On February 21, 2009, a group of neo-Nazis made a threatening visit to the apartment of Alexander Verkhovsky, director of SOVA Center, an independent research center that monitors ultranationalism and extremism in the Russian Federation. At least two of the men fraudulently entered the building and stood at Verkhovsky’s door, knocking and ringing and trying to lure him out. They dispersed before the police arrived. It was the second time in the past month that they had appeared at his door, and the latest in a series of threats by ultranationalists against the organization.

“These are threats to the lives of activists and to all of Russia’s civil society,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Ultranationalist violence is on the rise and the Russian government needs to treat this as an emergency and protect those at risk.”

In early 2008, Verkhovsky’s name, home address, and other personal details were part of a list of “enemies of the Russian people” that a neo-Nazi group posted on its website, along with direct appeals to kill the individuals. Others listed included prominent Russian human rights defenders and civic activists. Since then, Verkhovsky and his deputy, Galina Kojevnikova, have received numerous anonymous telephone and email threats.

In July 2008, several Neo-Nazi youths tried to lure Verkhovsky out of his apartment building for the first time.

In January, on the eve of a SOVA news conference, ultranationalists sent a letter to Kojevnikova stating that they were planning to kill human rights defenders and journalists. The letter also stated that she should stop her human rights work unless she wanted to “join” Nikolai Girenko, a prominent anti-fascist activist and researcher who was killed in June 2004, and Stanislav Markelov, a human rights lawyer killed in January 2009.

After the visit to Verkhovsky’s building last July, the prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal investigation into “threats of murder.” However, the investigation was later suspended with no suspects identified.

“Ineffective, business-as-usual investigations can only embolden ultranationalist groups bent on silencing Russia’s civil society,” said Cartner. “The authorities need to undertake an effective investigation of those criminal actions against SOVA, take concrete measures to protect their staff, and bring the perpetrators to justice.”