oDR

Russian rights at the crossroads

Anna Sevortian and Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch present a new week-long series on openDemocracy Russia

Tanya Lokshina

21 August 2012

Human Rights Watch has had an office in Russia for 20 years, almost as long as the contemporary Russian state has been in place. It’s certainly been a rollercoaster experience. In our early years, we were encouraged by the gains of fledgling Russian democracy; later on we documented the gradual setbacks and authoritarianism of the Putin era.

Today, once again, we see Russia at a crossroads, and with similar choices to the ones it faced twenty years ago.

In our series this week, we will present leading voices from Russian civil society and their visions of the most pressing human rights challenges in Russia. In general terms, they reflect the top priorities in the ongoing work of Human Rights Watch in Russia: the renewed crackdown on civil society, human rights violations in the turbulent North Caucasus, issues with implementation of judgments handed down by the European Court of Human Rights, LGBT rights, and the situation with palliative care.

We hope you enjoy the articles and look forward to receiving your feedback. For more information on Human Rights Watch work on Russia, visit: http://www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/russia

Anna Sevortian
Tanya Lokshina
Moscow, August 2012

-----------------------

For Human Rights Watch work on Russia, please, see:

Reports

“You Dress According to Their Rules”

Enforcement of an Islamic Dress Code for Women in Chechnya, 2011

"Who Will Tell Me What Happened to My Son?"

Russia’s Implementation of European Court of Human Rights Judgments on Chechnya, 2009

"What Your Children Do Will Touch Upon You"

Punitive House-Burning in Chechnya, 2009

Briefings

Russia: Harassment of Critics