Russia's sustained assault on domestic civic freedoms has seen a massive escalation since the start of Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with hundreds of dissenters, journalists, and political activists being prosecuted and imprisoned under new draconian laws, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on August 7.
The government of President Vladimir Putin's more-than-a-decade-old, systematic break-up of Russians' fundamental rights went into overdrive over the past two years, making not only dissent, but even openly critical discussion in Russian society a punishable offense and forcing many people to leave the country while hundreds others have been thrown behind bars for long prison terms after arbitrary sentences, the report said.
“The Russian government is forcing civic activists and journalists to tread dangerously on a legislative minefield, and their resilience is being tested like never before,” said Rachel Denber, the deputy director of HRW's Europe and Central Asia Division, at the launching of the report titled “Russia’s Legislative Minefield: Tripwires for Civil Society since 2020.”
“Yet independent groups and media are persisting, and they provide hope for the eventual transformation of Russia into a country committed to protecting and promoting fundamental rights,” Denber said.
The 205-page report touches upon the numerous pieces of repressive legislation and policies that Putin's government has adopted over the past four years and how the Kremlin has employed them to stifle any trace of dissent and emasculate Russia's civil society.
The paper looks at the repressive measures adopted by Moscow in 8 areas: “foreign agents,” public assembly, electoral rights, freedom of expression, sexual orientation and gender identity, treason and similar concepts, historical truth, and education.
HRW looks at how these laws severely restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, while forcing state-approved historical, social, and political narratives on public life.
The report says all Russian and foreign activists and journalists freed by the Kremlin in a prisoner swap with the West on August 1 -- including RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and activists Vladimir Kara-Murza, Andrei Pivovarov, and Ilya Yashin -- were charged under laws described in the report.
At the same time, the report notes that hundreds more activists and journalists remain jailed or imprisoned under these laws.
HRW singles out the "foreign agents" legislation, first adopted in 2012, as the most draconian tool in the Kremlin's legal arsenal used to crack down on civic freedoms, and describes how it gradually evolved from first targeting NGOs, then unregistered groups, media organizations, reporters and, by 2022, anyone the state considered to be “under foreign influence.”
"The law seeks to smear any person or entity that is independently critical of the government as 'foreign,' and therefore suspicious or even traitorous," HRW said, noting that penalties have also been increased over the years and now include fines, imprisonment, and revocation of citizenship for naturalized citizens.
Those branded as "foreign agents" have also been barred from holding jobs in the public sector, including the civil service and teaching, with authorities effectively seeking to create “a caste of untouchables,” it said.
“The Kremlin keeps turning the clock back toward past tyranny,” Denber said. “Russia’s laws should be expanding respect for rights, not destroying them.
"Russia’s government should repeal its draconian provisions, bring laws into line with its international obligations, and foster an environment in which civil society can thrive," Denber said.