Two years after the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya,
human rights activists and journalists are still at risk in the Russian
Federation, in particular in the North Caucasus region.
Recent attacks on independent journalists and human rights activists
illustrate the risks under which they work in Russia, Amnesty
International said on the eve of the second anniversary of Anna
Politkovskaya’s murder
After months of increased tension, and recent low-level hostilities,
the conflict between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia
escalated in the early morning of 8 August 2008.
Amnesty International has called on all sides to the conflict in South
Ossetia to fully respect international humanitarian law in order that
civilians are protected from hostilities.
The Gay Pride march in Riga on Saturday may have passed
largely without incident, but elsewhere in Europe, the right of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to claim their
rights and celebrate their identity is under threat.
There has been a clampdown on the freedoms of assembly and expression
in the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections in the
Russian Federation.
The space for human rights activists, independent organizations and
media to operate and to express critical views in the Russian
Federation has been gradually and progressively curtailed in recent
years
Russia: 22-year-old Artur Akhmatkhanov was grabbed by masked
soldiers and bundled into an armoured personnel carrier in 2003; he has not
been seen since.
