Posts Tagged ‘human rights watch’
This Is a Terrible Time to Be a Dictator, Mr. Putin
The Moscow Times
The Kremlin and the people are headed toward a new round of conflict starting in September.
Since President Vladimir Putin assumed office in May, several laws have been passed that will clamp down on the opposition, journalists, bloggers and nongovernmental organizations. These include an extrajudicial or administrative procedure for banning specific websites and blogs as well as granting the authorities the right to prosecute anyone who disagrees with Kremlin policy.
The law on NGOs has been one of the most controversial. If foreign-funded NGOs that are deemed by the authorities to be “politically active” fail to register as “foreign agents,” their directors and other top officials within the organizations could be subject to huge fines and prison terms.
Several leading human rights organizations have declared that they will ignore the law and will not register as foreign agents. These include the Moscow Helsinki Group headed by Lyudmila Alexeyeva and the For Human Rights movement headed by Lev Ponomaryov. Both organizations are highly respected in Russia and abroad.
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An agenda for Putin’s first 100 Days
A comprehensive human rights agenda for Russia should be adopted this summer and then carried through to prove Putin is serious, says human rights group
Four years ago – when Dmitry Medvedev was taking over as the president of Russia – an international correspondent asked me for one word to describe Vladimir Putin’s 2000-2008 presidency. I came up with three, “so-called stability”. Despite all the patriotic rhetoric lately, not many in Russia expect that Putin’s new term will bring another six years of “stability”. No one wants turbulence, of course, but unresolved political, social and human rights issues are growing increasingly visible and pressing. Adopting a 100-day agenda focused on these unresolved issues would be a good start.
The Russian election cycle never fails to surprise. News about the president and prime minister’s plans to swap seats in 2012 led to a major political awakening in the country. The biggest crowds since the 1990s showed up on the streets of Moscow and other large Russian cities. Now the “swapping scenario” is close to its end. Yet, in a sign that Russia’s restive mood continues, another opposition protest in Moscow – with estimates of up to 60,000 participants – took place on May 6. The protest was marred by violence from some of the protesters and an excessive and indiscriminate use of police force in response. According to the Interfax new service, 436 people were detained; while other independent sources provided names of almost 650 detainees. Detentions of peaceful protesters on the Moscow boulevards continued on May 7 and May 8.
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Russia: 100-Day Priorities for New President
Vladimir Putin should ensure starting key reforms during his first 100 days in office after he is confirmed as the victor in the March 4 vote, Human Rights Watch said today.
In response to the unprecedented street demonstrations that followed the December 4, 2011 parliamentary election, Putin and other leaders promised political and economic reform.
Some of the reforms that would liberalize the political system passed their first reading in parliament on February 29, 2012.
“The Russian government has done the right thing by not interfering with public protests and proposing some reforms,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Russia’s president can effectively demonstrate continued commitment to the rule of law by taking some straightforward, concrete steps during his first 100 days in office.”
Russia deserves an open, tolerant environment for civil society, Human Rights Watch said. In the months leading up to the vote, Putin implied that Russia’s civil society was sponsored by the West and accused the opposition and his critics of “feeding off” Western grants. Human Rights Watch said the government should hold accountable those responsible for violent attacks on human rights defenders, whistleblowers, and investigative journalists, and foster the independence of Russia’s judiciary.
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Russia: Who is Challenging Power?
The rain was pouring down on a crowd of thousands of people who gathered at Chiysty Prudy on December 5th during an unprecedented rally in Russian history for its scope and scale. For the first time since the early 1990s, protesters challenged Putin’s power as his new rule as President could enable him to stay in power until 2024. The number of demonstrators in street rallies has grown approximately to 100,000. Mostly political activists, professionals and intellectuals expressed their dissent as a result of alleged falsifications during latest parliamentary elections, though suspected frauds were only the last trigger. Since he took power in 1999, it seems that Putin has not changed his politics: a Leviathan’s deal of order over democracy. Meanwhile, many Russians have changed.
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Russian rights activists want list of suspects of lawyer’s death to be extended
Interfax
Excerpt from report by corporate-owned Russian news agency Interfax
Moscow, 24 August: Human rights activists hope that investigators will manage to identify all those guilty of Hermitage Capital fund lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy’s death in a Moscow remand centre.
The Investigations Committee extended the term of the investigation of the criminal case of Magnitskiy’s death until 24 November.
“We would like to hope that the extension of the probe will be justified in terms of bringing to justice all those guilty [of the incident],” Tatyana Lokshina, deputy head of the Moscow office of Human Rights Watch, has told Interfax news agency.
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