FINROSFORUM // The Finnish-Russian Civic Forum strives to promote cooperation between the peoples of Finland and Russia by supporting civic initiatives for democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech.
FINROSFORUM // The Finnish-Russian Civic Forum strives to promote cooperation between the peoples of Finland and Russia by supporting civic initiatives for democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech.
However, with the grave situation for defenders of human rights and democracy growing worse in 2009, Nations in Transit findings show that over the past decade, Russia [pdf] has undergone the largest decline of any country in the study. In terms of population, nearly 80 percent of residents of the former Soviet Union - some 221 million people - still live in entrenched authoritarian settings where they are deprived of basic political rights.
Since Putin became Russia's undisputed leader, he has rapidly eliminated critique and dissent. The Kremlin has tens, or hundreds, of thousands of sheep capable of endlessly bleating "Putin and Medvedev are good, the opposition is bad." For hundreds of years Russia has known no other rules, making every resident mimic the pattern of elite behavior no matter how much money he had or didn't have. Together they stole, and stole big, throughout the history of the country.
Only one spectator showed up for the final hearing in the killing of Magomed Yevloyev. He was a broad-beamed, ruddy-faced man in a carefully pressed black suit, and once in the courtroom he removed his tall fur hat, set it on the bench beside him and waited for a chance to speak.Sunlight streamed in the window, bouncing off the white walls, but the old man had brought a heaviness with him into the room. When the time came, Yakhya Yevloyev stood and recited a litany of evidence not gathered witnesses not interviewed, threads left dangling that might have led to a murder conviction in his son's death.The room went silent out of respect for the man's loss, and for a moment it seemed as if the process could rewind 18 months to the beginning, when his son, an opposition leader in the southern republic of Ingushetia, was hustled into a police car and shot through the head at point-blank range.
[There has been] a wave of unsolved attacks and official harassment against journalists, human rights activists and opposition politicians [in Russia]. Rarely, if ever, is anyone held responsible. One editor was beaten in front of his home, and the assailants seized only copies of his articles and other material for the next day’s issue, not his wallet or cellphone. Another journalist was pummeled by plainclothes police officers after a demonstration. These types of attacks or other means of intimidation, including aggressive efforts by prosecutors to shut down news media outlets or nonprofit groups, serve as an unnerving deterrent. And in a few cases in recent years, the violence in the country has escalated into contract killings. Corruption is widespread in Russia, and government often functions poorly. But most journalists and nonprofit groups shy away from delving deeply into these problems. The culture of impunity in Russia represents the most glaring example of the country’s inability to establish real laws in the two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union. And this failure radiates throughout society, touching upon ordinary men and women who are trying to carve out lives in the new Russia, but are wary of questioning authority. Among the major beneficiaries [of Russia's "legal nihilism"] have been the governing party’s politicians.
Putin never lies, steals or even makes a mistake. His reputation is irreproachable. Few Russians know about the corruption allegations brought against him in the early 1990s. Few know how many of Putin’s friends were given CEO positions in Russia’s largest corporations, helping them make their way onto the Forbes billionaire list in only a couple of years -- nor would they believe any of this if they found out about it. Putin responded to Western media reports alleging that his net worth is estimated to be tens of billions of dollars. In his signature style, he said commentators invented this rubbish by picking the information from their noses and spreading it across their newspaper pages and internet sites. End of discussion. In an open society, these and other allegations would be aired, investigated and made part of the public discussion.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-wizard-of-russia/398737.html
