Paul Goble
Staunton,
April 5 -- A new study by a group of Moscow activists on the state of freedom
of assembly in Russia concludes that Vladimir Putin has been first limiting and
then eliminating that right as well as others in his drive to prevent the
citizens of his country from being able to express themselves on the most
important issues of the day.
The
report, entitled “Freedom of Assembly in Russia. Anti-Constitutional Norms and
Illegal Application of the Law,” was prepared by the December 12 Roundtable
group and released last week in Moscow (ovdinfo.org/documents/2015/04/03/doklad-obshchestvennoy-komissii-kruglogo-stola-12-dekabrya-svoboda-sobraniy-v-0).
Its conclusions, which are discussed
by Sergey Sharov-Delone in “Yezhednevny zhurnal,” are devastating not only
about the specific issue it addressed but, as the Moscow commentator makes
clear, about the more general state of freedom or rather lack of freedom in
Putin’s Russia (ej.ru/?a=note&id=27435).
Sharov-Delone
notes that gradually but implacably the Russian state is reducing the ability
of Russian citizens to express their views: “Parliament is not a place for
discussion; media freedom has been overwhelmed by propaganda;” and public
demonstrations have been reduced to a minimum and are subject to increasing
harassment.
Ever
more often Russian laws depart from the Russian constitution and its assertion
that Russia is subject to the international agreements it has signed, the
Moscow commentator says; and ever more often Russian officials apply what laws
that do exist in ways that further compromise these rights.
The new
report underscores that fact: its main conclusion is that “the repressive character
of the changes of legislation connected with the realization of the citizens’
right to free assembly and the ever more illegal actions of the authority are
beyond doubt directed at the suppression of civic and political activity.”
Indeed,
in Sharov-Delone’s words, the situation is such that it is taking Russia “beyond
the framework of the European and international legal field and completely
contradicts the obligations the Russian Federation has assumed in the sphere of
the defense of civil rights and freedoms.”
His
words of concern are unintentionally reinforced by his suggestion to readers
that they turn to the svobodasobraniy.ru/ in order to reach the entire report. But unfortunately for those who do so, they will
find that that site has been blocked, almost certainly by the very officials
who are repressing all the other freedoms Russian should enjoy.
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