Pavel Chikov, PhD, MPA, LLM, lives in Kazan and is chair of Agora International Human Rights Group. Since 1999 Chikov has been a leading human rights lawyer and head of a number of Russian human rights organizations in Moscow and Kazan. In 2001 he was a founder and first chair of the Kazan Human Rights Centre. In 2004 he moved to work at Open Russia, an NGO based in Moscow. In 2005 Chikov initiated the creation of the AGORA Association – a union of seven local groups of human rights lawyers in Russia. In 2015 he led the creation of the Agora International Human Rights Group. Pavel Chikov has developed model practices for human rights groups in Russia, effectively using advocacy and litigation to combat police abuse, arbitrariness in the military, medical negligence and brutality against prisoners. He has published 17 books and more than 50 articles on various aspects of human rights in Russia, unlawful pressure against human rights activists, police brutality and corruption, compensation for victims of human rights abuse, and the Russian law enforcement system. During 2005-2010, the AGORA Association achieved disciplinary measures or court convictions against more than 250 government officials for human rights abuses, including more than 50 police officers convicted of torture, illegal arrest and corruption. In the same period, Russian media carried more than 20,000 publications on human rights work initiated by the Association and its local partners.