Week-ending 17 January 2020
Russia: Race to the Bottom on Rights
Repression escalated in Russia during 2019 as the government answered rising civic and political activism with bans, repressive laws, and showcase prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020. The authorities carried out large-scale smear campaigns against independent nongovernmental groups, using fines against groups and their leaders to impede and even end their work. The government took this campaign to a new level with criminal investigations targeting activists of the pro-democracy Open Russia civic movement and the opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s Foundation Against Corruption. The authorities forcibly shut down two human rights organization, including one specializing in minority rights. Human Rights Watch, 14 January 2020
NB: Our emphasis
