One of the Freedom House conclusions in respect of Russia is that the country's leadership has set material barriers before civil society there.
Photo: Vasily Shaposhnikov
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Campaign against Democracy Continues in Russia, Freedom House Says
Freedom House has released extraordinary Freedom of Association Under Threat report that adds Russia to the list of 12 nations where the associational rights are particularly threatened. According to the report, the campaign against democracy continued in Russia even as Dmitry Medvedev took over as president.
Right defenders from Freedom House have released a special report – Freedom of Association Under Threat – that is dedicated to the right and freedom condition in 12 states of the world. Together with Iran, Zimbabwe, Algeria, China, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Columbia, Russia is in the list of nations where the associational rights are particularly threatened.
One of the Freedom House conclusions in respect of Russia is that the leadership has set material barriers before civil society there.
“During the eight years of his presidency, Vladimir Putin systematically attacked the rights of Russian citizens to form politically oriented nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),” says the section of the report dedicated to Russia, specifying that the trend has survived after Dmitry Medvedev took over as president and Putin moved to the PM’s office.
“The report will hardly provoke any response of Russia’s authorities,” said political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky. “From the Kremlin’s point of view, NGO and the street opposition are neither the authority nor the subject for talk. I suppose the Kremlin might even like such reports as they help Russia’s leaders preserve the tough-guy image worldwide.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 20, 2008
|
|
|
