Killing of Artist Semyon Skrepetsky in Poland: Rights Defenders Urge UN Scrutiny of Public Exposure of Personal Data
A Belarusian human rights organisation in exile has appealed to UN Special Rapporteurs following the killing of artist and political cartoonist Semyon Skrepetsky in Poland. The appeal asks whether publicly accessible databases containing personal information can endanger artists, journalists, and political exiles.
This communication was submitted to several UN Special Rapporteurs in response to the killing of Russian artist and political cartoonist Semyon Skrepetsky (Robert Kuzovkov), who was shot dead in Poland on 15 June 2026. The authors do not seek to determine criminal responsibility for the murder and express confidence in the ongoing investigation by Polish authorities. Instead, they raise a broader human rights concern: whether the publication of personal data, residential addresses, and inclusion in public “enemy lists” can create foreseeable risks of harassment, intimidation, targeting, and violence. The appeal highlights the growing human rights implications of doxxing and online targeting practices and their compatibility with international human rights standards.
Urgent Communication concerning the Killing of Artist and Political Cartoonist Semyon Skrepetsky (Robert Kuzovkov) in Poland
Submitted to:
- Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Dear Special Procedures Mandate Holders,
We respectfully submit this communication concerning the killing of Russian artist, political cartoonist, and political émigré Semyon Skrepetsky (also known as Robert Kuzovkov), who was shot dead on 15 June 2026 in Biała Podlaska, Poland.
We fully trust that the Polish authorities will conduct a professional and thorough investigation into this crime. We recognise that identifying the perpetrator or perpetrators and establishing criminal responsibility falls exclusively within the competence of law-enforcement and judicial authorities. We also believe that the Polish authorities have a direct interest in ensuring that all circumstances surrounding this killing are properly investigated and that those responsible are brought to justice.
However, the primary purpose of this communication is not to establish criminal responsibility for the murder itself.
Our primary concern is a broader human rights issue that, in our view, risks remaining insufficiently examined: whether the publication of personal data and residential information of artists, journalists, activists, migrants, refugees, political exiles, and public critics on publicly accessible databases creates a heightened and foreseeable risk to their safety and security.
According to publicly available information, Semyon Skrepetsky had previously been included on the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets and information concerning his place of residence in Poland had been made publicly available following his criticism of political actors in Ukraine.
We are not aware of any publicly available evidence linking the Myrotvorets website to the murder itself, nor do we seek to make such an allegation. Any determination of criminal responsibility must remain the responsibility of competent investigative authorities.
At the same time, we believe an important human rights question requires independent examination regardless of the outcome of the criminal investigation.
Our concern is that the publication of personal data and residential information of an artist living in exile may have created a foreseeable and avoidable security risk. Regardless of the identity of the perpetrator, public disclosure of an individual’s location, combined with public designation as an “enemy”, may significantly increase vulnerability to threats, harassment, intimidation, stalking, targeting, and potentially violence.
This concern is particularly relevant in situations where an individual has been publicly identified as an “enemy” because of the exercise of protected speech or artistic expression. In such circumstances, the publication of personal data may transform political disagreement into a concrete security vulnerability.
From a human rights perspective, the key question is not whether a direct causal link between publication and subsequent violence can be established. Rather, the question is whether the disclosure of personal information foreseeably increases the risk of threats, harassment, intimidation, targeting, or violence against the individual concerned.
We respectfully submit that the concept of foreseeable risk deserves particular attention in this case, as artists, journalists, human rights defenders, migrants, refugees, and political exiles may face heightened vulnerability when personal information is publicly disclosed in a hostile context.
The issue before the international community is therefore not limited to the question of who committed the murder. It is also whether publicly accessible databases can identify individuals as enemies, disclose their personal information and place of residence, and subsequently avoid meaningful human rights scrutiny when those individuals become victims of violence.
Particularly concerning is the fact that after Semyon Skrepetsky’s death, his profile on the Myrotvorets website was reportedly marked as “liquidated.”
https://myrotvorets.center/criminal/kuzovkov-robert-mubariakovych/
Regardless of who bears criminal responsibility for the killing, such wording in relation to a murdered artist raises serious concerns regarding the normalization of political violence, public hostility toward dissenting voices, and the creation of a chilling effect on freedom of artistic expression and freedom of opinion.
We are concerned that if this aspect of the case remains unexamined, an important human rights issue may be overlooked: whether the systematic publication of personal information relating to artists, journalists, activists, human rights defenders, migrants, refugees, political exiles, and public critics creates conditions that expose individuals to heightened risks to their safety and potentially even to their lives.
The absence of meaningful scrutiny may contribute to a climate of impunity and may place other artists, journalists, human rights defenders, migrants, refugees, and political exiles at similar risk in the future.
We are concerned that the absence of international scrutiny may contribute to the normalization of practices that expose individuals to avoidable risks. Public enemy lists, doxxing, publication of residential information, and other forms of online targeting may create an environment in which violence becomes more likely, even where no direct connection between a particular publication and a subsequent attack can be legally established.
For this reason, we respectfully submit that the compatibility of such practices with international human rights standards warrants independent examination irrespective of the outcome of the criminal investigation.
For this reason, we respectfully request that the Special Procedures consider the following questions:
- Whether the publication of personal data and residential information of Semyon Skrepetsky on the Myrotvorets website contributed to creating a heightened and foreseeable risk to his safety.
- Whether the public designation of individuals as “enemies” combined with publication of identifying information is compatible with international human rights standards, including the rights to life, privacy, security, freedom of expression, and protection from intimidation.
- Whether the reported designation of Semyon Skrepetsky as “liquidated” following his death warrants examination from the perspective of incitement, glorification, justification, or normalization of political violence.
- Whether existing safeguards are sufficient to protect artists, journalists, human rights defenders, migrants, refugees, and political exiles from risks associated with doxxing, public enemy lists, online targeting, and transnational intimidation.
We further respectfully request that the relevant Special Procedures communicate with the Governments of Poland and Ukraine and seek clarification regarding:
- the current status of the criminal investigation;
- any assessment of risks arising from the publication of personal data and residential information;
- the compatibility of publicly accessible enemy lists with international human rights standards;
- measures aimed at preventing similar risks and protecting individuals targeted because of their public expression.
We respectfully submit that this case is not only about the killing of one artist. It is also about the broader human rights implications of practices that may expose artists, journalists, human rights defenders, migrants, refugees, and political exiles to foreseeable risks while allowing such practices to continue without adequate scrutiny.
We believe this case merits attention because it sits at the intersection of artistic freedom, freedom of expression, privacy rights, protection of migrants and political exiles, online targeting, transnational repression, and the right to life. More broadly, it raises the question of whether practices such as public enemy lists and publication of personal information are creating foreseeable risks for individuals who exercise protected rights under international human rights law.
We remain ready to provide additional information, documentation, and public sources that may assist the mandate holders in their assessment.
The link for the case:
Respectfully submitted,
Olga Karach
Siarhei Sparysh
VšĮ Our House Centre for Human Rights and Relief
Belarusian Human Rights Organisation in Exile,
Lithuania
human-rights@ndbelarus.com
https://ndbelarus.com/
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