APEC 2012: Wining & Dining Are No Substitute for Human Rights & Rule of Law
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit has wrapped up. Diplomats and business executives mingled at cocktail receptions and watched $8 million fireworks on Russy Island, where Russia hoped...
View ArticlePussy Riot Rocker Freed, Two Remain in Prison
New York City – Human Rights First today welcomed the news that Pussy Riot’s Yekaterina Samutsevich was released from prison following this morning’s appellate hearing. Two other members of the band,...
View ArticlePussy Riot: One Out, Two to Go (to Prison)
Pussy Riot’s Yekaterina Samutsevich is now free, but Moscow’s city court upheld two-year sentences for bandmates Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Mariya Alyokhina. Samutsevich’s newly appointed attorney...
View ArticlePunitive Psychiatry Making a Comeback in Russia?
By now, it seems that everyone has heard of the Russian female punk collective Pussy Riot. Yet the band’s prosecution is but an episode in Russia’s ongoing misuse of antiextremism laws directed against...
View ArticleOut of Sight, Out of Mind? Pussy Riot, the Punk Prayer, and Putin’s Prison...
Recently on CTV News, Human Rights First’s Innokenty Grekov analyzed the current situation for the remaining imprisoned Pussy Riot members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. Grekov’s...
View ArticleRussian Courts Make Another Blunder in Pussy Riot Drama
New York City – Human Rights First is calling today’s Zamoskvoretsky court ruling banning four Pussy Riot performance videos—including the “punk prayer” video made in Russia’s main church and a...
View ArticleHarassment and Legal Woes of a Russian NGO Must Stop
New York City - Human Rights First condemns the attempt of the Russian government to ban a publication about human rights in the country. On December 6, 2012, activist Stanislav Dmitrievsky will appear...
View ArticleMagnitsky Bill’s Passage Brings Russia Policy Out of Cold War Shadow
Washington, DC – Human Rights First praises the Senate for passing the “Magnitsky Bill,” landmark human rights legislation to combat impunity for those who commit crimes against human rights defenders....
View ArticleHuman Rights First Calls on Obama to Veto Defense Authorization Bill
Washington, DC – Human Rights First urges President Obama to veto the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) because it undermines U.S. leadership on human rights. This year’s defense...
View ArticleRussia Cracks Down on LGBT Groups, Civil Society
On this edition of Firstcast we’ll discuss the current state of affairs in the ongoing Pussy Riot case and the growing persecution of the LGBT community in Russia. The Pussy Riot case sheds a light on...
View Article2012: “A Contradictory Year” In Russia’s Struggle with Hate Crime
They say predictions are difficult, especially about the future. A recent report on hate crime in Russia reveals that it’s been “a contradictory year,” and Russian analysts simply don’t know what to...
View ArticleRussia’s Enforcement of Child Porn Law Threatens Internet Freedom
Russia is in the news again: this time for using a new law aimed at curbing internet child pornography, drug use, and suicide to instead limit internet speech. The authorities’ implementation of this...
View ArticleRussian Remains G8 Syria Response Stumbling Block
Washington D.C. - Human Rights First calls on the Secretary of State and other G8 ministers gathered this week to engage in discussions about practical and actionable strategies to end Assad’s...
View ArticleDonilon Should Raise Russian Human Rights Abuses
Washington, DC – As U.S. National Security Advisory Tom Donilon arrives in Moscow today, Human Rights First urges him to make clear that respect for human rights is a central part of the United States’...
View ArticlePress Freedom: Russian Journalist Forced into Mental Institution After...
On September 14, 2012, Ruslan Makarov, a journalist for the Siberian newspaper Listok, was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors claimed that Makarov’s satirical comments directed...
View ArticleAtrocity Supply Chain Should Be Focus of Kerry’s Moscow Trip
Washington, D.C. – Human Rights First urges Secretary of State John Kerry to use his trip to Russia this week to press the Russians to stop enabling atrocities in Syria. The trip – set against the...
View ArticleBrutal Attack in Russia Underscores Problem of Homophobia
Late in the evening of May 9th, Vladislav Tornovoi became the latest victim of homophobic violence in Russia. Discovered in a courtyard in Volgograd, Tornovoi had been beaten to death and sodomized...
View ArticleMassimino Urges Kerry to Probe Rosoboronexport Sales to Syria
Washington, DC – As Secretary of State John Kerry continues to discuss with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov toward peace negotiations in Syria, Human Rights First President and CEO Elisa...
View ArticleSecond Suspected Homophobic Murder in Russia
Less than a month after the murder of Vladislav Tornovoi in Volgograd, a second gay man has been murdered in Russia. On May, 29th, three men allegedly stomped and stabbed to death an unnamed 39-year...
View ArticleBaer Nomination as Ambassador to OSCE Praised
Washington, DC – Following President Obama’s announcement that he has nominated Daniel Baer to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Human...
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