The human rights records of more than ninety countries and territories are put into perspective in Human Rights Watch's signature yearly report. Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken in 2016 by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.
Civil rights is a category of human rights that include individual personal freedom, privacy, personal security, a right to life, dignity, freedom from torture, freedom of movement and residence, and freedom of conscience. Such rights differ from the political, economic, social, and cultural rights guaranteed by the International Bill of Rights. The challenge of enforcing these rights has been acute throughout the world, but Russia in particular has experienced unique and significant difficulties. Until now, the theoretical literature dealing with the legal characteristics of civil rights, how to realize them, and how to protect people from their infringement, has been wanting. This timely and comprehensive volume rectifies this lapse, especially as civil rights enforcement relates to Russia. It draws on a wealth of materials, including reports and statistical data from the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, and several Russian offices of state. The contributors, comprised of researchers, judges, lawyers, and legal authorities, are all experts in human and civil rights and bring a fresh perspective to these issues. They analyze international law, Russian legislation, and decisions of the European Court and the Constitutional Court of Russia each from a humanistic stance. While the authors represent different age groups, occupations, and approaches, they are in agreement on the necessity of protecting civil rights; expanding and developing their guaranty both in Russia and all over the world. Civil Human Rights in Russia dispels many of the myths about Russia and its attitude toward civil rights, especially as regards to the stereotype that the Russian people do not know about such rights, nor care about human dignity. The authors of this volume make clear that Russia has been instrumental in the formation and recognition of universal human rights. The Russian contribution builds on those established by the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. This volume is a fundamental contribution to the literature, one that will help the reader to understand the essence of civil human rights and how they may be implemented and enforced in the twenty-first century.
Law, Rights and Ideology in Russia: Landmarks in the destiny of a great power brings into sharp focus several key episodes in Russia’s vividly ideological engagement with law and rights. Drawing on 30 years of experience of consultancy and teaching in many regions of Russia and on library research in Russian-language texts, Bill Bowring provides unique insights into people, events and ideas. The book starts with the surprising role of the Scottish Enlightenment in the origins of law as an academic discipline in Russia in the eighteenth century. The Great Reforms of Tsar Aleksandr II, abolishing serfdom in 1861 and introducing jury trial in 1864, are then examined and debated as genuine reforms or the response to a revolutionary situation. A new interpretation of the life and work of the Soviet legal theorist Yevgeniy Pashukanis leads to an analysis of the conflicted attitude of the USSR to international law and human rights, especially the right of peoples to self-determination. The complex history of autonomy in Tsarist and Soviet Russia is considered, alongside the collapse of the USSR in 1991. An examination of Russia’s plunge into the European human rights system under Yeltsin is followed by the history of the death penalty in Russia. Finally, the secrets of the ideology of ‘sovereignty’ in the Putin era and their impact on law and rights are revealed. Throughout, the constant theme is the centuries long hegemonic struggle between Westernisers and Slavophiles, against the backdrop of the Messianism that proclaimed Russia to be the Third Rome, was revived in the mission of Soviet Russia to change the world and which has echoes in contemporary Eurasianism and the ideology of sovereignty.
In the context of growing human rights abuses, religious freedom conditions in Russia suffered serious setbacks. The Russian government's application of its extremism law violates the rights of members of certain Muslim groups and allegedly "non-traditional" religious communities, particularly Jehovah's Witnesses, through raids, detentions, and imprisonment. Various laws and practices increasingly grant preferential status to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian Federation has a highly centralised political system, with power increasingly concentrated in the president, and a weak multiparty political system. The most significant human rights problems include the restriction of civil liberties; violations of electoral processes; and the administration of justice. This book provides an overview of Russian human rights and religious freedom reports.
In Russia and European Human-Rights Law: The Rise of the Civilizational Argument, Lauri Mälksoo and his co-authors critically examine Russia's experiences as part of the European human-rights protection system since its admittance to the Council of Europe in 1998. The authors combine legal and constructivist international-relations theory perspectives in studying Russia's practice and rhetoric as a member of the Council of Europe and a subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. Certain aspects of human-rights doctrine and practice in Russia are particularly highlighted: the increasing impact of Orthodox Christian teachings on the Russian government's ideology, the situation with media freedom, freedom of religion, etc. The authors draw widely on Russian sources and media. The questions whether modern-day Russia truly fits in the human-rights protection system of the Council of Europe, and whether a margin of appreciation will suffice when dealing with Moscow, are highly relevant in contemporary European politics.
Weiler argues that the processes associated with political and economic reform have, in important instances, diminished human rights in post-Soviet Russia.
In the context of growing human rights abuses, religious freedom conditions in Russia suffered serious setbacks. The Russian government's application of its extremism law violates the rights of members of certain Muslim groups and allegedly "non-traditional" religious communities, particularly Jehovah's Witnesses, through raids, detentions, and imprisonment. Various laws and practices increasingly grant preferential status to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian Federation has a highly centralized political system, with power increasingly concentrated in the president, and a weak multiparty political system. The most significant human rights problems include the restriction of civil liberties; violations of electoral processes; and the administration of justice. This book provides an overview of Russian human rights and religious freedom reports.
