Valentinovich Golunov (russian: Ива́н Валенти́нович Голуно́в ; born 19 January 1983) is a Russian investigative journalist and anti-corruption reporter currently working for independent outlet Meduza. He came to ...
. At the same time, the project itself managed to become more widely known — on June 12, 2019, OVD-Info received an average monthly amount of donations in one day.
Research
The project also publishes reports summarizing the practice of violations of the law regarding rallies and against civic activists by the Russian authorities. In 2018—2019, reports were published on the topic of bans of rallies in Russian cities.
Functioning and financing
As of June 2019, OVD-Info employs 28 people and another 300 people are
volunteers
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
. OVD-Info, due to limited resources, provides assistance only to those who find themselves under administrative or criminal prosecution as a result of expressing their civil position. The project is aimed at the development of
civil society institutions and mechanisms of public control of the authorities and law enforcement agencies in Russia.
The project is funded by voluntary donations from individuals, as well as assistance from the organization
Memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
and the
International Partnership for Human Rights
International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) is an international non-governmental human rights organization with its seat in Brussels, Belgium. It was established in the spring of 2008. It is a non-profit organization (NGO, registered with th ...
(institutional donors provide about 70% of the budget). In 2018, OVD-Info managed to raise more than 19.8 million rubles, of which about 5.66 million were
crowdfunded. Russian banks —
Tinkoff,
Alfa-Bank and — refused OVD-Info
acquiring to collect donations. In 2013, the demanded that Memorial register as a
foreign agent, since it receives funding from abroad to support the OVD-Info project, which was regarded by the prosecutor's office as political. According to the prosecutor's office, some of OVD-Info's data on politically motivated persecutions is not objective. OVD-Info says that it has no political orientation.
Awards
July 2019: ''
Redkollegia
''Redkollegia'' () is an independent media award established by the '' Sreda Foundation'' headed by to support free professional journalism in Russia. The prize is awarded monthly to several authors.
The organizers of the award believe that in ...
''.
2020: .
2021:
Civil Rights Defender of the Year. Leonid Drabkin (), Operations Coordinator of OVD-Info, was selected to be a winner in the
''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 list in the Social practices category.
References
External links
* {{official, https://ovdinfo.org/
Internet properties established in 2011
Human rights organizations based in Russia
Memorial (society)
Redkollegia award winners
Unregistered public associations listed in Russia as foreign agents
Russian-language websites