The United States and its allies condemned the liquidation of the Memorial* human rights center in the Russian Federation

A joint statement expressing regret was circulated by the US State Department, Interfax reports.

The document mentioned, in particular, states that Memorial's human rights defenders constantly advocate for human rights and reveal their violations in the North Caucasus. The statement also notes that the position of the Russian authorities that the activities of Memorial justify terrorism is wrong.

The statement also contains a general assessment of the state of rights and freedoms of citizens in Russia, for example, it points to "systematic repressions against human rights defenders, independent media outlets, journalists, members of the political opposition".

At the end of December, the Moscow City Court satisfied the prosecutor's claim to liquidate the Memorial Human Rights Center, and before that the decision to liquidate the international Memorial was made by the Supreme Court.

The liquidation of Memorial caused a huge public outcry.

For example, the philosopher Mikhail Epstein gave the following assessment:

“It seems to me that with the closure of the Memorial, a great era in the life of the country, which was called “post-Soviet Russia”, is coming to an end. It lasted 30 years and 3 days: 12/26/1991 - 12/28/2021. “Post-Soviet” means the one that started from its past, left it behind, and the “Memorial” founded by Sakharov was the symbol of this self-overcoming.

What period is starting now? It is difficult to say, but most likely it already refers not to the past, but to the future, to the future. And what is behind this "before"? I would really not like it to be a cliff, an end, like Dostoevsky: "... All Russia stands at some final point, hovering over the abyss..."