A UN independent human rights expert has welcomed the landmark prisoner swap on Thursday involving the United States, Russia and five other countries.

More than 20 people were released, including journalists and dissidents.

Among them were American Evan Gershkovich, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal;  Alsu Kurmasheva a Radio Liberty journalist who holds US citizenship, and recent Pulitzer Prize winner Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British activist and journalist, who were all freed from Russian prisons.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, has repeatedly advocated for their release.

Good news in dark times

“I can't even believe it,” she said in an exclusive interview with UN News.

“In the dark times in which we live, when every day in Russia there are new detentions, new trials, and the news reports every day about shocking human rights violations, suddenly there is such good news.”

Ms. Katzarova reported that many people in Russia – human rights defenders, members of civil society – were “just crying with joy” that day.

“This is really an unprecedented diplomatic act. And this may be the largest group of political prisoners exchanged since the Cold War,” she said.

“Of course, today we are glad that, in the end, people who should not have been convicted in the first place were released, such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, Oleg Orlov, Sasha Skochilenko, members of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Lilia Chanisheva and Ksenia Fadeeva, and others.”

Release all political prisoners

But while rejoicing, the rights expert urged the international community not to forget the political prisoners who remain behind bars, who number at least 700, though some estimates put the figure at more than 1,000.

“Today, we must once again call for their immediate and unconditional release from prisons in Russia,” she said.

“They shouldn't be there. They are there on charges for expressing their position against the war against Ukraine.”

She estimated that at least 33 journalists are in jail “precisely because they have written reports and materials" against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Remembering Alexei Navalny

“Today we must remember that this exchange and this release of political prisoners took place without Alexei Navalny,” she noted, referring to the opposition politician who died earlier this year in a Siberian prison.

“If he had survived, then he would have to be part of this exchange,” she insisted.

Special Rapporteurs like Ms. Katzarova are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva.

They are mandated to monitor and report on specific country situations or thematic issues.

These experts work on a voluntary basis and are independent from any government or organization.  They are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.