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Amnesty International: Ukraine - Journalists at risk of abduction in Crimea
 Source: Amnesty International At least five people went missing after being held by armed men at a military check point in Armyansk, Ukraine, 3km into the Crimean peninsula. They have been released after two-days in captivity, but may still be at risk of abduction. [Read more] |
Amnesty International: Ukraine - OSCE Monitoring Mission needed to calm tensions and prevent further human rights violations
 Source: Amnesty International With the stand-off between Ukraine and Russia in Crimea intensifying and tensions in several towns and cities in the east of the country showing no signs of abating, there is an urgent need for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to establish a monitoring mission with a strong human rights component and access to all parts of the country, including Crimea. [Read more] |
Amnesty International: Four asylum-seekers at risk of extradition
 Source: Amnesty International Following decisions by the Russian Federation Supreme Court, four asylum-seekers are still at risk of extradition from Russia to Kyrgyzstan, where they are at a real risk of torture and other ill-treatment. [Read more] |
Article 19: European Court of Human Rights - ‘Homosexual Propaganda’ bans violate freedom of expression
 Source: Article 19 On 28 February 2014, ARTICLE 19 and INTERRIGHTS submitted third-party interventions with the European Court of Human Right in the case of Bayev and Others v Russia. The case concerns the prosecution of three human rights campaigners – Nikolay Bayev, Aleksey Kiselev and Nikolay Alekseyev - for violating Russian legislation prohibiting so-called “homosexual propaganda.” The activists have been fined for their participation in demonstrations condemning discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. [Read more] |
Amnesty International: The Russian authorities accelerate their assault on freedom of assembly
 Source: Amnesty International The right to freedom of assembly has been under increasing attack in Russia since the return of Vladimir Putin to presidency in May 2012, with countless protests across the country having been denied authorisation or dispersed without cause. In the space of a week since the ending of the Sochi Olympics, and the media glare that accompanied it, over 600 peaceful protesters have been detained in Moscow alone, and dozens elsewhere. [Read more] |
Human Rights Watch: “Foreign Agents” Law Hits Hundreds of NGOs: Updated
 Updated List of Nongovernmental Organizations Targeted under the “Foreign Agents” Law Source: Human Rights Watch In early March 2013 the Russian government launched an unprecedented, nationwide campaign of inspections of thousands of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to identify advocacy groups the government deems “foreign agents” and force them to register as such. The list below tracks the legal consequences of the law on dozens of NGOs. [Read more] |
Front Line Defenders: Ongoing defamation of human rights defender Mr Igor Kalyapin
 Source: Front Line Defenders  The most recent incident took place on 25 February 2014, at a meeting of the Civil Chamber of the Chechen Republic, during which the Head of the Republic of Chechnya, Mr Ramzan Kadyrov, accused human rights defender Mr Igor Kalyapin of being a “traitor of the nation” and a man who defends “bandits and drug addicts” and “promotes his personal interests”. [Read more] Photo: Human Rights Defenders |
Amnesty International: Violent attack on former Pussy Riot members must not be tolerated
 Source: Amnesty International The Russian authorities must promptly launch an independent and impartial investigation into an apparently unprovoked and premeditated attack in Nizhny Novgorod this morning on human rights activists, including former Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina, Amnesty International said. “By all accounts, this violent attack appears to have been premeditated by an organized group. The unidentified assailants chanted slogans, held aloft a banner and filmed the entire incident,” said Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International’s Moscow office. [Read more] |
Committee to Protect Journalists: Independent media, journalists obstructed in Crimea
 Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Authorities in the autonomous republic of Crimea in southern Ukraine should ensure that media outlets and independent journalists are allowed to report on the political crisis in the region without being censored or harassed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Tension in the predominantly Russian-speaking southern and eastern Ukraine has increased since Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country and was ousted by the parliament in late February, according to news reports. On Saturday, authorities in Sevastopol--the city that hosts the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea and which is administratively separate from the autonomous republic--declared their decision to disregard the interim Ukrainian government. Over the weekend, the Russian military occupied parts of the Crimean peninsula. [Read more] |
Amnesty International: Freedom of expression falls victim to the dramatic events in Ukraine’s Crimea
 Source: Amnesty International “The government’s crackdown of the anti-war protesters is highly alarming. In a number of cities people have been targeted for taking part in demonstrations. This is state-sanctioned harassment and intimidation” - Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International’s Moscow Office The detention of hundreds of anti-war protesters over the weekend is another manifestation of the increasing crackdown on the freedom of expression and assembly in Russia, Amnesty International said. Today a Moscow court also ordered the detention of two protesters for five days on administrative charges. “The government’s crackdown of the anti-war protesters is highly alarming. In a number of cities people have been targeted for taking part in demonstrations. This is state-sanctioned harassment and intimidation,” said Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International’s Moscow Office. [Read more] |
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