HRW Says Response To Protests Show How Rights Standards Have Plummeted In Russia
January 25, 2021 13:53 GMT
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Human Rights Watch (HRW) says extreme police brutality and mass arbitrary detentions during weekend protests across Russia are further evidence of how low human rights standards have plummeted in the country. Ultimately this repression of basic human rights only galvanizes people and deepens their [protesters ] grievances, Damelya Aitkhozhina, the Russia researcher at the New York-based watchdog, said in a
statement on January 25, two days after thousands of Russians were detained during protests against the arrest of Kremlin foe Aleksei Navalny and deep-rooted government corruption.
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Riot police officers use truncheons to beat some protesters while arresting others, during a rally in support of jailed opposition activist Alexei Navalny, in Pushkinskaya Square, Moscow, Russia, 23 January 2021, Valery SharifulinTASS via Getty Images “Time and time again, Russian authorities have suppressed free speech and peaceful protest through police brutality, violence, and mass arrests. The authorities understand their obligations to respect fundamental human rights and choose not just to ignore them but to trample all over them.”
This statement was originally published on hrw.org on 25 January 2021.
On January 23, 2021, police detained more than 3,700 people across Russia at nationwide protests against the arrest of political opposition figure Alexey Navalny and against state corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. It was the largest number of people detained on a single day in the country according to OVD-Info, a Russian hu