Jakarta Globe, AFP, January 31, 2013
Russian police officers arrest a gay rights activist who was protesting in Moscow, on January 25, 2013 |
Human
Rights Watch on Thursday condemned the Russian authorities under President
Vladimir Putin for unleashing the toughest crackdown against civil society
since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
"The
Kremlin in 2012 unleashed the worst political crackdown in Russia's post-Soviet
history," the New-York based rights watchdog said in an English-language
statement released in Moscow accompanying the release of its annual world
report.
"This
(2012) has been the worst year for human rights in Russia in recent
memory," the rights group quoted Hugh Williamson, its Europe and Central
Asia director as saying.
"Russia's
civil society is standing strong but with the space around it shrinking
rapidly, it needs support now more than ever."
After
returning to the Kremlin for a third term despite unprecedented protests
against his 13-year rule, Putin signed off on a raft of laws in what critics
saw as a bid to quash dissent.
The new
legislation re-criminalised slander, raised fines for misdemeanours at
opposition protests and forced non-governmental organisations that receive
foreign funding to carry a "foreign agent" tag in a move seen as a
throwback to Soviet times.
AFP
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