CPJ calls for information on Natalya Estemirova murder

International Freedom of Expression eXchange: A top investigator with the Investigative Committee of Russia’s Southern Federal District has reportedly confirmed that authorities have identified a suspect in the killing.

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CPJ calls for information on Natalya Estemirova murder

Olympics: Don’t Skate Over Rights Violations

Human Rights Watch (HRW) – (New York) – The Olympic Movement urgently needs to focus on human rights reform, Human Rights Watch said today as the 2010 Winter Olympics opened in Vancouver.

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Olympics: Don’t Skate Over Rights Violations

Russia: Activists’ Detention Unjustified

Human Rights Watch (HRW) – (Moscow) – The Russian authorities should investigate the arbitrary detention of three human rights advocates in Chechnya and hold those responsible accountable, Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Front Line, and Human Rights Watch said today.

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Russia: Activists’ Detention Unjustified

Russia’s Legal Nihilism …Not Much the West Can Do?

Democracy Digest from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED): Russia provides a challenging “test case” for the Obama administration’s approach to promoting democracy while engaging authoritarian regimes, a Washington meeting heard this week.

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Russia’s Legal Nihilism …Not Much the West Can Do?

Russia: democracy or atrophy, says Medvedev-linked think-tank

Democracy Digest from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED): Russia must democratize, join NATO and the EU, shrink its military, and disband its Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service, according to a new report released today by a think tank linked to President Dmitry Medvedev. Urgent economic reforms cannot be realized without political modernization, says the report, “21st-Century Russia: Reflections on an Attractive Tomorrow,” published

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Russia: democracy or atrophy, says Medvedev-linked think-tank

Journalist dies after being savagely assaulted by police

International Freedom of Expression eXchange: A Russian journalist was recently beaten to death in police custody, reports the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

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Journalist dies after being savagely assaulted by police

US: A Big Step Toward Online Freedom

Human Rights Watch (HRW) – In a groundbreaking speech at the Newseum on Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reset U.S. policy on Internet freedom, emphasizing the vital need for governments, companies and technology providers to ensure that the World Wide Web is a force for human rights.

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US: A Big Step Toward Online Freedom

Journalist killed in police custody

International Freedom of Expression eXchange: IFJ calls on Russian authorities to act immediately over the “savage” killing of journalist Konstantin Popov.

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Journalist killed in police custody

On Human Rights, Obama’s Words Soar Above Actions

Human Rights Watch (HRW) –

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On Human Rights, Obama’s Words Soar Above Actions

2009 a year of living dangerously as autocrats target activists

Democracy Digest from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED): Authoritarian regimes have deliberately targeted and intensified attacks against human rights and democracy advocates over the past year, according to the annual review of Human Rights Watch. [read full story]

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2009 a year of living dangerously as autocrats target activists

Russia: Ratification of Protocol Promotes Justice

Human Rights Watch (HRW) – (New York) – Russia’s ratification today of a key reform to the European Court of Human Rights is a positive move that will promote justice, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Russia: Ratification of Protocol Promotes Justice

Democracy ‘problematic’ for Russia’s new fans

Democracy Digest from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED): Have Western politicians and intellectuals been seduced by Putin’s Russia just as an earlier generation became “useful idiots” for the Soviet Union? Lilia Shevstova thinks so. The Schroederization of European policy elites is especially pronounced, she argues, citing the European Council on Foreign Relations’ publication, What Does Russia Think?, which regurgitates dubious rationales for the ruling elite’s

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Democracy ‘problematic’ for Russia’s new fans

Downplaying democracy hasn’t generated foreign policy dividend

Democracy Digest from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED):   A year on from his inauguration, the foreign policy commentariat is assessing President Barack Obama’s record, not least his administration’s approach to promoting democracy and human rights. Robert Kagan detects a strategic shift from the grand strategy adopted after World War II based on military and economic “preponderance of power” to one reconciled to managing America’s

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Downplaying democracy hasn’t generated foreign policy dividend

European Parliament President condemns Alexeyeva’s detention in Moscow

FreeMediaOnline.org and GovoritAmerika.us republished this European Parliament press release to underscore the point that the Obama Administration has not protested the Russian police action and has been mostly silent on many other human rights abuses in Russia. 

Buzek: The EP appeals for the release of 2009 Sakharov Prize Winner Lyudmila Alexeyeva and other Russian human rights activists
Brussels – 01/01/2010
Following the detention of the human activists in Moscow on 31 December 2009, including Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the 82 year old 2009 Sakharov Prize winner for freedom of thought, the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek said:
“I am profoundly and personally touched when I think that this very respectful 82 year old woman spent the night of New Year’s Eve under Russian arrest.  I call on the Russian authorities to release her immediately.
I am deeply disappointed and shocked by the fact that Lyudmila Alexeyeva and other human rights activists were detained in Moscow last night. The police action was absolutely disproportionate. The detained protesters should be released immediately.  In a democratic country, people should have right to organise protests, even against governments and authorities. Freedom of speech and expression is one of our basic human rights.”
“I was so proud, two weeks ago, to award on behalf of the European Parliament the Sakharov Prize 2009 to Memorial – to Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Oleg Orlov, Sergei Kovalev, on behalf of Memorial and all other human rights defenders in Russia.  But I asked in my speech ‘whether Andrei Sakharov, one of the founders of Memorial, would feel pride, or more a sense of sadness that today’s Russia still needs such organisations?’
EP President Buzek added:
“When Lyudmila Alexeyeva on 16 December was in the European Parliament during the press conference following the awarding of the Sakharov Prize, the media asked her if she was not afraid return to Russia after having received the Prize from the European Parliament. The action of the police in Moscow gave a very disappointing answer – human rights defenders in Russia still can not demonstrate freely.
With the Sakharov Prize 2009, the Members of the European Parliament honoured those still among us who fight for human rights, but also honoured those who lost their lives in this very struggle.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva was protesting yesterday, because she wanted to defend the Russian constitution and the right to demonstrate. I still hope one day Russia will be a partner on whom the European Union can rely, respecting basic human rights. Today I repeat my appeal to the Russian authorities: Release those people immediately”

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For more information, contact:
Inga Rosinska, Spokeswoman of President Buzek
+32 0498981354

Memorial, International Human Rights Groups Return to Chechnya

Human Rights Watch (HRW) – Five months ago the human rights community in Russia and beyond lost a friend and colleague, Natalya Estemirova, Memorial’s lead researcher in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation. After her murder on July 15, 2009, Memorial suspended its work in the republic

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Memorial, International Human Rights Groups Return to Chechnya