Mariana Katzarova

Mariana Katzarova (born 1966) is a Bulgarian journalist who founded the charity 'RAW on WAR', which created the Anna Politkovskaya Award. She became the first United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Russian Federation in 2023.

Early life and education Katzarova was born in 1966 in Sofia in Bulgaria. She was an only child and she was in trouble in school when she put up posters after John Lennon died. She attended Sofia University and New York's Columbia University. After graduating, she later studied at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the London School of Economics to learn about humanitarian law and human rights.

Career In 1989 the undemocratic Bulgarian government was changed, and Katzarova became a co-founder of the new Bulgarian newspaper, Democracy.

Katzarova was chosen as the United Nations Special Rapporteur to look at human rights issues within the Russian Federation from 1 May 2023. In September 2023 Russia made moves in the United Nations to restore its position on the Human Rights Council. Katzarova commented that the human-rights situation in Russia was getting worse. Critics in Russia of the invasion of Ukraine were receiving arrest and torture.

In February 2024, she spoke out when the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, died while in an arctic prison.