Our team of experts has over 100 years of combined experience in the field of human rights development in the post-Soviet countries (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).

​

Our experts are reputable scholars, practitioners and human rights defenders with deep knowledge of the legal system, government and political situation in the given countries and international mechanisms, including Interpol Red Notices. Experts affiliate with academic institutions and think tanks in the U.S. and abroad, won cases at the European Court for Human Rights, and collaborated with opposition movements and diaspora, as well as with leading advocacy organizations.

​

We pride ourselves on staying up-to-date with the latest developments in post-Soviet countries and sharing that knowledge with our clients. 

​

The group of experts is led by Stanislav Stanskikh, a constitutional scholar and human rights advocate who focuses on the Russian legal system, human rights and political repression. He is an Associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies of Harvard University and a Research Fellow at the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His expert opinions on Russian country conditions have been admitted at USCIS and recognized as credible and probative by the U.S. immigration courts. Among the issues addressed in his analyses are severe and systemic human rights violations in Russia, including the persecution of dissent​ (e.g., activists with anti-Putin, pro-Navalny, anti-corruption and anti-war political opinions​); the application of anti-extremism and war-censorship legislation; discrimination and violence against LGBT individuals; attacks on ethnic minorities (such as Central Asians and North Caucasians) and religious minorities (including Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses); forced mobilization for the war in Ukraine​, hazing and ill-treatment in the Russian Army and gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation (FGM).​ His work also examines internal relocation and its feasibility, acquittal rates, risks faced by deportees from the United States and returnees, in absentia criminal convictions, as well as detention conditions and government surveillance of activists both inside Russia and abroad. He further analyzes the tools of political repression employed by the Russian ​authorities, including torture, punitive psychiatric confinement and deprivation of parental rights.

​​

​Political repression, police brutality and gender-based violence in the North Caucasus 

​

Mariam Alieva is a widely recognized Russian lawyer and human rights defender with a particular focus on the North Caucasus (the republics of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia - Alania, Ingushetia, Dagestan and the Chechen Republic). Her expertise includes gender-based, domestic and sexualized violence; torture and ill-treatment; police brutality; politically motivated and fabricated criminal cases; systemic impunity within law enforcement; nationalism and radical groups; violations of the rights of LGBT+ individuals; ​honor killings and FGM/C. Alieva is the author of the largest human rights blog in the North Caucasus, with around half a million subscribers. She has collaborated with leading organizations such as the Memorial Human Rights Center (a Nobel Peace Prize laureate), the First Department, the Committee Against Torture (Anti-Torture Team) and Front Line Defenders. Her human rights work and commentary have been widely covered by Russian and international media, including The Financial Times, Novaya Gazeta-Europe, The Insider and Forbes, and a documentary film was produced based on her book on sexual violence.

​

Persecution of Dissent and Interpol Abuse by Russian Authorities

​

Pavel Ivlev is a Russian legal expert specializing in the misuse of Interpol notices, politically motivated prosecutions and transnational repression by the Russian authorities. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University and completed advanced legal studies at Columbia University and Queen Mary University of London. During his legal career in Russia, Ivlev represented Yukos Oil Company and its executives, among other clients, and collaborated with Aleksey Navalny on anti-corruption investigations. After refusing to provide false testimony in politically driven proceedings, he became the target of criminal prosecution himself and left Russia in 2004. He was later convicted in absentia. Interpol recognized his persecution as politically motivated. Ivlev regularly participates in public and expert discussions on political repression and the rule of law in Russia and has been featured in major international and Russian-language media outlets. His firsthand experience with politically motivated cases informs his expert work on how Russian authorities pursue dissidents, businesspeople, and former officials abroad through Interpol Red Notices and diffusion requests.

​

Central Asia coordinator - Leila Seiitbek, a human rights defender and legal expert specializing in political repression, corruption, women’s rights, and violence against women and girls in Central Asia. She is the Chairwoman of Freedom for Eurasia, an Austria-based advocacy organization, whose research is cited in the U.S. Department of State human rights reports and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s annual reports. She works closely with a network of activists across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to document political persecution, transnational repression and human rights abuses. Her investigative work and commentary have been featured by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, OCCRP and other major outlets. She has presented the results of her investigations and research at the U.N., the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and collaborated with U.S. embassies, the Department of State and the Department of Defense.

​

Belarus coordinator - Vitali Shkliarov, PhD, a grassroots activist, political scientist and former political prisoner with extensive expertise in Belarusian affairs. He has worked on opposition campaigns across Eastern Europe and advised democratic movements in authoritarian contexts. Shkliarov has presented the results of his research at leading institutions, including Harvard University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Georgetown University and the Wilson Center. He contributed to major outlets such as Forbes, CNN, Foreign Policy, and The Hill. His arrest during the 2020 Belarusian presidential election and subsequent three-month imprisonment drew international attention, with his release secured through U.S. and OSCE efforts. 

​

Financial ​corruption, ​political ​repression and ​minority ​persecution in the Eurasian region

​

Ariel Cohen is a renowned expert in the Eurasian region, specializing in the rule of law, financial corruption, political repression and the persecution of minorities.​ Cohen holds a PhD from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and has served as a senior researcher on Russia and Eurasia at leading U.S. policy institutions, including the Atlantic Council and The Heritage Foundation. Cohen has provided expert testimony before the U.S. Senate and House Foreign Relations Committees, the Senate Budget Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, the House Banking Committee, and the U.S. Helsinki Commission. He has also served as a consultant to USAID, the World Bank, the intelligence community and the U.S. Departments of State and Defense. He is a widely published author and recognized media expert, with appearances on CNN, NBC, CBS, FOX, C-SPAN, BBC TV and Al Jazeera, as well as Russian and Ukrainian national television. His analyses have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Forbes, Newsweek, The Hill, The Washington Times, The National Interest, Townhall and other major American and international outlets.

​

Combined Russian-Ukrainian country conditions expertise

​

Dr. Mykhailo (Mikhail) Savva, PhD, is a Ukraine-based political scientist, human rights expert and one of the leading specialists on politically motivated persecution, corruption and ethnic conflicts in Russia and other post-Soviet countries. The Russian authorities have designated him a foreign agent (2023). From 1991 to 2013, Dr. Savva held senior federal, regional and municipal government positions in Russia’s Krasnodar Region and served as vice-chairman of several state-supported public advisory bodies, overseeing detention centers and prisons, interethnic relations, migrant policies and the development of civil society in the region. In 2013, the Russian authorities fabricated a criminal case against him for his independent political position. Human Rights Watch, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Memorial Center and other organizations recognized him as a political prisoner. After spending months in pre-trial detention and under house arrest, he fled Russia and received asylum in Ukraine. Today, Prof. Savva is Chairman of the Expert Group “Owl” and a member of the Expert Council of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties (recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize), as well as other respected Ukraine-based think tanks and human rights initiatives. In addition to documenting Russian war crimes and defending the human rights of Ukrainians and Russians during the war, he has authored numerous peer-reviewed and expert publications on political persecution, human rights, authoritarian governance and ethnic conflict.

​

Regional attorneys

​

Russian attorney Farit Murtazin, a human rights defender with extensive experience defending political prisoners, activists, journalists and Ukrainian prisoners of war. Since 2012, he has collaborated with leading human rights organizations, including the International Human Rights Group Agora, the Human Rights Center Memorial and OVD-Info. Murtazin represented high-profile clients such as Saviolov (Bolotnaya Case), Samutsevich (Pussy Riot), journalist Parkhomenko, Left Front activists Malinovsky and Trubitsyn, Ukrainian serviceman Shumkov and multiple Ukrainian citizens detained by the FSB. His practice also includes defending individuals accused in politically motivated cases across Russia’s regions, including Chechnya and Ingushetia. 

​

Tajikistani attorney Bekhruz Salikhov, a human rights defender admitted to practice law in Tajikistan and Russia. His area of expertise is Russian and Tajikistani legal systems, political persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Tajikistan, Russia and other post-Soviet countries, detention/prison conditions and torture in Tajikistan. Over 300 cases were dedicated to defending the rights of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since 2008, he has participated in numerous international trainings organized by UNHCR, OSCE, the U.S. Embassy, USAID, the SOVA Center and others, covering topics such as anti-extremist legislation, religious freedom, protection of political prisoners, prevention of torture and strategic litigation. Salikhov's expertise has been recognized by the U.S. Department of State, the German Embassy, and international human rights organizations, including Forum 18, Open Doors International and HRW. In 2022, the U.N. Human Rights Committee upheld Salikhov's petition (Adyrkhayev v. Tajikistan), confirming the unlawful 2007 ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Tajikistan.