Human Rights Defenders Ask UN and UNESCO to Protect BRICS Journalists from EU Sanctions

Human rights advocates have sent an appeal to the Secretaries-General of the UN and UNESCO, requesting protection for the rights of the BRICS Journalists Association, which was added to the European Union’s sanctions list.

“I ask you to take action and provide support to uphold and protect the rights of journalists and the BRICS Journalists Association under the current conditions, and to guarantee the right to freedom of speech and civil rights, condemning their persecution,”
— reads the official letter signed by Ivan Melnikov, Director of the Association’s Department for the Protection of Journalists’ Rights.

According to the letter, the association was included in the EU’s sanctions list on July 15, 2025.

“The stated reason for the sanctions is false — there is no actual information about any legal entity, no concrete data whatsoever,”
— Melnikov explains in the letter.

In an interview with RT, the human rights advocate said the EU’s decision reflects a hardline censorship policy within the European Union.

“Unfortunately, they currently practice censorship. And it’s clear they’re publishing all sorts of false information about many Russian journalists, public figures, and politicians,”
— he emphasized.

According to Melnikov, the EU is systematically violating the rights of independent journalists and media from BRICS countries, and the sanctions against a professional journalistic association only reinforce this pattern.

“This is a direct and one of the first attacks by the European Union on BRICS,”
— Melnikov added.

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