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Yelena Tregubova (right), a Russian journalist, who published a critical book about Vladimir Putin and his environment, fot a political asylum in Great Britain. She escaped the Russian Federation after the bomb exploded outside her apartment. Returning home would have been a mortal danger. A few years later, in similar circumstances, Anna Politkovskaya was murdered. (17-APR-08)
 

Human Rights House in Moscow has sent a statement concerning brutal police actions and arrests during a peaceful demonstration on 25 of May, 2008 devoted to 90th anniversary of  Belorussian Democratic Republic. Human Rights House in Moscow sent official appeal to Belarusian authorities condemning such “policy” of saving a public order. The appeal was directed to the President of Republic of Belarus, the General Prosecutor and the Minister of Internal Affairs. To read the statement in Russian, click here . (29-MARCH-08)
 

3 March 2008 opposition protesters held rallies in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg against the election of  Dmitry Medvedev, Vladidmir Putin`s protege. The Moscow authorities without any reason didn`t give an official permission for conducting the March, so it was unauthorized. As a result, dozens of people were beaten and more than 100 arrested by police. (05-MARCH-08)
 

On Sunday, 2 March 2008 the Russian citizens made their decision and elected a new President. The victory of Dmitry Medvedev, successor of Vladimir Putin, was predictable. According to the last information he gathered 70, 21% of the 98, and 78% counted votes. The European observers called the elections “not free and fair”. (03-MAR-08)
 

The Russian authorities claim to close the head office of the Russian Union of Journalist (RUJ) in Moscow due to violations of fire regulations. In its statement below, RUJ stresses that the claims are part of a united campaign which has been carried on almost one year against the Union, the biggest non-governmental organization in the Russian Federation. The Union has occupied the building since 1980. (20-FEB-08)
 

Well-known Russian human rights defenders adressed to Vladimir Lukin, Ombudsman in the Russian Federation, and Ella Pamfilova, Chairwoman of the Civil Society Institution and Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation, with an appeal to express their protest on the fact of prosecutors of Nazran (Ingushetiya) had opened a criminal investigation into the NGO “Voice of Beslan” on charge of extremism. (16-JAN-08)
 

The Human Rights House in Moscow (The Russian Research Centre for Human Rights) celebrated its 15th anniversary yesterday with a conference summing up the centre´s activities through a dramatic decade and a half in Russian history. The 60 people attending ´New challenges – new strategies´ concluded that the Centre has been vital for the human rights movement in the Russian Federation, but addressed also the fact that the Centre´s future survival is in the balance, with rents rising to levels no longer manageable. (14-DEC-07)
 

The Moscow City Psychology-Teacher´s Training University conducted a seminar this week on suicide prevention in the Russian Army. The issue is vital to Russian society: according to the General Office of the Public Prosecutor, more than 6,500 army personnel suffered from ‘dedovshina’ (harassment, humiliation, and other violations of soldiers´ dignity) last year. Of these, approximately 70 went on to commit suicide. (07-DEC-07)
 

Over the last couple of weeks, a digest of the independent Chechen journal ‘DOSH’ – ‘A word’ – has been launched in Brussels, Paris and Oslo. The journal has been published in the Russian Federation since March 2003. The Chechen journalists told European public figures, politicians, mass media representatives and human rights activists how hard it has become to be an independent journalist in the Russian Federation and what difficulties they face when democratic principles are not observed. (25-NOV-07)