Campaign for justice

The Russian Federation is in transition. Since 1991, profound changes have affected almost all aspects of life for the country's 144 million people.

Economic restructuring has been accompanied by dramatic increases in the level of poverty, as well as widespread corruption.

Politically, there is now greater freedom of expression. There has also been a rise in Russian and other nationalist and separatist movements.

The human rights landscape has been transformed since the 1970s. No longer are there thousands of prisoners of conscience languishing in gulags and psychiatric institutions because of their beliefs. The widespread use of the death penalty is also a thing of the past.

And yet human rights violations are still widespread, and the victims have little chance of seeing the perpetrators brought to justice. Torture and ill-treatment are virtually routine in police stations. Conditions in the country's disease-ridden and overcrowded pre-trial detention centres are generally so appalling that they amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In the conflict in Chechnya, Russian forces have reportedly attacked civilians, and carried out “disappearances”, extrajudicial executions, rape and other torture, without fear of punishment.

There have been a number of significant reforms, but much more remains to be done.

A moratorium on executions has been in place since 1996, but the death penalty has yet to be abolished.

Key international human rights treaties have been ratified, but are often not respected in practice.

A new Criminal Procedure Code, due to be introduced in July 2002, includes several positive changes to the justice system, but it is still unclear to what extent the new code will in practice improve protection for detainees.

As leaders of a major world power, the Russian authorities have a particularly important role in promoting respect for human rights. The Russian Federation is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. It is a leading producer and supplier of military, security and police equipment. It continues to exert considerable influence internationally, including in the development of human rights standards.

At this time of transition, Amnesty International is launching a major worldwide campaign to highlight the discrepancy between the human rights protection which those living in the Russian Federation have in international and national law, and the reality of widespread human rights abuses committed in a climate of impunity. Amnesty International members around the world will be urging the government to live up to its obligations to protect human rights, so that there is justice for everybody.

Launch events from around the word

Briefing on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation

Amnesty International's recommendations to the Russian Federation Government to address human rights violations in the Russian Federation

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