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2 December 2007 – for this date the elections in the State Duma of the Russian Federation are set. Many independent foreign observers from various international organizations were going to come on this period. Among them there was the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). But the Russian authorities did their best to frustrate participation of the observers from the OSCE. As a result, the OSCE has simply refused to participate in supervision over such “elections”. (23–NOV–07)
 

Early in October so called “Civil pool”, a coalition of public organizations, established to control the election process to the State Duma on 2 December, announced about its self-dissolution. It happened after Vladimir Putin made a statement to head the party “United Russia”. The “Pool” was created in spring 2007 by initiative of Ella Pamfilova, the Chairman of the Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation. (29-OCT-2007)
 

13 October, as a part of the official visit to the Russian Federation, the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (right) met with the Russian human rights activists and Media. On the agenda there were a discussion of contemporary situation with human rights in the Russian Federation and freedom of speech, vital issues in judiciary, a new law on NGOs and situation in the Northern Caucasus (23-OCT-07).

7 October, 2007 people in the Russian Federation and other countries reversed Anna Politkovskaya`s memory. Anna was a very famous Russian journalist and human rights defender, who opposed war in the Chechen Republic and criticized Putin`s regime. She was shot dead a year ago. In Anna`s commemoration there were held a number of events all over the world. (15-OCT-07)

13 September 2007 in Vienna the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society was excluded from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) – Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – meeting. The USA delegation left the session in protest. The human rights society is outraged by this fact, because, first of all, it violates the right to express their opinion avowedly. (24-SEP-07)
 

In early September an action “White Ribbon”, directed on a straight fight with domestic violence, got started in Vologda region. The organizers strongly believe that if we can’t resist the home violence, we can at least reduce it. The most important thing is not to keep silent! For the victims were opened help lines, where both women and men can get a qualified help. (15-SEPT-07)
 

29-30 August the Foundation to Support Tolerance and the Novaya Gazeta office in Nizhny Novgorod were taken under illegal check by local lawmen. As a result, they seized computers from the mentioned organizations on the pretext of using unlicensed software. The human rights defenders strongly protest against these actions and think that authorities are trying to use any method to paralyze the work of non-governmental organizations and media.

5 July the United Civic Front activist Larissa Arap (right) was hospitalized against her will on the grounds that she poses threat for herself and her surroundings. This matter brought forth a lot of  attention from the media and human rights organizations all over the world. The Special Commission suggested by Independent Psychiatric Association and created by Vladimir Lukin, the ombudsmen of the Russian Federation, concluded that her hospitalization violated her civic rights. (15-AUG-07)
 

26 July, in spite of public protests, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, passed a new bill on extremism. Theoretically, it is aimed at strengthening the responsibility for extremism; however, it may undertake a new meaning and be used by the government to silence the mass media and infringe on the freedom of speech, privacy and self expression, which are the most important values in any democratic society. (10-AUG-07)