Group Says Russia Now at 'Not Free' Status

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-12-20 05:31pm

MOSCOW - Russia has restricted rights to such an extent that it has joined the countries that are not free for the first time since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Freedom House said Monday, marking Moscow's march away from the Western democracies it has embraced as diplomatic partners.

"This setback for freedom represented the year's most important political trend," the U.S.-based non-governmental organization wrote in its annual study, Freedom in the World 2005.

Freedom House noted increased Kremlin control over national television and other media, limitations on local government, and parliamentary and presidential elections it said were neither free nor fair.

"Russia's step backward into the 'Not Free' category is the culmination of a growing trend under President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) to concentrate political authority, harass and intimidate the media, and politicize the country's law-enforcement system," Executive Director Jennifer Windsor said in a statement.

"These moves mark a dangerous and disturbing drift toward authoritarianism in Russia, made more worrisome by President Putin's recent heavy-handed meddling in political developments in neighboring countries, such as Ukraine."

The report accused Putin of exploiting the terrorist seizure of a school in southern Russia to ram through what Freedom House called the dismantling of local authority.

In the wake of the September attack, which killed more than 330 people, Putin introduced a plan to end the election of governors by popular vote and the election of legislators in individual races. Currently, the 450 seats in the lower house of parliament are equally split between those filled through party lists and those contested in district races.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the report, which said that Russia had reached its lowest point where political rights and civic freedoms are concerned since 1989.

Grigory Yavlinsky, a former member of parliament with the liberal Yabloko party, said Russia has been "not-free" for more than a decade now.

"Today in Russia there are no independent mass media, no independent court, parliament, business. There is no public control over special forces and police. There are practically no elections which are not controlled by the authorities," he said.

Freedom House said that on balance, the world saw increased freedom in 2004: 26 countries showed gains while 11 showed decline. Of the world's 192 countries, it judged 46 percent free, 26 percent not free, and the rest partly free. Eight rated as the most repressive: Burma, Cuba, Libya, North Korea (news - web sites), Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan.

The NGO said that only Central and Eastern Europe had seen "dramatic progress" over the past year. It noted that Bosnia-Herzegovina's rating had improved following the first elections organized entirely by Bosnian institutions.

In the Middle East, Freedom House rated just Israel as free. Five countries in the region, including Jordan and Yemen, are partly free, and 12 are not free. It said the territories occupied by Israel and run by the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) were not free.

Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Qatar registered modest gains, Freedom House said.

It registered democratic gains in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine, where popular protests forced the cancellation of the results of fraudulent elections in the past 13 months.

"The positive experiences in Georgia and Ukraine indicate that democratic ferment and nonviolent civic protest are potent forces for political change," Windsor said. "They also reinforce freedom's gradual global advance."

The former Soviet republics of Belarus, Armenia and Lithuania saw setbacks — the first two due to the authorities' increasingly harsh response to dissent, and the latter because of "worrying questions about the full autonomy of Lithuania's political leadership" in the wake of President Roland Paksas' impeachment amid allegations of influence by the Russian mafia.

Freedom House, a Washington-based, nonpartisan group, was founded nearly 60 years ago by Americans concerned about threats to democracy. It conducts advocacy, research and training to encourage and nurture democracy.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-12-20 09:31pm

goddamn, *another* cold war?

President Sharky · Post by **President Sharky** » 2004-12-20 09:48pm

Looks like it. That missile defence shield doesn't look all that bad right now...

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2004-12-20 10:12pm

At least when they were Soviet, they had an aura of coolness.

They suck too much now to be any kind of serious Cold War opponent. Besides, simply imposing fascist measures doesn't automatically place them against the US.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2004-12-20 10:13pm

It's been only, like, 15 years, goddamn it.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-12-21 04:08am

At least when they were Soviet, they had an aura of coolness.

They suck too much now to be any kind of serious Cold War opponent. Besides, simply imposing fascist measures doesn't automatically place them against the US.

Fascist measures? What exactly has Russia done that can be defined as "fascist"? And why on Earth would there be a Cold War? Over what?

"These moves mark a dangerous and disturbing drift toward authoritarianism in Russia, made more worrisome by President Putin's recent heavy-handed meddling in political developments in neighboring countries, such as Ukraine."

As opposed to the West's more subtle meddling in Ukraine, I take it? Washington based "freedom" group ... whatever. And Israel ... free? LOL. There's no doubt Russia is becoming more authoritarian, but we don't need these bunch of hypocrite Washington based fuckwits telling us that.

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2004-12-21 07:37am

Vympel wrote:
At least when they were Soviet, they had an aura of coolness.

They suck too much now to be any kind of serious Cold War opponent. Besides, simply imposing fascist measures doesn't automatically place them against the US.
Fascist measures? What exactly has Russia done that can be defined as "fascist"? And why on Earth would there be a Cold War? Over what?

I was referring to what the previous posts implied...

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-12-21 07:46am

Vympel wrote: Fascist measures? What exactly has Russia done that can be defined as "fascist"? And why on Earth would there be a Cold War? Over what?

Let's look at the definition of fascism shall we?

Dictionary.com wrote: 1. a)A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.

2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Well let's see here, we have a government that uses terror against it's citizens in the name of "stopping terrorism", a centralized dictatorship thanks to Putin's reworking of the electoral process, a country where all political opponents are put in jail (Oligarchs) and a country where all media is strictly controlled with censorship rampant. Oh, and I think you can see where the nationalism (Putin's Mother Russia crap) and the racism (Chechens) comes in.

So I think the real question is, how is Russia today NOT fascist?

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-12-21 09:21am

The Kernel wrote: Well let's see here, we have a government that uses terror against it's citizens in the name of "stopping terrorism", a centralized dictatorship thanks to Putin's reworking of the electoral process

Bullshit. Do you even know what was done? You think what was done resulted in dictatorship? Explain to me what was done, and how that resulted in dictatorship. By all means, I'd love to see this.

a country where all political opponents are put in jail (Oligarchs)

"All political opponents?" Get real. The oligarchs are fucking criminals, not political prisoners. Not to mention the fact that not all of them are in jail. Maybe you should tell the leaders of all the political parties that aren't on Putin's side they're all in jail. Oh wait- they're in the Duma. Oops. This is your facsist society?

and a country where all media is strictly controlled with censorship rampant.

Rampant censorship? Care to prove that?

Oh, and I think you can see where the nationalism (Putin's Mother Russia crap)

"Mother Russia crap"? Could you be any more vague? It takes more than a ridiculously common Russian phrase to be proof of "nationalism" in the fascist sense.

and the racism (Chechens) comes in.

Racism? The Russian government has racist policies towards Chechens now? That'd be like saying the US is "racist" against Iraqis, rather than just being pricks because of the sloppy way they fight the war.

So I think the real question is, how is Russia today NOT fascist?

I think the real question is how did you turn a dysfunctional democracy into fucking Nazi Germany (or even Mussolini's Italy). And I will answer: by flagrantly misrepresenting the facts with vague exaggerationist rhetoric.

Boyish-Tigerlilly · Post by **Boyish-Tigerlilly** » 2004-12-21 11:19am

Fascism can be a lot more than just the Nazi/Italian designs. I don't think he's saying they're that bad.

irishmick79 · Post by **irishmick79** » 2004-12-21 02:18pm

Putin certainly has taken Russia in a direction that establishes an authortarian government. That can't really be denied. But to call Putin a facist I think would be a misrepresentation of what is really happening in Russia. Hitler and Mussolini both had a very well defined political ideology they subscribed to, and sought to impose their agendas through terror and force. While Putin might be an authortarian, he is certainly not aggressivly pushing a harsh agenda of repression upon the Russian people through force and terror.

I think it's fair to say that Putin is a fair bit more nationalistic in his approach to Foreign Policy than Yeltsin, and that has resulted in his hard line against Chechnya. You could probably make a good argument that racism plays a role in Russia's Chechnya policy, and at the same time you can make a good argument that a lot of the United State's policy towards Iraq is motivated by racism.

Post by **Edi** » 2004-12-21 03:35pm

irishmick79 wrote:While Putin might be an authortarian, he is certainly not aggressivly pushing a harsh agenda of repression upon the Russian people through force and terror.

No, he doesn't use nation wide terror. He just uses targeted oppression against political opponents who refuse to shut up when he tells them to, and when his political opponents are murdered, the investigations are quietly strangled by orders from on high.

He's a power hungry bastard who brooks no dissenting opinions, and anybody who provides an outlet for expressing such will find their operation shut down, themselves threatened or in the worst case killed, and quite possibly spends a variable amount of time in prison.

Edi

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-12-21 06:28pm

Vympel wrote:
The Kernel wrote: Well let's see here, we have a government that uses terror against it's citizens in the name of "stopping terrorism", a centralized dictatorship thanks to Putin's reworking of the electoral process
Bullshit. Do you even know what was done? You think what was done resulted in dictatorship? Explain to me what was done, and how that resulted in dictatorship. By all means, I'd love to see this.

Ever heard of the Russian constitution? That little thing was violated. Also, you don't think that removing all local and province elections reduces freedom?

a country where all political opponents are put in jail (Oligarchs)
"All political opponents?" Get real. The oligarchs are fucking criminals, not political prisoners. Not to mention the fact that not all of them are in jail. Maybe you should tell the leaders of all the political parties that aren't on Putin's side they're all in jail. Oh wait- they're in the Duma. Oops. This is your facsist society?[/quite]
Ivan Ribkin is in the Duma? Last I heard he's not even in politics anymore? Oh, you meant those other clowns! They're not opponents, they are comic relief. Besides, its not like they matter, since Putin's party controls an absolute majority of seats and even if all the other parties united in opposition, they wouldn't do anything. Oh, and I'm sure you heard of Russia's freedom of speech and expression, namely when they concern anti-Putin rallies. The ones that get the participants dragged of to jail, along with every passerby, tourist, and journalist in the area.

and a country where all media is strictly controlled with censorship rampant.
Rampant censorship? Care to prove that?
Just watch any Russian channel and come back to me.

Oh, and I think you can see where the nationalism (Putin's Mother Russia crap)
"Mother Russia crap"? Could you be any more vague? It takes more than a ridiculously common Russian phrase to be proof of "nationalism" in the fascist sense.

and the racism (Chechens) comes in.
Racism? The Russian government has racist policies towards Chechens now? That'd be like saying the US is "racist" against Iraqis, rather than just being pricks because of the sloppy way they fight the war.
Never seen the racial profiling that goes on in Moscow, have you? (not that it's bad, mind you, given that most Chechen men there are involved with the Chechen mafia).

So I think the real question is, how is Russia today NOT fascist?
I think the real question is how did you turn a dysfunctional democracy into fucking Nazi Germany (or even Mussolini's Italy). And I will answer: by flagrantly misrepresenting the facts with vague exaggerationist rhetoric.

Russia my not be Hitler's Germany yet, but its well on its way to becoming one.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-12-22 04:29am

fgalkin wrote: Ever heard of the Russian constitution? That little thing was violated. Also, you don't think that removing all local and province elections reduces freedom?

America violates its own Constitution routinely, does that mean it's a dictatorship? Not to mention that there was some controversy over whether the Constitution was violated at all.

Ivan Ribkin is in the Duma? Last I heard he's not even in politics anymore? Oh, you meant those other clowns! They're not opponents, they are comic relief. Besides, its not like they matter, since Putin's party controls an absolute majority of seats and even if all the other parties united in opposition, they wouldn't do anything.
Political parties can control the executive and legislative branches of government regardless of opposition, that doesn't mean that they must be a dictatorship.

Oh, and I'm sure you heard of Russia's freedom of speech and expression, namely when they concern anti-Putin rallies. The ones that get the participants dragged of to jail, along with every passerby, tourist, and journalist in the area.
I heard of an liberal anti-Putin/government rally just the other week. No report of what you describe.

Just watch any Russian channel and come back to me.
And what of print media? Also censored? Just what is being kept hidden?

Never seen the racial profiling that goes on in Moscow, have you? (not that it's bad, mind you, given that most Chechen men there are involved with the Chechen mafia).
Well there you go.

Russia my not be Hitler's Germany yet, but its well on its way to becoming one.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

It'll take more than what's currently going on for me to describe it as such- dysfunctional democracy is more apt.