In Russia, hazing in the armed forces remains a problem, prison conditions continue to be extremely difficult, ethnic minorities face widespread discrimination.

An old woman carrying the carpets on her back and a framed photo of her husband in her hand, Grozny, Chechnya.

In Chechnya, reports inform about the government involvement in politically motivated disappearances. Physical abuse by police officers occurs systematically both against the Chechens and the Russian people.

The number of homeless children in Russia was estimated at 700,000 at the end of 2002, which is close to the number registered in the Soviet Union following World War II.

 

Media freedom

Boris Eltsin promised to give Russia “as much freedom as she can swallow”. The Russian mass media were freed of any kind of censor and prohibitions.

Vladimir Putin takes control over the mass-media which occur nowadays to be rather pro-presidential (with few exceptions).

Pressure over journalists and even assassinations are present in Russia.

 

Grigory Pasko, Winner of the 2002 Reporters Without Borders. 

A Russian journalist and ecologist from Vladivostok was jailed for treason (in fact, he revealed how the Russian military fleet dumped nuclear pollution in the Sea of Japan).

 

Related articles

The Russian political and legal environment

 

To go further

amnesty.org/en/region/Russia - Amnesty International - data for Russia

freedomhouse.org/country/Russia - Freedom House, Russia

en.rsf.org/Russia.html -Reporters without borders, Russia

iis.ru - Institute of the Information Society