MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian authorities clamped down in 2012 on peaceful protests and freedom of expression, while using state media to smear its political opponents, Amnesty International said on Thursday in its annual human rights report.
“Vladimir Putin’s return as president, following widely criticized elections, led to a surge in popular protest and demands for greater civil and political freedoms, particularly around his inauguration in May [2012]. The result was increased restrictions,” the report stated.
“Increasing peaceful political protest was met with repression. New laws restricting the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association were introduced. Human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers continued to face harassment, while investigations into violent attacks were ineffective.”
Amnesty also accused the authorities of “routinely” breaking up peaceful anti-Kremlin demonstrations.
“The authorities regarded every such event, however peaceful and insignificant in number, as unlawful unless expressly sanctioned, although gatherings of pro-government or pro-Orthodox Church activists were often allowed to proceed uninterrupted even without authorization. There were frequent reports of police brutality towards peaceful protesters and journalists, but these were not effectively investigated.”
"Most media remained under effective state control, except for some outlets with limited circulation. Prime-time national television was regularly employed to smear government critics."
The report also said that torture remained “widespread,” while “trials did not meet international standards of fairness, and the number of apparently politically motivated decisions grew.”
Amnesty highlighted the case of members of the anti-Putin punk group, Pussy Riot, who were jailed for two years last August after a high-profile performance in Moscow’s largest cathedral, in a trial that sparked international condemnation.
The international human rights organization acknowledged that senior officials had recognized the need for judicial reform, but said “no effective steps were taken towards ensuring the independence of the judiciary.”
On Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region, which includes Chechnya, Amnesty said human rights violations remained “widespread.”
“Security operations continued to be conducted on a regular basis throughout the region. In the course of these, numerous human rights violations by law enforcement officials were reported, including enforced disappearances, unlawful detentions, torture and other ill-treatment, and extrajudicial executions”
“The authorities systematically failed to conduct effective, impartial and prompt investigations into human rights violations by law enforcement officials, or to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”
