International non-governmental organization Amnesty International presented the annual report on human rights, which criticized the package of anti-terrorist laws in Russia, known as the “Spring package”. About it writes RIA Novosti.
Human rights activists called these laws contravene the international obligations of Russia in the field of human rights. In their view, “government often used excessive anti-extremist legislation, thereby violating the right to freedom of expression”. The report notes that about 90% of sentences in cases of extremism, from the data of NGO “OWL”, account for comments and reposts in social networks.
“The amendments are contrary to Russia’s international obligations in the field of human rights”, — stated in the report.
Recall, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2016, requires operators and Internet companies for up to six months to store data about the content of the conversations and correspondence of the users, including photos, video and sound files to provide the special services on request. This rule about keeping the user traffic will come into force from 1 July 2018.
A non-governmental organisation funded by a range of governments and international agencies such as the U.S. state Department, the British authorities and the European Commission, discussed the situation in Russian prisons. English human rights activists noted that “in places of detention and in the colonies widely and systematically used torture and ill-treatment”. In addition, Amnesty International touched upon the subject of non-profit organizations. She stated that “Russia continued harassment of NGOs, and the most critical was persecuted with the use of smear campaigns in the media and the law “On foreign agents””.
The organization did not forget to mention the operation of the Russian HQs in Syria, accusing Russia in “indiscriminate attacks and direct attacks on civilians and civilian targets in Syria, including residential areas, medical institutions and pillars of humanitarian cargo, which led to thousands of deaths and injuries among civilians.” In 2016, the foreign media have repeatedly reported the air strikes that allegedly struck the Russian aircraft for various civilian targets. However, the defense Ministry has denied such allegations.
Photo: Sergey Guneev / RIA Novosti