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Security crisis in Ukraine must not distract from Russia’s human rights crisis

By:   []

Date: 2022-02 

Not two months ago, journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov were awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo City Hall. Before the assembled dignitaries, including the King, Queen, and Crown Prince of Norway, Muratov rose to the podium and delivered his Nobel Lecture. In it, the long-time editor of Novaya Gazeta excoriated the use of war and armed conflict by authoritarian regimes, particularly his own: “The dictatorships have secured access to violence. . . The powerful actively promote the idea of war.”

What Muratov did not say – but is abundantly clear to any student of history – is that war often draws the world’s attention away from human rights and humanitarian crises, perhaps even by design. Today, with a massive military build-up in Eastern Europe, the international community must also confront the on-going human rights crisis generated by the Russian authorities.

In its October 2021 report, Human Rights House Foundation noted that “it has never been more difficult or dangerous for human rights defenders and organisations to operate in the Russian Federation.” Today in the Russian Federation, there is a legal framework in place that allows the government to limit or shutdown any organisation or activity it deems a threat. The Russian authorities are actively using this to target human rights defenders and organisations.

According to a list maintained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as of the end of 2021, more than 180 individuals and organisations, many of which work to promote and protect human rights in Russia and abroad, have been labelled so-called ‘foreign agents’. Dissenting and opposition voices are routinely silenced, sometimes permanently. The Russian authorities regularly use counter-terrorism and anti-extremist legislation to prosecute legitimate human rights work. The State Duma, long considered a rubber stamp of the Kremlin, has enacted a series of draconian laws to limit or stamp out fundamental rights.

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The human rights crisis perpetrated by the Russian authorities is not limited to Russian territory. The crisis is spilling beyond Russia’s borders, perhaps even deliberately so.
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