Daria Egereva fought for Indigenous voices at the U.N. Now she’s in a Russian jail.
Russian authorities have arrested an indigenous climate advocate, accusing her of participating in a terrorist organization in what international observers call “retaliation” for her advocacy at the United Nations on behalf of indigenous people.
Daria Egereva, an indigenous Selkup woman from the city of Tomsk, Western Siberia, has been involved in international advocacy at the United Nations for several years and has been co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change since 2023 – an official forum that facilitates the participation of indigenous peoples in UN meetings and gatherings, including the annual Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Conventions, also known as the COP. At COP30 in Brazil, Egereva advocated for the inclusion of indigenous women in climate negotiations. “If we don’t protect women, we have no future,” she said in a video posted on social media on November 21.
In addition to her work at the COP, Egereva has advocated for greater inclusion of indigenous peoples at the United Nations and has studied the effects of the green transition on indigenous communities. “The transition to a green economy without an appropriate framework or disregard for the rights of indigenous peoples will continue to result in historical injustices, marginalization, discrimination and dispossession of their lands and resources,” she wrote in a 2024 report criticizing the lack of inclusion of indigenous peoples in the green transition.
According to the International Indigenous Forum on Climate Change, on December 17, Russian authorities raided Egereva’s home, confiscated her digital devices and arrested her, in what the organization called “direct retaliation for her advocacy for indigenous rights,” which included her work at COP30.
“This retaliation is part of a broader pattern of repression affecting indigenous peoples around the world and constitutes an unacceptable attack on the right of indigenous peoples to engage in global processes relating to human rights and climate change,” said Sineia Do Vale, Wapichana of Brazil and co-chair with Egereva of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change.
A 2023 UN report concluded that defenders from several countries had been discouraged from participating in UN processes due to fear of reprisals. In 2024, the Section on Indigenous Peoples and Minorities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported an increase in the number of cases of reprisals, but did not release precise figures. More than 2,000 environmental and land defenders were killed or disappeared because of their work between 2012 and 2024, almost a third of them indigenous, according to Global Witness.
In October, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution criticizing the Russian Federation’s designation of 55 indigenous organizations and other groups as “extremist organizations” and calling on the country to respect international human rights law.
Luda Kinok, a Yupik from Russia who spoke to Grist as a friend of Egereva, said Egereva should be detained until her next court hearing on February 17, after which she could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Kinok said Egereva was targeted in part because of her affiliation with the Aborigen Forum network, a group of indigenous advocates designated as an “extremist” organization by the Russian Federation in July 2024. The forum advocated for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples as countries sought to develop the Arctic. Egereva was also a member of the Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples of the North, which Russian authorities closed in 2019.
Valentina Vyacheslavovna Sivjubam, a Saami defender based in Russia and one of 16 members of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said through an interpreter that she was also subjected to a search by Russian authorities the same week as Egereva’s arrest.
“During the search, they seized technical equipment and searched the premises, files, books and boxes for four hours. They drew up a report without leaving a copy and without allowing me to call a lawyer,” she said. “I believe I am being persecuted because of my activism and my unwavering commitment to protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. »
Egereva’s arrest was decried by several international indigenous organizations, including Cultural Survival, the SIRGE Coalition, and the International Indian Treaty Council. The IITC called the situation “a serious case of intimidation and retaliation against an indigenous leader directly related to her participation in the UNFCCC process,” referring to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Russia’s Basmanny District Court and the United Nations did not respond to messages seeking comment on Egereva’s case.
