FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 December 2025
According to Indigenous organizations in Russia, Indigenous leaders and UN-engaged human rights defenders are being arrested, searched, and interrogated on fabricated charges of "terrorism" and "extremism" for their peaceful human rights work and cooperation with UN mechanisms.
Among those arrested is Ms. Daria Egereva, an Indigenous Selkup woman who is an Indigenous and human rights defender and the Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on Climate Change. Ms. Egereva now faces criminalization and a lengthy prison term for her peaceful and legitimate advocacy for Indigenous Peoples' rights.
The International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) has issued an urgent call for the immediate release of its imprisoned Co-chair, underscoring that her detention is directly linked to her legitimate work in UN processes.
The SIRGE Coalition calls for the immediate release of Ms. Egereva and of all detained Indigenous human rights defenders, an end to reprisals, and full respect for Indigenous Peoples' rights, including the right to engage with the United Nations without criminalization.
We call on the UN Secretary-General to publicly condemn these reprisals and to raise the cases of detained Indigenous human rights defenders directly with the Russian authorities.
We call on the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of association and assembly to issue urgent communications, denounce the misuse of "terrorism" and "extremism" laws, and demand the immediate release of those detained.
We call on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the UNFCCC Secretariat to act without delay and publicly condemn these reprisals, raise this case within the UN system, and document it as an attack on Indigenous Peoples' engagement with the United Nations. The arrest of Daria Egereva, Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on Climate Change, is a direct attack on Indigenous participation in UN-mandated processes.
We stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Russia and echo IIPFCC's call for international action.
