The Covid-19 pandemic offered an excuse for Russian authorities to limit human rights in a variety of ways, as well as to impose additional restrictions, particularly in the area of privacy rights and Freedom of political participation.
In 2020, constitutional changes were a major development. Several oppressive laws have been strengthened through constitutional amendments. Authorities started a crackdown on opposing voices following a contentious reform referendum in summer 2020, with fresh, politically driven prosecutions and raids on the residences and offices of political and civic activists and groups. The Russian administration proposed a series of additional legislation around the end of the year, building on Russia’s “foreign agent law” and reducing the already limited area for civic activity.
Russia’s ties with the European Union have further deteriorated after the poisoning of the Russian political opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Authorities have used false prosecutions of journalists on terrorism and espionage charges, as well as other techniques, to interfere with their journalistic work in several cases. Journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva was convicted to a heavy fine on baseless terrorist accusations. She remains on the government’s list of “terrorists and radicals” and is prohibited from traveling abroad as a result of the verdict for suggesting that Russia’s repressive policies on speech and assembly radicalized youth.
State meddling in the media has reached a new high in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since 2012, the state has substantially strengthened its influence over the media landscape. With rare exceptions, mainstream media outlets have become the state’s mouthpiece and employ sophisticated propaganda techniques to induce patriotic support for the government. On many current problems, state-controlled media channels encourage slanted reporting and, at times, sheer misinformation.
Furthermore, authorities have been aggressively enforcing ancient rules that criminalize internet expression. As a result, they’ve increasingly associated criticism of the administration with “extremism,” particularly on issues like the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s armed participation in Syria.
Under different pretexts, Russian authorities searched the offices of independent groups and targeted their employees and affiliates, under the foreign agents and undesirable foreign organizations laws. The “foreign agents” law resulted in huge fines for two renowned Russian human rights groups.
Russia strengthened control over internet infrastructure and online content in 2020, increasing the authorities’ ability to censor and ban online content, infringing on freedom of speech and access to information.
The United States should express its concern about the human rights violations detailed in Human Rights Watch, Amnesty General detailed reports. The UN should also pressure Russia to end politically driven trials on extremism accusations, such as public appeals to separatism or incitement to hatred, even for online remarks, by amending Russia’s ambiguous and too broad extremism legislation and demand that Russia put an end to the repression of freedom of expression by removing any restrictions on freedom.
We believe that one of the most important pillars of a democratic society is freedom of speech, which applies not just to information and ideas that are welcomed, but also to those that offend, shock, or upset. The Russian government should respect and maintain the freedom of Russian citizens to freely receive and distribute information, as well as to voice opposing or critical viewpoints.
Sincerely,
Washington Center For Human Rights.