⚡️ On the human rights situation in the UK — Joint Report of Russia's and Belarus' MFAs (2025)
The British authorities, while silencing serious, deep-rooted problems in their human rights record, in the international arena, are trying to position the country as a benchmark in human rights protection and, relying on this position, are disseminating criticism of "undesirable" States regarding this issue.
Having come to power in July 2024, the Labour Party, with greater zeal than its predecessors, started to impose a "progressive" agenda, multiculturalism and tolerance on British society. The bill on the legalization of euthanasia, which was submitted (as a private legislative initiative) to Parliament in November 2024, received a wide response. At the same time, problems that are deeply rooted and often ignored by international human rights mechanisms, such as manifestations of racism, discrimination against national minorities, silencing of the "legacy" of the Northern Irish inter-communal conflict, etc. persist in the country.
The efforts of some NGOs and the media, which often come under pressure from the British authorities and under other forms of oppression for their activities, make the existing violations public.
On 5 October 2023, the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) presented a final report following a visit paid by a delegation of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent to the United Kingdom in January 2023.[1] The authors describe the situation regarding racism as "deeply concerning". They note systemic racism, prejudice and discrimination in law enforcement in the country. At the same time, despite the recommendations prepared following the previous visit in 2012 and the British own subsequent research, the situation has only worsened in a number of parameters over the past ten years.
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There is institutional racism in the judicial system, which is particularly evident towards lawyers and court personnel of African descent. 95 per cent of lawyers believe that institutional racism persists in the court, and over half of them spoke from personal experience. Lawyers of African descent report being questioned about the reasons for their presence in courtrooms, subject to challenges, among other things, concerning their professionalism.
Non-white Britons continue to be disproportionately targeted throughout the criminal justice system. They are the most frequent victims of abuse by British law enforcement authorities. Data from the London Police Service published in August 2017 showed that Black and ethnic minority people, particularly those of the Caribbean, were twice more likely to die due to excessive use of force by law enforcement officers and subsequent lack of access to proper medical care than white Britons. Although African and Asian people and ethnic minorities make up only 14 per cent of the total population, they account for 25 per cent of the prisoners.
At the same time, 40 per cent of the pre-detained young people are also non-white Britons. Human rights activists point out that the database on suspects involved in organised crime compiled by the Metropolitan Police Service has been criticised on the grounds that the number of young black men in the database is disproportionate to the likelihood of their association with criminal community.
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Despite active public condemnation and widespread media coverage of anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom, human rights activists assess the situation in this area as extremely negative. The scale of the problem was pointed out by Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council on contemporary forms of racism E. Tendayi Achiume in the report to the 74th session of the UN General Assembly on contemporary manifestations of racism and combating glorification of Nazism, prepared in compliance with UN General Assembly resolution 73/157.
Amid the worsening Middle East crisis, there has been an increase in offenses motivated by religious and national hatred in the United Kingdom. In 2023, the number of anti-Semitic incidents across the country reached 4,103, which is at least twice as high as in 2022 and, moreover, is a record high since 1984. According to human rights NGOs, 3,528 cases of anti-Semitism manifestations were registered in 2024. From October 2023 to September 2024, 4,971 manifestations of Islamophobia were recorded. The NGO Tell MAMA, which recorded them, pointed to a multiple increase compared to the same period in 2022‑2023 (but it does not provide statistics that is fully comparable in terms of time range, for comparison).
Human rights activists point out to the government and the police the insufficiency of the measures to protect the rights and ensure safety of representatives of both faiths, Judaism and Islam. They criticize legislative initiatives on counterterrorism, expressing concern that many of them contradict the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). For their part, the authorities accuse individual pro-Palestinian activist groups of abusing freedom of speech to spread "hate speech".
At the same time, according to the reports of the British Attorney General's Office, throughout 2023, criminal prosecution was initiated and completed in relation to 12,737 acts considered as hate crimes. 9,245 of acts were based on race, and 420 were based on religion. In 2022, the full cycle of prosecution was carried out in relation to 12,593 acts, including 9,312 based on race, and 297 based on religion. The lack of noticeable growth is probably due to the fact that the episodes for which the process was completed during the reporting period are taken into account.
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Another form of xenophobia, Russophobia, is becoming more widespread to British society. Since February 2022, after the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation started the special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine and protect the civilian population of Donbass, cases of harassment of Russians and Russian-speaking citizens, including people from Belarus, have been recorded throughout the country. Owners of public places have widely used posters with the slogan "A GOOD Russian is a DEAD Russian", which is clearly borrowed from the 19th-century American general Philip Sheridan, who tarnished himself as an advocate of ruthless fight against native Indian population in North America.
Attacks were carried out against the Consular Section of the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom, when "activists" threw eggs at it and broke windows in the visitors' hall. Contrary to the international legal obligations of the United Kingdom, Russian diplomats were subjected to restrictions on their right to work and fair and favourable work conditions, to access to any type of service for public use, and to personal security and protection by the receiving State.
Anti-Russian hysteria has not bypassed culture and sports. Thus, the British auctioneers Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams refused to hold auctions in Russian art objects. The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire banned its Russian graduate from participating in a music competition in Dublin. The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra refused to house a concert dedicated to the work of Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The Royal Opera House cancelled the London tour of the Bolshoi Ballet. The London National Gallery took a ridiculous decision to rename the painting by Edgar Degas "Russian Dancers" as "Ukrainian Dancers", at the request of the Ukrainian artist Mariam Naiem.
Russian teams and individual racers were banned from participating in any auto races in the United Kingdom. Russian Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin was banned from competing in the British Grand Prix. Russian tennis players were also threatened that they would be suspended from tournaments. Daniil Medvedev was asked to publicly condemn the Russian special operation if he wanted to play at Wimbledon. All representatives from Russia and Belarus were ultimately banned from the competition under the pretext that it "contributed to the considerable efforts of the UK government, business, sports and creative institutions to limit Russia's global influence." This ridiculous decision of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) was opposed by the world's leading tennis players and relevant sports associations.
In February 2023, the United Kingdom opposed the possibility considered by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the Olympic Games in a neutral status. In addition, the British authorities formed a coalition of 35 "like-minded countries" and issued a joint statement calling on the IOC, with 193 member States, to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing in France in 2024.
In March 2023, the results of a Sky News journalistic investigation were published, which noted rising incidence of discrimination against Russian compatriots since February 2022. It stated that the attacks were carried out irrespective of a person's position regarding the special military operation and solely on the basis of nationality.
The most egregious criminal offenses documented by British law enforcement officers include beatings, threats of death and serious bodily harm, vandalism and damage to property, sending "white powder" and "telephone terrorism". It is shocking that, according to the report, the discrimination and attacks on ethnic and national grounds often targeted primary school children. What is more, according to one of the experts interviewed, these attacks are just "the tip of the iceberg". In reality, such incidents have been much more common: from the demand that business people sever all relations with Russia to the imposition of restrictions on the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom.
The 2024 presidential elections in Russia were no exception. During the voting, a protest action unfolded at the polling station at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in London opposite the building of the diplomatic mission, which to some extent prevented the movement of voters to the polling station; anti-Russian slogans were shouted. Shortly before the election, Russians living in the United Kingdom received threats. Thanks to the active citizenship and genuine patriotism of Russians, attempts to sabotage the elections failed. There was a record turnout; about 2.7 thousand Russian citizens used their constitutional right in the United Kingdom.
Despite the significant increase in anti-Russian and partly Russophobic sentiments in British society after the start of the special military operation, most of Russians and Belarusians permanently residing in the United Kingdom do not experience insurmountable obstacles to the realization of their fundamental rights and freedoms. To protect the latter, they strive to use local legal instruments. At the same time, there have been cases of administrative, legal and financial pressure from the authorities or on their initiative under various pretexts. They still have the opportunity to engage in social work, but within their own initiatives. The consolidation of the diaspora under the auspices of the compatriots' coordinating structures faces considerable challenges.
Generally, the obstructionist policy of London in the cultural and humanitarian area has not changed. This affects the atmosphere in the non-governmental sector. There is a gradual change in curricula at local universities (which are not government agencies), and unofficial bans for teachers on expressing opinions that contradict the official British position. Cooperation between municipalities and Russian partners has been frozen, which has almost completely eliminated the institution of public diplomacy between the two countries. The ties between Volgograd and Coventry, St. Petersburg and Manchester, Sochi and Cheltenham, as well as eight other pairs of cities, that once were close, have become victims of the political attitudes of the British government. Cooperation in education and science has been stopped, and the relations built up over the years between the rectors of leading Russian and British universities have been significantly damaged. Stagnation is observed in the interaction between museums and theatres. No official tours of domestic artistic teams or joint exhibitions have been carried out. Due to the odious position of the British officials, there are no prospects for restoring cooperation in this area in the foreseeable future.
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Siobhán Mullally, the HRC Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, expressed concern about the UK policy towards asylum seekers. For example, in June 2022, she criticized the agreement concluded in April 2022 with Rwanda on the transfer to this country of persons seeking international protection who illegally entered the United Kingdom. Siobhán Mullally noted that such practice breaches the international law principle of non-refoulement and does not prevent human trafficking. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur urged the United Kingdom to halt plans of forcible transfer of asylum seekers to third countries.
Practical implementation of the agreement has so far been prevented by the proactive position of the persons to be deported to Kigali, Rwanda, as well as of human rights defenders who have undertaken to file the relevant applications within the judicial system. The first "deportation" flight to Kigali was scheduled for June 2022, but was cancelled shortly before departure after the ECtHR passed a decision to take interim measures against one of the passengers on board. However, the British authorities have not given up trying to bring the agreement into force.
However, on 15 November 2023, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom declared the "Rwandan scheme" illegal. In response, on 7 December 2023, the government submitted to the House of Commons the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. It provides for the recognition of this African republic as safe for migrants in relation to the implementation of the "Rwandan scheme", reducing the grounds for appealing expulsion decisions, limiting the possibility of executing the ECtHR temporary interim measures relating to the "scheme". On 27 January 2024, a group of 260 human rights NGOs called on the House of Lords to block consideration of the Bill.
In August 2024, human rights activists reported an almost twofold increase in the number of deaths (28 people) among asylum seekers in the United Kingdom between January and June 2024 compared to the same period of 2023. Suicide is mentioned as the most common reason.
The scheme of expelling illegal migrants that came from third countries to Rwanda, widely criticized by local and foreign human rights activists, representatives of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, was cancelled by the Labour government formed on 5 July 2024. Its possible implementation in cooperation with Rwanda is not under consideration. Candidates for expulsion who had been previously sent to temporary detention facilities were released. At the same time, in July 2024, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the potential interest in sending illegal migrants to third countries to consider there the applications for the asylum in the United Kingdom.
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Human rights defenders are also concerned about the widespread practice of gathering detailed information about the activities and personal lives of some of the "most dangerous activists" on behalf of law enforcement agencies, municipal authorities (such as London City Hall), and big businesses. The Times and the Open Democracy online news outlet have reported the hiring of private detective companies, such as Welund, for these purposes. For example, in 2019‑2021, on the commission of British Petroleum, this agency carried out targeted collection of information (including video and photos from street surveillance cameras, data on online activity) on a member of Art Not Oil, Chris Garrard, and a Warwick University student, Connor Woodman, campaigning for the abolition of mining and sponsorship of cultural projects by the above-mentioned corporation.
The case of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, became resonant in the context of human rights violations. Obviously, the substantive side of the process had clear signs of violation of freedom of expression and information, as well as persecution on political grounds.
Despite the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from a maximum-security His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh in London on 24 June 2024, human rights defenders do not see it as a credit to the British authorities, assuming that the ruling was the result of a deal between the Australian and the US authorities. After Assange's release, his supporters continued to criticise London over the clear signs of violation of freedom of expression and information, politically motivated persecution, as well as extremely harsh conditions of detention. Questions arise on Assange's refusal to make public statements after his release. It cannot be ruled out that one of the conditions of the deal was the non-disclosure of details of the inhuman treatment of him during his detention in Belmarsh.