Russia’s Ministry of Justice has added the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) to the register of “undesirable organizations.” The Prosecutor General’s Office made the decision on November 13, 2025, but it became public only in early December.
Founded in 1922 in Paris, FIDH brings together nearly 200 non-governmental organizations from more than 100 countries. The federation documents torture and persecution, defends political prisoners and minorities, and takes part in international investigations and the promotion of humanitarian law.
FIDH said the move increases the risks facing its Russian members and partners and demonstrates that Russia is not an ally of the global human rights movement.
Ilya Nuzov, head of FIDH’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said the organization was not surprised. In his view, the Russian authorities have systematically dismantled civil society, including by restricting cooperation with international partners, leaving ordinary Russians without protection from state abuse.
For years, the federation investigated crimes committed by Russian forces in Chechnya and Georgia. After the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, it became one of the prominent groups documenting mass killings, torture, deportations, and strikes on civilian sites. FIDH also urged the International Criminal Court to examine the role of Russian propagandists, stressing that it was not directly accusing them of war crimes but asking the court to assess whether they may have contributed to incitement and to an information climate conducive to such crimes.
After the Justice Ministry’s decision, some media outlets reported that it automatically affected Memorial-linked groups that belong to FIDH. However, the Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre said they remain independent organizations and are not themselves banned. Memorial’s rights centre added that FIDH has long had no operations in Russia, and that the main risk concerns people who could be accused of involvement with an “undesirable organization” because of reposts or public references to its materials.