Human Rights Watch: Russia Gets Authoritarian

Influential organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) presented its annual report on Russia concluding that the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin resulted in the level of authoritarianism unprecedented in the [modern] Russian history. According to the report, "after Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency, the Kremlin oversaw the swift reversal of former President Dmitry Medvedev’s few, timid advances on political freedoms and unleashed an unprecedented crackdown against civic activism. In 2012, new laws passed through the State Duma that require foreign-funded NGOs to register as “foreign agents,” recriminalize libel, place greater restrictions on freedom of assembly, increase internet censorship, and broaden the definition of treason to include many types of international advocacy. Charges of “hooliganism” and “inciting religious hatred” have been used to place restrictions on freedom of expression. New local laws discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Abuses continue in the counterinsurgency campaign in the North Caucasus," the HRW report reads. Russian officials say the report "has no relation to the reality."

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2117049
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130131/179155277/Human-Rights-Watch-Blasts-Russia-In-2013-Report.html
http://www.hrw.org/node/104560 (document)