Sep. 23 () –
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) revealed on Thursday that repression in Russia has intensified considerably since 2012, thus reaching a new level after a decade of reformist legislation.
This has been expressed by the organization in a new report in which it has stressed that in recent times Russia has isolated itself from its international partners, has repressed political opposition, has stifled critical attitudes towards the Kremlin or has silenced the media.
“The repression has gradually intensified since 2012 — following the massive protests in the context of the parliamentary and presidential elections — and has reached its peak with the new reform laws approved after the start of the war,” the OSCE in said report.
Most of the new legal provisions approved in the last year would force NGOs, anti-corruption activists, journalists and human rights defenders to reduce or stop carrying out their activities or even to leave the country.
The OSCE has pointed out that although the 1993 Russian Constitution is in line with the organization’s commitments to Human Rights, in recent years federal and regional law enforcement agencies have come under the control of the OSCE. directly from President Vladimir Putin.
In this sense, the organization’s report emphasizes that the most restrictive laws such as the so-called Foreign Agents Law, the restrictions on freedom of expression with the new false news law, or the regulation of the media and the Internet “do not conform to OSCE norms based on pluralism and a strong and independent civil society”.
Likewise, according to the organization, propaganda, pressure to form opinion, the use of criminal law for other purposes, the use of violence against social organizations and the media, the dispersion of peaceful assemblies and the ineffective investigation of the murders of journalists “have created a climate of fear and intimidation”.
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