Sergey Babinets

Sergey Sergeevich Babinets (Russian: Бабинéц Сергéй Сергéевич) (born on December 10, 1988, in Totskoye, RSFSR, USSR) is a lawyer and human rights defender. He currently works as the head of the Crew Against Torture, a Russian human rights organization that investigates cases of torture.
==Biography==
Sergey Babinets was born on December 10, 1988, in the village of Totskoye, Totsky District, Orenburg Region, RSFSR, USSR.
==Education==
Babinets graduated from the Orenburg branch of the Moscow State Law Academy in 2011, specializing in criminal law.
==Human Rights Activities==
Sergey Babinets began working at the Orenburg branch of the Interregional Public Organization "Committee Against Torture" in 2011. In 2013, he became the head of the Orenburg branch.
From 2014 to 2017, he worked as the head of the Moscow branch of the organization, which he co-founded with a human rights lawyer Dmitry Piskunov. From 2017 to 2019, he worked as the head of the investigation department of the Nizhny Novgorod branch. From 2019 to 2021, he led the Orenburg branch.
In December 2021, Sergey Babinets was elected chairman of the NGO "Committee Against Torture." 
In February 2022, he assumed the position, succeeding Igor Kalyapin.
On June 10, 2022, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation designated the "Committee Against Torture" as a public association without legal entity status, performing the functions of a foreign agent. On June 11, 2022, by unanimous decision of the general meeting of members of the NGO "Committee Against Torture," the organization was dissolved. On June 12, 2022, the NGO "Crew Against Torture" was established, with its members continuing to work on cases previously handled by the Committee Against Torture. Sergey Babinets was elected as the head of the team.
Sergei Babinets has actively participated in monitoring public demonstrations in Orenburg, aiming to document potential human rights violations.
===Work in the North Caucasus===
From December 2011 to September 2022, he frequently participated in the work of the Consolidated Mobile Group of Russian Human Rights Organizations in the Chechen Republic, and later in the work of the North Caucasian branch of the NGO "Committee Against Torture," having spent more than a year of service in the North Caucasus.
On December 13, 2014, while in Grozny, unknown individuals set the office of the Consolidated Mobile Group on fire and stole some of their files. The Chechen authorities accused the human rights defenders of staging the arson to draw attention to themselves. The following morning, human rights activists arrived at the building which housed the now destroyed office and the neighboring apartment, where members of the Joint Mobile Group lived while working in the region (this second apartment was not damaged in the fire). After examining the burned-out office, Human Rights activists called the police to file a report about the crime immediately. Two law enforcement officers, who arrived after their call, began to search the apartment, taking away personal belongings, including laptops, cameras and memory drives, acting without a warrant. Some of the equipment was later returned. The office was restored, but six months later, it was attacked again.
In 2020, the Committee Against Torture defended the rights of Salman Tepsurkaev, the moderator of the Telegram chat "1Adat," which focused on human rights violations in the Republic of Chechnya. Human rights activists, along with the European Court of Human Rights, filed a complaint regarding Tepsurkaev's case. In 2021, the Court determined that the Russian authorities were responsible for Tepsurkaev's kidnapping and ill-treatment and awarded him compensation of 26,000 euros. However, at the time of the ECtHR's decision, Salman Tepsurkaev was brutally murdered by Chechen law enforcement officers.
On January 20, 2022, representatives of law enforcement agencies in the Chechen Republic attacked human rights defenders Sergey Babinets, Oleg Khabibrakhmanov, and Natalya Dobronravova while they were providing legal assistance to their clients in Nizhny Novgorod. During the attack, Zarema Musaeva, the mother of human rights activist Abubakar Yangulbaev, was kidnapped by representatives of the Chechen police. The Front Line Defenders organization believes that these attacks and kidnappings are related to the victims' human rights activities.
===Nomination as a Member of Public Monitoring Commissions===
Sergey Babinets has been nominated by public organizations to serve as a member of public monitoring commissions on four occasions: in Moscow (2016), Nizhny Novgorod Region (2018 and 2022), and Orenburg Region (2020). Despite meeting the formal requirements, he was never elected as a member of the Public Monitoring Commissions. The reasons for the refusal to issue him a mandate were not disclosed.
==Participation in Public Events==
Sergey has actively participated in pickets organized on June 26, the day of support for victims of torture, in cities where the Committee Against Torture operates.
==Public Speaking and Authorship==
In 2012, Sergey Babinets delivered lectures on human rights to police officers in Ingushetia. In 2015, he provided comments on the withdrawal of the draft law regarding the admission of the Public Monitoring Commission to court escort premises on the website of the Committee Against Torture.
Sergey Babinets has spoken and published articles on the website and radio station Echo of Moscow. From 2019 to 2021, he hosted the morning broadcast on "Echo" in Orenburg.
In Autumn 2022, he was a speaker at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference.
In October 2022, he participated in the Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders. The platform, held every two years, provides an opportunity for human rights defenders at risk to come together, share experiences, discuss substantive issues, and meet with decision-makers in governments and intergovernmental bodies.
==Interviews==
* "Why They Torture People in Russia" // YouTube film by Russian journalist Yury Dud about torture in Russia
* "There is a demand for torture in society" "Euro-Asian News" // 17 December 2021
* "Torture, like metastases, has sprouted through the entire system" RTVI // 29 June 2022
* "Is normal life possible in a society where torture is part of the system?" // 24 March 2023
Category:1988 births
Category:Soviet people
Category:Lawyers
Category:Human rights activists