title: Human rights in Russia

text: As a former member of the Council of Europe and a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, Russia had international obligations related to the issue of human rights. In the introduction to the 2004 report on the situation in Russia, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe noted the "sweeping changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union undeniable".


title: Human rights in Russia

text: However, from Vladimir Putin's second term as President (2004–2008) onward there were increasing reports of human rights violations. Since the 2011 State Duma elections and Putin's resumption of the presidency in spring 2012, there has been a legislative onslaught on many international and constitutional rights, e.g. Article 20 (Freedom of Assembly and Association) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is embodied in Articles 30 and 31 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (1993). A law was passed in December 2015 that gives the Constitutional Court of Russia the right to decide whether Russia can enforce, or ignore, resolutions from intergovernmental bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights. From 16 March 2022 Russia is no more a member state of the Council of Europe.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: During Putin's first term as President (2000–2004), Freedom House rated Russia as "partially free" with poor scores of 5 on both political rights and civil liberties (1 being most free, and 7 least free). In the period from 2005 to 2008, Freedom House rated Russia as "not free" with scores of 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties according to its Freedom in the World reports.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In 2006, "The Economist" published a democracy rating, which placed Russia at 102nd among 167 countries and defined it as a "hybrid regime with a trend towards curtailment of media and other civil liberties".


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to the Human Rights Watch 2016 report, the human rights situation in the Russian Federation continues to deteriorate.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: By 2016, four years into Putin's third term as president, the Russian Federation had sunk further on the Freedom House rating:


title: Human rights in Russia

text: [T]he Kremlin continued a crackdown on civil society, ramping up pressure on domestic nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and branding the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy and two groups backed by billionaire philanthropist George Soros as 'undesirable organizations'. The regime also intensified its tight grip on the media, saturating the information landscape with nationalist propaganda while suppressing the most popular alternative voices.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Reportedly in 2019, with France and Germany’s constant efforts in saving Moscow from being expelled from the Europe's human rights watchdog, Russia might retain its seat if it resumes its membership fees payment.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: International monitors and domestic observers have listed numerous, often deeply-rooted problems in the country and, with their advocacy, citizens have directed a flood of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights since 1998. By 1 June 2007, 22.5% of its pending cases were complaints against the Russian Federation by its citizens. This proportion had risen steadily since 2002 as in 2006 there were 151 admissible applications against Russia (out of 1,634 for all the countries) while in 2005 it was 110 (of 1,036), in 2004 it was 64 (of 830), in 2003 it was 15 (of 753) and in 2002 it was 12 (of 578).


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Chechnya posed a separate problem and during the Second Chechen War, which lasted from September 1999 to 2005, there were numerous instances of summary execution and forced disappearance of civilians there. According to the ombudsman of the Chechen Republic, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, the most complex and painful problem as of March 2007 was to trace over 2,700 abducted and forcefully held citizens; analysis of the complaints of citizens of Chechnya shows that social problems were ever more frequently coming to the foreground; two years earlier, he said, complaints mostly concerned violations of the right to life.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The Federal Law of 10 January 2006 changed the rules affecting registration and operation of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia. The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, among others, was closed. A detailed report by Olga Gnezdilova demonstrated that small, genuinely volunteer organisations were disproportionately hit by the demands of the new procedures: for the time being, larger NGOs with substantial funding were not affected.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Following Putin's re-election in May 2012 for a third term as president, a new Federal Law was passed, requiring all NGOs in receipt of foreign funding and "engaged in political activities" to register as "foreign agents" with the RF Ministry of Justice. By September 2016 144 NGOs were listed on the Register, including many of the oldest, most well-known and respected organisations, both internationally and domestically.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Government can brand NGOs as "undesirable" to fine and shut them down. Members of "undesirable organisations" can be fined and imprisoned.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: These restrictive policies (Russian funders were also deterred) were a denial of the Freedom of Association embodied in Article 30 of the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The deepest concern was reserved for the periodic unsolved assassinations of leading opposition politicians, lawmakers, journalists, and critics of the government, at home and sometimes abroad. According to a BuzzFeed News report in 2017, current and former US and UK intelligence agents told the outlet that they believe that Russian assassins, possibly on government orders, could be linked to 14 deaths on British soil that were dismissed as not suspicious by police.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In 1998, human rights advocate Galina Starovoitova was shot dead in St. Petersburg at the entrance of her apartment. In 2003, Yuri Schekochikhin mysteriously died from illness, causing speculation into his death, such as poisoning. In 2003, the liberal politician Sergei Yushenkov was shot dead. In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium and died. A British inquiry concluded that President Putin had "probably" approved his murder. In 2006, investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead. In 2009, human rights advocate Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were shot dead in Moscow. In 2015, opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin. In 2017, journalist Nikolay Andrushchenko was beaten to death.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The only deaths, in the view of Russian observers, to be convincingly investigated and successfully prosecuted, were the 2010 killings of Markelov and Baburova and the 2004 murder of anthropologist Nikolai Girenko, both the work of right-wing extremists. The perpetrators of certain other killings have been charged and convicted: since 1999 none of the instigators, the men who ordered the killing, have been identified or brought to justice.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The right to a fair trial and freedom from political or religious persecution has been violated ever more frequently over the past decade.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The numbers reliably considered to be political prisoners have risen sharply in the last four years. In May 2016, the Memorial Human Rights Centre put the total at 89. By May 2017, Memorial considered there were at least 117 political prisoners or prisoners of conscience (66 accused of belonging to the Muslim organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami which has been banned in Russia since 2010). Among these prisoners is also human rights defender Emir-Usein Kuku from Crimea who was accused of belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir although he denies any involvement in this organization. Amnesty International has called for his immediate liberation.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: At various times those imprisoned have included human rights defenders, journalists like Mikhail Trepashkin, and scientists such as Valentin Danilov. Since 2007, loosely-worded laws against "extremism" or "terrorism" have been used to incarcerate the often youthful activists who have protested in support of freedom of assembly, against the alleged mass falsification of elections in 2011 and, since 2014, against the occupation of Crimea, the conflict in eastern Ukraine and corruption in the highest echelons of the government and State. Political prisoners are often subjected to torture in prisons and penal colonies.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 10 May 2014, Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov was arrested in Simferopol, Crimea. He was taken to Russia, where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for alleged terrorist activities. Amnesty International considered the trial unfair and called for the release of Sentsov. Human Rights Watch described the trial as a political show trial calling for the liberation of the filmmaker. On 7 September 2019 Sentsov was released in a prisoner swap.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In May 2018 Server Mustafayev, the founder and coordinator of the human rights movement Crimean Solidarity was imprisoned by Russian authorities and charged with "membership of a terrorist organisation". Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders demand his immediate release.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: With the passing of time some of these prisoners have been released or, like Igor Sutyagin, exchanged with other countries for Russian agents held abroad. Nevertheless, the numbers continue to mount. According to some organisations there are now more than 300 individuals who have either been sentenced to terms of imprisonment in Russia, or are currently detained awaiting trial (in custody or under home arrest), or have fled abroad or gone into hiding, because of persecution for their beliefs and their attempts to exercise their rights under the Russian Constitution and international agreements.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In April 2019, an Israeli citizen who carried 9.6 grams of hashish was detained in Russia and sentenced to more than seven years in prison in October 2019. This sentence had political reasons. She was pardoned in January 2020.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 22 June 2020, Human Rights Organization along with Amnesty International wrote a joint-letter to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Igor Viktorovich Krasnov. In their letter, they asked for the release of six human rights defender who were convicted and sentenced in November 2019 to prison terms ranging from seven to 19 years on groundless terror-related charges.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 17 January 2021, Amnesty International declared Alexei Navalny to be a prisoner of conscience following his detention after returning to Russia and called on the Russian authorities to release him.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: As of June 2020, per Memorial Human Rights Center, there were 380 political prisoners in Russia, including 63 individuals prosecuted, directly or indirectly, for political activities (including Alexey Navalny) and 245 prosecuted for their involvement with one of the Muslim organizations that are banned in Russia. 78 individuals on the list, i.e. more than 20% of the total, are residents of Crimea.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The judiciary of Russia is subject to manipulation by political authorities according to Amnesty International. According to Constitution of Russia, top judges are appointed by the Federation Council, following nomination by the President of Russia. Anna Politkovskaya described in her book "Putin's Russia" stories of judges who did not follow "orders from the above" and were assaulted or removed from their positions. In an open letter written in 2005, former judge Olga Kudeshkina criticized the chairman of the Moscow city court O. Egorova for ""recommending" judges to make "right" decisions" which allegedly caused more than 80 judges in Moscow to retire in the period from 2002 to 2005.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In the 1990s, Russia's prison system was widely reported by media and human rights groups as troubled. There were large case backlogs and trial delays, resulting in lengthy pre-trial detention. Prison conditions were viewed as well below international standards. Tuberculosis was a serious, pervasive problem. Human rights groups estimated that about 11,000 inmates and prison detainees die annually, most because of overcrowding, disease, and lack of medical care. A media report dated 2006 points to a campaign of prison reform that has resulted in apparent improvements in conditions. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has been working to reform Russia's prisons since 1997, in concert with reform efforts by the national government.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The rule of law has made very limited inroads in the criminal justice since the Soviet time, especially in the deep provinces.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The courts generally follow the non-acquittals policy; in 2004 acquittals constituted only 0.7 percent of all judgments. Judges are dependent on administrators, bidding prosecutorial offices in turn. The work of public prosecutors varies from poor to dismal. Lawyers are mostly court appointed and low paid. There was a rapid deterioration of the situation characterized by abuse of the criminal process, harassment and persecution of defense bar members in politically sensitive cases in recent years. The principles of adversariness and equality of the parties to criminal proceedings are not observed.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In 1996, President Boris Yeltsin pronounced a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia. However, the Russian government still violates many promises it made upon entering the Council of Europe. According to Politkovskaya, citizens who appeal to European Court of Human Rights are often prosecuted by Russian authorities.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The court system has been widely used to suppress political opposition as in the cases of Pussy Riot, Alexei Navalny, Zarema Bagavutdinova, and Vyacheslav Maltsev and to block candidatures of Kremlin's political enemies.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: A 2019 report by Zona Prava NGO titled "Violence by Security Forces: Crime Without Punishment" highlighted disproportionately large number of acquittals and dropped cases against law enforcement officers when compared to overall rate of acquittals in Russian courts. The latter is only 0.43%, while in case of law enforcement and military officials accused of violent abuse of power, including ending in death of the suspect, it's almost 4%. At the same time those convicted also receive disproportionately lenient convictions - almost half of them were suspended sentences or fines.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In 2021 a massive cache of videos from Russian prisons and penal colonies were published by NGO "Gulagu.net" with thousands of hours of first-hand recordings of torture of inmates by prison officials, involving rape and other forms of sexual assault like penetration with sticks. The videos cover years 2015-2020 and were exfiltrated by a former inmate Sergei Savelyev who was put in charge of the video recording system prison authorities as an IT specialist. Russian authorities fired a few prison officials incriminated in these videos and also placed Savelyev on wanted list for "illegally accessing sensitive information". The abuse was described as part of systematic and countrywide technique for extortion of money and false witness statements by the FSB and law enforcement.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The Constitution of Russia forbids arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment. Chapter 2, Article 21 of the constitution states, "No one may be subjected to torture, violence or any other harsh or humiliating treatment or punishment." However, in practice, Russian police, Federal Security Service and prison and jail guards are regularly observed practicing torture with impunity - including beatings with many different types of batons, sticks and truncheons, water battles, sacks with sand etc., the "Elephant Method" which is beating a victim wearing a gas mask with cut airflow and the "Supermarket Method" which is the same but with a plastic bag on head, electric shocks including to genitals, nose, and ears (known as "Phone call to Putin"), binding in stress positions, cigarette burns, needles and electric needles hammered under nails, prolonged suspension, sleep deprivation, food deprivation, rape, penetration with foreign objects, asphyxiation - in interrogating arrested suspects.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Another torture method is the "Television" which involves forcing the victim to stand in a mid-squat with extended arms in front of them holding a stool or even two stools, with the seat facing them. Former serviceman Andrei Sychev had to have both legs and genitals amputated after this torture due to gangrene caused by cut bloodflow. Other torture methods include the "Rack" or "Stretch" which involves hanging a victim on hands tied behind the back, the "Refrigerator" which involves subjecting a naked victim sometimes doused in cold water to subzero temperatures, the "Furnace" where the victim is left in heat in a small space and "Chinese torture" where the feet of the victim laying on a tabletop are beaten with clubs.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In 2000, human rights Ombudsman Oleg Mironov estimated that 50% of prisoners with whom he spoke claimed to have been tortured. Amnesty International reported that Russian military forces in Chechnya engage in torture.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Torture at police stations, jails, prisons and penal colonies is common and widespread. Doctors and nurses sometimes also take part in torturing and beating prisoners and suspects.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Sometimes police or jail guards employ trusted inmates to beat, torture, and rape suspects in order to force confessions of guilt. This torture method is called "Pressing Room" or "Press Hut". Those trustees receive special prison privileges for torturing other prisoners.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In the most extreme cases, hundreds of innocent people from the street were arbitrarily arrested, beaten, tortured, and raped by special police forces. Such incidents took place not only in Chechnya, but also in Russian towns of Blagoveshensk, Bezetsk, Nefteyugansk, and others. In 2007 Radio Svoboda ("Radio Freedom", part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) reported that an unofficial movement "Russia the Beaten" was created in Moscow by human rights activists and journalists who "suffered from beatings in numerous Russian cities".


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In June 2013, construction worker Martiros Demerchyan claimed that he was tortured by Sochi police. Demerchyan, who spent seven weeks constructing housing for the 2014 Winter Olympics, was accused by his supervisor of stealing wiring. Demerchyan denied the allegations but when the victim returned to work to collect his pay, he was met by several police officers who beat him all night, breaking two of his teeth and sexually assaulted him with a crow bar. He was treated in hospital, but doctors told his family they had found no serious injuries on his body.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Torture and humiliation are also widespread in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The term dedovshchina refers to systematic abuse of new conscripts by more long-serving soldiers. Many young men are killed, raped or commit suicide every year because of it. It is reported that some young male conscripts are forced to work as prostitutes for "outside clients". Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia works to protect rights of young soldiers.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The current phenomenon of dedovschina is closely linked to the division of Soviet and now Russian junior soldiers into four 'classes,' each reflecting a group called up every six months for a total two-year service period. This system stemmed from the adoption of two-year service in 1967. The reduction in the term of service to one year and the increasing number of contract servicemen in the Armed Forces may change the character of dedovschina somewhat.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In the 1990s, the growth of organized crime ("see" Russian mafia and Russian oligarchs) and the fragmentation and corruption of law enforcement agencies in Russia coincided with a sharp rise in violence against business figures, administrative and state officials, and other public figures. The second President of Russia Vladimir Putin inherited these problems when he took office, and during his election campaign in 2000, the new president won popular support by stressing the need to restore law and order and to bring the rule of law to Russia as the only way of restoring confidence in the country's economy.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to data by Demoscope Weekly, the Russian homicide rate showed a rise from the level of 15 murders per 100,000 people in 1991, to 32.5 in 1994. Then it fell to 22.5 in 1998, followed by a rise to a maximum rate of 30.5 in 2002, and then a fall to 20 murders per 100,000 people in 2006. Despite positive tendency to reduce, Russia's index of murders per capita remains one of the highest in the world with the fifth highest of 62 nations.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: With a prison population rate of 611 per 100,000 population, Russia was second only to the United States (2006 data). Furthermore, criminology studies show that for the first five years since 2000 compared with the average for 1992 to 1999, the rate of robberies is up by 38.2% and the rate of drug-related crimes is higher by 71.7%.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Russia has a high rate of domestic violence compared to other European countries like the UK. Russia decriminalized first-offense domestic violence in 2017, making the maximum penalty an administrative fine for an injury that did not result in hospitalization. Victims describe difficulties in getting protection from police that have resulted in severe mutilation or death, and cultural conservatism which considers domestic violence a family rather than a government matter, and denies the concept of marital rape. The Russian Orthodox Church helped defeat a 2019 bill that would have introduced restraining orders for the first time in Russia, and adding prison sentences for first-offence domestic abuse. The church called the law "antifamily" and blamed it on "radical feminist ideology".


title: Human rights in Russia

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, some women were fined for breaking quarantine rules when they fled their abuses, leading to changes in the regulations. In 2020, the government cut funding for anti-domestic violence efforts by 88% from the previous year. Any anti-domestic violence organization that receives international funding is subject to registration with the government and must label all of its materials "foreign agent". The advertising agency Room 485 in 2020 launched a campaign against the popular sentiment "if he beats you, it means he loves you".


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Russia held elections on 4 December 2011. European Parliament called for new free and fair elections and an immediate and full investigation of all reports of fraud. According to MEPs Russia did not meet election standards as defined by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The preliminary findings of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) report on procedural violations, lack of media impartiality, harassment of independent monitors and lack of separation between party and state.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There were several cases where the FSB accused scientists of allegedly revealing state secrets to foreign nationals, while the defendants and their colleagues claimed that the information or technology was based on already published and declassified sources. Even though the cases often garnered public reaction, the cases themselves were in most cases held in closed chambers, with no press coverage or public oversight.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Ecologist and journalist Alexander Nikitin, who worked with the Bellona Foundation, was likewise accused of espionage. He published material exposing hazards posed by the Russian Navy's nuclear fleet. He was acquitted in 1999 after spending several years in prison (his case was sent for re-investigation 13 times while he remained in prison). Other cases of prosecution are the cases of investigative journalist and ecologist Grigory Pasko, sentenced to three years' imprisonment and later released under a general amnesty, Vladimir Petrenko who described dangers posed by military chemical warfare stockpiles and was held in pretrial confinement for seven months, and Nikolay Shchur, chairman of the Snezhinskiy Ecological Fund who was held in pretrial confinement for six months.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Viktor Orekhov, a former KGB captain who assisted Soviet dissidents and was sentenced to eight years of prison in the Soviet era, was sentenced in 1995 to three years of prison for alleged possession of a pistol and magazines. After one year he was released and left the country.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Vil Mirzayanov was prosecuted for a 1992 article in which he has claimed that Russia was working on chemical weapons of mass destruction, but won the case and later emigrated to the United States


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Vladimir Kazantsev who disclosed illegal purchases of eavesdropping devices from foreign firms was arrested in August 1995, and released at the end of the year, however the case was not closed. Investigator Mikhail Trepashkin was sentenced in May 2004 to four years of prison.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 9 January 2006, journalist Vladimir Rakhmankov was sentenced for alleged defamation of the President in his article "Putin as phallic symbol of Russia" to fine of 20,000 roubles (about 695 USD).


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Political dissidents from the former Soviet republics, such as authoritarian Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are often arrested by the FSB and extradited to these countries for prosecution, despite the protests from international human rights organizations. The special security services of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan also kidnap people in Russian territory, with the implicit approval of the FSB.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Many people were also held in detention to prevent them from demonstrating during the G8 Summit in 2006.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There has been a number of high-profile cases of human rights abuses connected to business in Russia. Among other abuses, this most obviously involves abuse of article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These include the case of the former heads of the oil company Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Platon Lebedev whom Amnesty International declared prisoners of conscience, and the case of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, whose efforts to expose a conspiracy of criminals and corrupt law-enforcement officials earned him sustained abuse in prison which led to his death. An analogous case was the death in custody of the businesswoman Vera Trifonova, who was in jail for alleged fraud. Cases such as these have contributed to suspicion in other countries about the Russian justice system, which has manifested itself in the refusal to grant Russian extradition requests for businessmen fleeing abroad. Notable instances of this are the cases of the tycoon Boris Berezovsky and former Yukos vice president Alexander Temerko in the UK, the media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky in Spain and Greece, Leonid Nevzlin in Israel and Ivan Kolesnikov in Cyprus. A case that will test the attitude of the French authorities to this issue is that of the shipping magnate Vitaly Arkhangelsky. The WikiLeaks revelations indicated the low level of confidence other governments have in the Russian government on such issues. Cases involving major companies may gain coverage in the world media, but there are many further cases equally worthy of attention: a typical case involves the expropriation of assets, with criminals and corrupt law-enforcement officials collaborating to bring false charges against businesspeople, who are told that they must hand over assets to avoid criminal proceedings against them. A prominent campaigner against such abuses is Yana Yakovleva, herself a victim who set up the group Business Solidarity in the aftermath of her ordeal.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Some Russian opposition lawmakers and investigative journalists are suspected to be assassinated while investigating corruption and alleged crimes conducted by state authorities or FSB: Sergei Yushenkov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, Alexander Litvinenko, Galina Starovoitova, Anna Politkovskaya, Paul Klebnikov.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: USA and UK intelligence services believe Russian government and secret services are behind at least fourteen targeted killings on British soil.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The Russian Government's policies in Chechnya are a cause of international concern. It has been reported that Russian military forces have abducted, tortured, and killed numerous civilians in Chechnya, but Chechen separatists have also committed abuses and acts of terrorism, such as abducting people for ransom and bombing Moscow metro stations. Human rights groups are critical of cases of people disappearing in the custody of Russian officials. Systematic illegal arrests and torture conducted by the armed forces under the command of Ramzan Kadyrov and Federal Ministry of Interior have also been reported. There are reports about repressions, information blockade, and atmosphere of fear and despair in Chechnya.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to Memorial reports, there is a system of "conveyor of violence" in Chechen Republic, as well as in neighbouring Ingushetiya. People are suspected in crimes connected with activity of separatists squads, are unlawfully detained by members of security agencies, and then disappear. After a while some detainees are found in preliminary detention centers, while some allegedly disappear forever, and some are tortured to confess to a crime or/and to slander somebody else. Psychological pressure is also in use. Known Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya compared this system with Gulag and claimed the number of several hundred cases.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: A number of journalists were killed in Chechnya purportedly for reporting on the conflict. List of names includes less and more famous: Cynthia Elbaum, Vladimir Zhitarenko, Nina Yefimova, Jochen Piest, Farkhad Kerimov, Natalya Alyakina, Shamkhan Kagirov, Viktor Pimenov, Nadezhda Chaikova, Supian Ependiyev, Ramzan Mezhidov and Shamil Gigayev, Vladimir Yatsina, Aleksandr Yefremov, Roddy Scott, Paul Klebnikov, Magomedzagid Varisov, Natalya Estemirova and Anna Politkovskaya.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: As reported by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammarberg in 2009, "prior military conflicts, recurrent terrorist attacks (including suicide bombings), as well as widespread corruption and a climate of impunity have all plagued the region."


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to the Human Rights Centre Memorial, the total number of alleged abductions in Chechnya was 42 during the entire year 2008, whereas already in the first four months of 2009 there were 58 such cases. Of these 58 persons, 45 had been released, 2 found dead, 4 were missing and 7 had been found in police detention units. In the course of 2008, 164 criminal complaints concerning acts by the security forces were made, 111 of which were granted. In the first half of 2009, 52 such complaints were made, 18 of which were granted.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 16 April 2009 the counter-terrorism operation (CTO) regime in Chechnya was lifted by the federal authorities. After that, the Chechen authorities bear primary responsibility for the fight against terrorism in the Republic. However, the lifting of the CTO regime has not been accompanied by a diminishment of activity of illegal armed groups in Chechnya.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There are reports on practices of collective punishment of relatives of alleged terrorists or insurgents: punitive house-burning has continued to be among the tactics against families of alleged insurgents. Chechen authorities confirmed such incidents and pointed out that "such practices were difficult to prevent as they stemmed from prevalent customs of revenge", however, educational efforts are undertaken to prevent such incidents, with the active involvement of village elders and Muslim clerics, and compensation had been paid to many of the victims of punitive house burnings.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There are gay concentration camps in Chechnya where homosexuals are tortured and executed. In September 2017 Tatyana Moskalkova, an official representative of government on human rights, met with Chechnen authorities to discuss a list of 31 people recently extrajudicially killed in the republic.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Efforts to institutionalize official human rights bodies have been mixed. In 1996, human rights activist Sergei Kovalev resigned as chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission to protest the government's record, particularly the war in Chechnya. Parliament in 1997 passed a law establishing a "human rights ombudsman," a position that is provided for in Russia's constitution and is required of members of the Council of Europe, to which Russia was admitted in February 1996. The State Duma finally selected Duma deputy Oleg Mironov in May 1998. A member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Mironov resigned from both the Party and the Duma after the vote, citing the law's stipulation that the Ombudsman be nonpartisan. Because of his party affiliation, and because Mironov had no evident expertise in the field of human rights, his appointment was widely criticized at the time by human rights activists.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The lower house of the Russian parliament passed a bill by 370-18 requiring local branches of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to re-register as Russian organizations subject to Russian jurisdiction, and thus stricter financial and legal restrictions. The bill gives Russian officials oversight of local finances and activities. The bill has been highly criticized by Human Rights Watch, Memorial organization, and the INDEM Foundation for its possible effects on international monitoring of the status of human rights in Russia. In October 2006 the activities of many foreign non-governmental organizations were suspended using this law; officials said that "the suspensions resulted simply from the failure of private groups to meet the law's requirements, not from a political decision on the part of the state. The groups would be allowed to resume work once their registrations are completed." Another crackdown followed in 2007.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The year 2015 saw the dissolution of several NGOs following their registration as foreign agents under the 2012 Russian foreign agent law and the shutdown of NGOs under the 2015 Russian undesirable organizations law.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In March 2016, Russia announced the closure of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Moscow.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The Constitution of Russian Federation provides for freedom of religion and the equality of all religions before the law as well as the separation of church and state. Vladimir Lukin claimed in his 2005 Ombudsman's report that "the Russian state has achieved significant progress in the observance of religious freedom and lawful activity of religious associations, overcoming a heritage of totalitarianism, domination of a single ideology and party dictatorship." However, reports of religious abuse continue to come out of Russia. According to International Christian Concern, during 2021 "crackdowns on religious freedom have intensified in Russia." During June 2021, Forum 18 highlighted that "twice as many prisoners of conscience are serving sentences or are in detention awaiting appeals for exercising freedom of religion or belief as in November 2020." Many religious scholars and human right organizations have recently spoken up about the abuses taking place in Russia against minorities. The U.S. State Department considers Russia one of the worlds' "worst violators" of religious freedom.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Alvaro Gil-Robles emphasized the amount of state support provided by both federal and regional authorities varies for the different religious communities. In harmony with that, Catholics are not always heeded as well as other religions by federal and local authorities.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Vladimir Lukin noted back in 2005, that citizens of Russia rarely experience violations of freedom of conscience (guaranteed by the article 28 of the Constitution)then. The Commissioner's Office annually accepted between 200 and 250 complaints dealing with violations of rights, usually from worshipers, who represent various confessions: Orthodox (but not belonging to the Moscow patriarchy), Old-believers, Muslim, Protestant and others. Anna Politkovskaya described cases of prosecution and even murders of Muslims by Russia's law enforcement bodies at the North Caucasus. However, there are plenty of Muslims in higher government, Duma, and business.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Additional concerns arise over restrictions of citizens' right to association (article 30 of the Constitution). As Vladimir Lukin noted over 15 years ago, that the number of registered religious organizations were constantly growing (22,144 in 2005), however presently an increasing number of religious organization fail to achieve legal recognition or are striped of the legal recognition previously given: e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and others.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The influx of missionaries over the past several years has also led to pressure by groups in Russia, specifically nationalists and the Russian Orthodox Church, to limit the activities of these "nontraditional" religious groups. In response, the Duma passed a new, restrictive, and potentially discriminatory law in October 1997. The law is very complex, with many ambiguous and contradictory provisions. The law's most controversial provisions separates religious "groups" and "organizations" and introduces a 15-year rule, which allows groups that have existed for 15 years or longer to obtain accredited status. According to Russian priest and dissident Gleb Yakunin, new religion law "heavily favors the Russian Orthodox Church at the expense of all other religions, including Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism.", and it is "a step backward in Russia's process of democratization." Since 2017, Jehovah's Witnesses have faced persecution for unclear reasons.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The claim to guarantee "the exclusion of any legal, administrative and fiscal discrimination against so-called non-traditional confessions" was adopted by PACE in June 2005.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: More than four million employees tied to the military and security services were banned from traveling abroad under rules issued during 2014.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Reporters Without Borders put Russia at 147th place in the World Press Freedom Index (from a list of 168 countries). According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 47 journalists have been killed in Russia for their professional activity, since 1992 (as of January 15, 2008). Thirty were killed during President Boris Yeltsin's reign, and the rest were killed under the president Vladimir Putin. According to the Glasnost Defence Foundation, there were 8 cases of suspicious deaths of journalists in 2007, as well as 75 assaults on journalists, and 11 attacks on editorial offices. In 2006, the figures were 9 deaths, 69 assaults, and 12 attacks on offices. In 2005, the list of all cases included 7 deaths, 63 assaults, 12 attacks on editorial offices, 23 incidents of censorship, 42 criminal prosecutions, 11 illegal layoffs, 47 cases of detention by militsiya, 382 lawsuits, 233 cases of obstruction, 23 closings of editorial offices, 10 evictions, 28 confiscations of printed production, 23 cases of stopping broadcasting, 38 refusals to distribute or print production, 25 acts of intimidation, and 344 other violations of Russian journalist's rights.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, famous for her criticisms of Russia's actions in Chechnya, and the pro-Kremlin Chechya government, was assassinated in Moscow. Former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky believes that the murders of writers Yuri Shchekochikhin (author of "Slaves of KGB"), Anna Politkovskaya, and Aleksander Litvinenko show that the FSB has returned to the practice of political assassinations, practised in the past by the Thirteenth Department of the KGB.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Opposition journalist Yevgenia Albats in interview with Eduard Steiner has claimed: "Today the directors of the television channels and the newspapers are invited every Thursday into the Kremlin office of the deputy head of administration, Vladislav Surkov to learn what news should be presented, and where. Journalists are bought with enormous salaries."


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to Amnesty International during and after the 2014 Winter Olympics the Russian authorities adopted an increasingly attacking anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, which was widely echoed in the government-controlled mainstream media. This was followed by the Russo-Ukrainian War and the imposition of international sanctions.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On May 28, 2020, seven journalists and a writer were detained during a peaceful protest. They were holding single person pickets in support of the journalists who had previously been detained. On May 29, 2020, the Moscow police arrested 30 more people, including journalists, activists and district council representatives.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 6 July 2020, journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva was sentenced by Russian court on fake terrorism charges. She was fined with 500,000 rubles (approximately US$7000). She works for the Echo of Moscow and Radio Free Europe. In her November 2018 radio broadcast on suicide bomber attack on Federal Security Service (FSB) building in Arkhangelsk, she criticized the government on its repressive policies and crackdown on free assembly & free speech that has made peaceful activism impossible. In July 2019, she was listed as "terrorists and extremists" and the authority freezes her assets. In September 2019, she was formally accused of "propaganda of terrorism" that was completely based on her Radio broadcast.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The Russian censorship apparatus "Roskomnadzor" ordered media organizations to delete stories that describe the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine as an "assault", an "invasion", or a "declaration of war". "Roskomnadzor" launched an investigation against the "Novaya Gazeta", Echo of Moscow, inoSMI, MediaZona, "New Times", Dozhd (TV Rain), and other Russian media outlets for publishing "inaccurate information about the shelling of Ukrainian cities and civilian casualties in Ukraine as a result of the actions of the Russian Army". On 1 March 2022, Russian authorities blocked access to Echo of Moscow and Dozhd, Russia's last independent TV station, claiming that they were spreading "deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel". Additionally, "Roskomnadzor" threatened to block access to the Russian Wikipedia in Russia over the article "" ("Russia's invasion of Ukraine (2022)"), claiming that the article contains "illegally distributed information", including "reports about numerous casualties among service personnel of the Russian Federation and also the civilian population of Ukraine, including children".


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 4 March 2022, "Roskomnadzor" blocked access to several foreign media outlets, including BBC News Russian, Voice of America, RFE/RL, Deutsche Welle and Meduza, as well as Facebook and Twitter.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 4 March 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those who publish "knowingly false information" about the Russian military and its operations, leading to some media outlets to stop reporting on Ukraine.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 13 July 2022, the United Nations’ human rights experts condemned Russia’s continued and heightened crackdown on civil society groups, human rights defenders and media outlets. Most independent Russian media outlets were closed down to avoid prosecution, or had been blocked along with dozens of foreign media. Of the many thousands of Russians who protested peacefully against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, over 16,000 of them, including many human rights defenders, have been detained.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Russian Constitution (1993) states of the Freedom of assembly that citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to gather peacefully, without weapons, and to hold meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to Amnesty International (2013 report) peaceful protests across Russia, including gatherings of small groups of people who presented no public threat or inconvenience, were routinely dispersed by police, often with excessive force. The day before the inauguration of President Putin, peaceful protesters against elections to Bolotnaya Square in Moscow were halted by police. 19 protesters faced criminal charges in connection with events characterized by authorities as "mass riots". Several leading political activists were named as witnesses in the case and had their homes searched in operations that were widely broadcast by state-controlled television channels. Over 6 and 7 May, hundreds of peaceful individuals were arrested across Moscow. According to Amnesty International police used excessive and unlawful force against protestors during the Bolotnaya Square protest on 6 May 2012. Hundreds of peaceful protesters were arrested.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to a Russian law introduced in 2014, a fine or detention of up to 15 days may be given for holding a demonstration without the permission of authorities and prison sentences of up to five years may be given for three breaches. Single-person pickets have resulted in fines and a three-year prison sentence.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On June 9, 2020, a feminist blogger Yulia Tsvetkova was charged with "pornography dissemination." She runs a social media group that encourages body positivity and protested against the social taboos related to women. She was put under a 5-month house arrest and banned from traveling. On June 27, 2020, 50 Russian media outlets organized a "Media Strike for Yulia," appealing the government to drop all charges against Yulia. During the campaign, the activists were peacefully protesting against the government in a single person pickets. The police detained 40 activists for supporting Yulia Tsvetkova. Human Rights Watch urged the authorities to drop all the charges against Yulia for being a feminist and an activist of LGBTQ people.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On 10 July 2020, Human Rights Watch said, several journalists in Russia were detained in a crackdown on peaceful protests and are facing fines. HRW urges Russian authorities to drop the charges against the protesters, journalists and end attacks on freedom of expression.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On August 4, 2020, Human Rights Watch urged the Russian authorities to drop the charges against Yulia Galyamina, a municipal assembly member, who is accused of organizing and participating in unauthorized demonstrations, even though they were peaceful. Her prosecution violated respect for freedom of assembly.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: On August 12, 2021, report "RUSSIA: NO PLACE FOR PROTEST" from "Amnesty International" in which stated that Russian authorities made it almost impossible for protesters to exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The organization also accused Russia of suppressing peaceful protests using heavy-handed police tactics and by deploying the use of restrictive laws.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Russian Federation is a multi-national state with over 170 ethnic groups designated as nationalities, population of these groups varying enormously, from millions in the case of Russians and Tatars to under ten thousand in the case of Nenets and Samis. Among 83 subjects which constitute the Russian Federation, there are 21 national republics (meant to be home to a specific ethnic minority), 5 autonomous okrugs (usually with substantial or predominant ethnic minority) and an autonomous oblast. However, as Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Gil-Robles noted in a 2004 report, whether or not the region is "national", all the citizens have equal rights and no one is privileged or discriminated against on account of their ethnic affiliation.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: As Gil-Robles noted, although co-operation and good relations are still generally the rule in most of regions, tensions do arise, whose origins vary. Their sources include problems related to peoples that suffered Stalinist repressions, social and economic problems provoking tensions between different communities, and the situation in Chechnya and the associated terrorist attacks with resulting hostility towards people from the Caucasus and Central Asia, which takes the form of discrimination and overt racism towards the groups in question.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in May 2007 expressed concern that Russia still has not adopted comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, and the existing anti-discrimination provisions are seldom used in spite of reported cases of discrimination.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: As Gil-Robles noted in 2004, minorities are generally represented on local and regional authorities, and participate actively in public affairs. Gil-Robles emphasized the degree of co-operation and understanding between the various nationalities living in the same area, as well as the role of regional and local authorities in ethnic dialogue and development. Along with that, Committee of Ministers in 2007 noted certain setbacks in minority participation in public life, including the abrogation of federal provisions for quotas for indigenous people in regional legislatures.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Although the Constitution of the Russian Federation recognises Russian as the official language, the individual republics may declare one or more official languages. Most subjects have at least two – Russian and the language of the "eponymous" nationality. As Ministers noted in 2007, there is a lively minority language scene in most subjects of the federation, with more than 1,350 newspapers and magazines, 300 TV channels and 250 radio stations in over 50 minority languages. Moreover, new legislation allows usage of minority languages in federal radio and TV broadcasting.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In 2007, there were 6,260 schools which provided teaching in 38 minority languages. Over 75 minority languages were taught as a discipline in 10,404 schools. Ministers of the Council of Europe have noted efforts to improve the supply of minority language textbooks and teachers, as well as greater availability of minority language teaching. However, as Ministers have noted, there remain shortcomings in the access to education of persons belonging to certain minorities.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There are more than 2,000 national minorities' public associations and 560 national cultural autonomies, however the Committee of Ministers has noted that, in many regions, the amount of state support for the preservation and development of minority cultures is still inadequate. Alvaro Gil-Robles noted in 2004 that there is a significant difference between "eponymous" ethnic groups and nationalities without their own national territory, as resources of the latter are relatively limited.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Russia is also home to a particular category of minority peoples, i.e. small indigenous peoples of the North and Far East, who maintain very traditional lifestyles, often in a hazardous climatic environment, while adapting to the modern world. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation passed legislation to protect the rights of small northern indigenous peoples. Gil-Robles has noted agreements between indigenous representatives and oil companies, which are to compensate for potential damage to people's habitats due to oil exploration. As the Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe noted in 2007, despite some initiatives for development, the social and economic situation of numerically small indigenous peoples was affected by recent legislative amendments at the federal level, removing some positive measures as regards their access to land and other natural resources.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Alvaro Gil-Robles noted in 2004 that, like many European countries, the Russian Federation is also host to many foreigners who, when concentrated in a particular area, make up so-called new minorities, who experience troubles e.g. with medical treatment due to the absence of registration. Those who are registered encounter other integration problems because of language barriers.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The Committee of Ministers noted in 2007 that, despite efforts to improve access to residency registration and citizenship for national minorities, those measures still have not regularised the situation of all concerned.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In October 2002 the Russian Federation has introduced new legislation on legal rights of foreigners, designed to control immigration and clarify foreigners' rights. Despite this legal achievement, as of 2004, numerous foreign communities in Russia faced difficulties in practice (according to Álvaro Gil-Robles).


title: Human rights in Russia

text: As of 2007, almost 8 million migrants were officially registered in Russia, while some 5-7 million migrants do not have legal status.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Most of foreigners arriving in Russia are seeking jobs. In many cases they have no preliminary contracts or other agreements with a local employer. A typical problem is the illegal status of many foreigners (i.e., they are not registered and have no identity papers), what deprives them of any social assistance (as of 2004) and often leads to their exploitation by the employer. Despite that, foreigner workers still benefit, what with seeming reluctance of regional authorities to solve the problem forms a sort of "modus vivendi". As Gil-Robles noted, it's easy to imagine that illegal status of many foreigners creates grounds for corruption. Illegal immigrants, even if they have spent several years in Russia may be arrested at any moment and placed in detention centres for illegal immigrants for further expulsion. As of 2004, living conditions in detention centers are very bad, and expulsion process lacks of funding, what may extend detention of immigrants for months or even years. Along with that, Gil-Robles detected a firm political commitment to find a satisfactory solution among authorities he spoke with.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There's a special case of former Soviet citizens (currently Russian Federation nationals). With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian Federation declared itself a continuation of the Soviet Union and even took the USSR's seat at the UN Security Council. Accordingly, 1991 Nationality Law recognised all former Soviet citizens permanently resident in the Russian Federation as Russian citizens. However, people born in Russia who weren't on the Russian territory when the law came into force, as well as some people born in the Soviet Union who lived in Russia but weren't formally domiciled there weren't granted Russian citizenship. When at December 31, 2003 former Soviet passports became invalid, those people overnight become foreigners, although many of them considered Russia their home. The majority were deprived their de facto status of Russian Federation nationals, they lost their right to remain in Russian Federation, they were even deprived of retirement benefits and medical assistance. Their morale has also been seriously affected since they feel rejected.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Another special case are Meskhetian Turks. Victims of both Stalin deportation from South Georgia and 1989 pogroms in the Fergana valley in Uzbekistan, some of them were eventually dispersed in Russia. While in most regions of Russia Meskhetian Turks were automatically granted Russian citizenship, in Krasnodar Krai some 15,000 Meskhetian Turks were deprived of any legal status since 1991. Unfortunately, even measures taken by Alvaro Gil-Robles in 2004 didn't make Krasnodar authorities to change their position; Vladimir Lukin in the 2005 report called it "campaign initiated by local authorities against certain ethnic groups". The way out for a significant number of Meskhetian Turks in the Krasnodar Krai became resettlement in the United States. As Vladimir Lukin noted in 2005, there was similar problem with 5.5 thousand Yazidis who before the disintegration of the USSR moved to the Krasnodar Krai from Armenia. Only one thousand of them were granted citizenship, the others could not be legalized.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In 2006 Russian Federation after initiative proposed by Vladimir Putin adopted legislation which in order to "protect interests of native population of Russia" provided significant restrictions on presence of foreigners on Russian wholesale and retail markets.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There was a short campaign of frequently arbitrary and illegal detention and expulsion of ethnic Georgians on charges of visa violations and a crackdown on Georgian-owned or Georgian-themed businesses and organizations in 2006, as a part of 2006 Georgian-Russian espionage controversy.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: "Newsweek" reported that "[In 2005] some 300,000 people were fined for immigration violations in Moscow alone. [In 2006], according to Civil Assistance, numbers are many times higher."


title: Human rights in Russia

text: As Álvaro Gil-Robles noted in 2004, the main communities targeted by xenophobia are the Jewish community, groups originating from the Caucasus, migrants and foreigners.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In his 2006 report, Vladimir Lukin had noted rise of nationalistic and xenophobic sentiments in Russia, as well as more frequent cases of violence and mass riots on the grounds of racial, nationalistic or religious intolerance.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Human rights activists point out that 44 people were murdered and close to 500 assaulted on racial grounds in 2006. According to official sources, there were 150 "extremist groups" with over 5000 members in Russia in 2006.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has noted in 2007, that high-level representatives of the federal administration have publicly endorsed the fight against racism and intolerance, and a number of programmes have been adopted to implement these objectives. This has been accompanied by an increase in the number of convictions aimed at inciting national, racial or religious hatred. However, there has been an alarming increase in the number of racially motivated violent assaults in the Russian Federation in four years, yet many law enforcement officials still often appear reluctant to acknowledge racial or nationalist motivation in these crimes. Hate speech has become more common in the media and in political discourse. The situation of persons originating in the Northern Caucasus is particularly disturbing.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Vladimir Lukin noted that inactivity of the law enforcement bodies may cause severe consequences, like September 2006 inter-ethnic riot in the town in the Republic of Karelia. Lukin noted provocative role of the so-called Movement Against Illegal Immigration. As the result of the Kondopoga events, all heads of the "enforcement bloc" of the republic were fired from their positions, several criminal cases were opened.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to nationwide opinion poll carried by VCIOM in 2006, 44% of respondents consider Russia "a common house of many nations" where all must have equal rights, 36% think that "Russians should have more rights since they constitute the majority of the population", 15% think "Russia must be the state of Russian people". However the question is also what exactly does the term "Russian" denote. For 39% of respondents Russians are all who grew and were brought up in Russia's traditions; for 23% Russians are those who works for the good of Russia; 15% respondents think that only Russians by blood may be called Russians; for 12% Russians are all for who Russian language is native, for 7% Russians are adepts of Russian Christian Orthodox tradition.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: According to statistics published by Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2007 in Russia foreign citizens and people without citizenship has committed 50,1 thousand crimes, while the number of crimes committed against this social group was 15985.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: As reported by the Associated Press, in 2010 SOVA Center noted a significant drop of racially motivated violence in Russia in 2009, related to 2008: "71 people were killed and 333 wounded in racist attacks last [2009] year, down from 110 killed and 487 wounded in 2008". According to a SOVA Center report, the drop was mostly "due to police efforts to break up the largest and most aggressive extremist groups in Moscow and the surrounding region". Most of the victims were "dark-skinned, non-Slavic migrant laborers from former Soviet republics in Central Asia ... and the Caucasus". As Associated Press journalist Peter Leonard commended, "The findings appear to vindicate government claims it is trying to combat racist violence". In 2018, there were


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Neither same-sex marriages nor civil unions of same-sex couples are allowed in Russia. Article 12 of the Family Code de facto states that marriage is a union of a man and a woman.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In June 2013, parliament unanimously adopted the Russian gay propaganda law, banning promotion among children of "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships," meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) relationships. Violators risk stiff fines, and in the case of foreigners, up to 15 days’ detention and deportation. Beginning in 2006, similar laws outlawing "propaganda of homosexuality" among children were passed in 11 Russian regions. Critics contend the law makes illegal holding any sort of public demonstration in favour of gay rights, speak in defence of LGBT rights, and distribute material related to LGBT culture, or to state that same-sex relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Also in June, parliament passed a law banning adoption of Russian children by foreign same-sex couples and by unmarried individuals from countries where marriage for same-sex couples is legal. In September, several deputies introduced a bill that would make a parent's homosexuality legal grounds for denial of parental rights. It was withdrawn later for revision.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Homophobic rhetoric, including by officials, and rising homophobic violence accompanied debate about these laws. Three homophobic murders were reported in various regions of Russia in May 2013.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Vigilante groups, consisting of radical nationalists, and neo-Nazis, lure men or boys to meetings, accuse them of being gay, humiliate and beat them, and post videos of the proceedings on social media. For example, in September 2013 a video showed the rape of an Uzbek migrant in Russia who was threatened with a gun and forced to say he was gay. A few investigations were launched, but have not yet resulted in effective prosecution.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: In a report issued on 13 April 2017, a panel of five expert advisors to the United Nations Human Rights Council—Vitit Muntarbhorn, Sètondji Roland Adjovi, Agnès Callamard, Nils Melzer and David Kaye—condemned the wave of torture and killings of gay men in Chechnya.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: There are numerous cases in which people who are problematic for Russian authorities have been imprisoned in psychiatric institutions during the past several years.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Little has changed in the Moscow Serbsky Institute where many prominent Soviet dissidents had been incarcerated after having been diagnosed with sluggishly progressing schizophrenia. This Institute conducts more than 2,500 court-ordered evaluations per year. When war criminal Yuri Budanov was tested there in 2002, the panel conducting the inquiry was led by Tamara Pechernikova, who had condemned the poet Natalya Gorbanevskaya in the past. Budanov was found not guilty by reason of "temporary insanity". After public outrage, he was found sane by another panel that included Georgi Morozov, the former Serbsky director who had declared many dissidents insane in the 1970s and 1980s. Serbsky Institute also made an expertise of mass poisoning of hundreds of Chechen school children by an unknown chemical substance of strong and prolonged action, which rendered them completely incapable for many months. The panel found that the disease was caused simply by "psycho-emotional tension".


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Currently, an estimated 2 million children live in Russian orphanages, with another 4 million children on the streets. According to a 1998 Human Rights Watch report, "Russian children are abandoned to the state at a rate of 113,000 a year for the past two years, up dramatically from 67,286 in 1992. Of a total of more than 600,000 children classified as being 'without parental care,' as many as one-third reside in institutions, while the rest are placed with a variety of guardians. From the moment the state assumes their care, orphans in Russia – of whom 95 percent still have a living parent – are exposed to shocking levels of cruelty and neglect." Once officially labelled as retarded, Russian orphans are "warehoused for life in psychoneurological institutions. In addition to receiving little to no education in such institutions, these orphans may be restrained in cloth sacks, tethered by a limb to furniture, denied stimulation, and sometimes left to lie half-naked in their own filth. Bedridden children aged five to seventeen are confined to understaffed lying-down rooms as in the baby houses, and in some cases are neglected to the point of death." Life and death of disabled children in the state institutions was described by writer Rubén Gallego.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: Despite these high numbers and poor quality of care, recent laws have made adoption of Russian children by foreigners considerably more difficult.


title: Human rights in Russia

text: The end of communism and collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia has contributed to an increase in human trafficking, with the majority of victims being women forced into prostitution. Russia is a country of origin for persons, primarily women and children, trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Russia is also a destination and transit country for persons trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation from regional and neighbouring countries into Russia and beyond. Russia accounted for one-quarter of the 1,235 identified victims reported in 2003 trafficked to Germany. The Russian government has shown some commitment to combat trafficking but has been criticised for failing to develop effective measures in law enforcement and victim protection.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea Beaumont, also known as the Phantasm, is a fictional DC Entertainment supervillain and antiheroine created by Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, and designed by Bruce Timm. Beaumont first appeared as the main antagonist in the 1993 DC Animated Universe (DCAU) film "", where she was established as the girlfriend-then-ex-fiancée of Bruce Wayne/Batman prior to and around the time he first began his vigilante career. Dana Delany provided the voice work for Andrea and Stacy Keach provided the electronically modified voice of her "Phantasm" alter ego.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea Beaumont has made occasional appearances in various DCAU "Batman" media in her Phantasm guise, often as a freelance assassin working with Amanda Waller. In December 2020, Beaumont made her main DC Universe comic book debut in Tom King's "Batman/Catwoman" 12-issue maxiseries.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: In keeping with ""' film noir inspiration and "Dark Deco" visual style, Bruce Timm created Andrea's civilian design to reference women's fashion from the 1940s, including: red hair in a long bob (reminiscent of Lauren Bacall), "sweater girl" sweaters, high-waisted pencil skirts, wrap dresses, and pumps.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Timm designed the Phantasm's costume to reflect Alan Burnett's initial description of a Grim Reaper-esque character. Burnett wanted the villain to be reminiscent of the Ghost of Christmas Future, a similarity that the Joker mentions in the film. Timm went through approximately 20 different character designs for the Phantasm before creating a version that would evolve into the final design. Five alternate designs for the Phantasm's costume were featured in HBO's "First Look" television preview for "Mask of the Phantasm".


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Described by Timm as resembling a "tall, gaunt Death character", the Phantasm's costume is hooded and features a metal, skull-like mask. The Phantasm carries a large blade, reminiscent of a scythe, in her right hand. The blade was not part of Timm's original design, and was added later at Burnett's insistence. The character's left glove houses a chemically-based, artificial fog-generating device that the Phantasm uses for stealth, combat, and intimidation. At various points in "Mask of the Phantasm", the Phantasm's manipulation of fog makes it appear that the character has supernatural powers, such as intangibility and the ability to vanish. These smoke-filled appearances were influenced by the Marvel Comics supervillain Mysterio.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: The Phantasm's facade is completed by a masculine voice provided by Stacy Keach, which was digitally altered in post-production to be deeper and echo. Portions of Keach's unmodified performance can be heard in "Mask of the Phantasm's" theatrical trailer, including the Phantasm's signature phrase: "Your angel of death awaits". The Phantasm's on-screen presence is accompanied by an eerie theme composed by Shirley Walker that prominently features the theremin.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: The screenwriters of "" included Alan Burnett, Martin Pasko, Paul Dini, and Michael Reaves. Pasko wrote many of the flashback sequences (including those featuring Andrea and Reaves) and the final showdown between Batman, the Phantasm, and the Joker. Andrea is based loosely on a combination of Judson Caspian (the Reaper) and his daughter Rachel, characters from the four-issue 1987 "" comic book storyline that ran in "Detective Comics" #575-578.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: In "Mask of the Phantasm", producer Alan Burnett "wanted to do a big love story with Bruce because we hadn't really done it on . I wanted a story that got into his head". Burnett centered Andrea in his conception of the film's story: "We wanted to make a big movie story. We were telling a story about 'the girl who got away'. The one woman who could have stopped Bruce from ever becoming Batman". The resulting narrative, which dealt with Bruce's decision to become and remain Batman, hinged on Bruce and Andrea's relationship.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea's role in "Mask of the Phantasm" corresponds with that of the femme fatale from hardboiled detective fiction and Hawksian woman from film noir. Burnett felt that the film's narrative should be removed from Batman's traditional rogues gallery. The fact that Andrea is revealed as the main villain in a plot twist is a convention of the femme fatale stock character.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea serves as a foil for Batman. The characters are very similar; they both don an intimidating costume and speak to the gravestones of their parents (as if holding a conversation with the deceased). The paralleling of their characters — most importantly the death of their parents at the hand of criminals — highlights how different they are: Though they both became vigilantes, Andrea chose to become a killer, following a warped code of "eye for an eye" justice, while Bruce chose a code of ethics that forbids killing.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea Beaumont is the daughter of financier Carl Beaumont and his late wife Victoria. Since his wife's death, Carl has devoted himself to Andrea's future. In her youth, while attending Gotham University, she meets fellow student and billionaire Bruce Wayne, and they fall in love. Bruce vacillates between the promise he made to his murdered parents to fight crime versus starting a married life with Andrea, which he feels his parents would have wanted for him had they lived to see him grown. Bruce dons a mask and leather jacket and stops a truck hijacking, but is not pleased as the robbers mocked him instead of being intimidated on sight. The lukewarm success and growing love for Andrea brings Bruce to the conclusion to abandon crime-fighting - instead pledging part of his inheritance to the Gotham City Police Department - so he can marry Andrea. Right before Bruce makes his decision, he was exploring a grotto on his property and is met by Andrea. After the two briefly explore what would soon be the Batcave, Bruce proposes marriage, and Andrea gladly says yes.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea discovers that her father is in business with the Mafia, and set up dummy corporations for some of the most powerful mob bosses in Gotham: Chuckie Sol, Sal Valestra, and Buzz Bronski. When the mobsters learn that Carl has made unauthorized investments, they consider it defalcation and want immediate repayment. Unable to quickly access the money he has stolen and invested, Carl and Andrea hastily flee to Europe, forcing Andrea to reluctantly break off her engagement with Bruce, thus leading to him diving down the path to become a vigilante after losing a chance at a normal life. Andrea later recounts how she and her father bounced around various parts of Europe before finally presumably settling somewhere in the coastal regions of the Mediterranean Sea.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: A few years later, Arthur Reeves, who was once a lawyer in Beaumont's employ and the only one entrusted with knowledge of the Beaumont's flight, is seeking election to the Gotham city council but has run out of money. Carl Beaumont refuses to contribute to Reeves' campaign, and in retaliation Reeves sells information on the Beaumonts' whereabouts to the mob, though Reeves is unaware about their sinister intentions. Although Carl has returned the money, the mobsters demanded "interest" in the form of his life due to his unpunctuality. They send one of their goons, who would later become Bruce's archenemy the Joker, to do the job. When returning from food shopping, Andrea passes by the hitman, who gives her a nonchalant look and moves on, in fear and distress she tries to tell him her father paid them back only for him to ignore it. Andrea goes inside, then screams at seeing her murdered father.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Consumed with rage and hatred, Andrea waits patiently and trains herself for many years, planning to take revenge on the men who had her father killed and ruined her life and happiness. When she returns to Gotham, she dons a terrifying costume reminiscent of the Grim Reaper, complete with a smoke-generating device and scythe-bladed gauntlet. Disguised as such, she kills Sol and Bronski after taunting them by saying "Your angel of death awaits". Shortly before his death, Sol was attacked by Batman who attempted to thwart his plans to flood Gotham with high-quality fake money. Sol's death was seen by multiple witnesses, who then observe Batman. This leads to Batman being blamed for the killings of Bronski and Sol and branded a fugitive. Arthur Reeves, now an experienced selectman, rallies his constituency into demanding peace and ordering the Gotham Police to hunt Batman (over the objections of Commissioner Gordon, who stays out of it). Soon after killing Bronski in the graveyard, Andrea visits her mother's grave, where she first met Bruce. Batman, also drawn to his parents' grave after investigating the crime scene, is shocked to see her. He quickly flees, but Andrea notices and immediately guesses his secret identity. Batman later discovers the link between the mobsters and Carl Beaumont and questions Andrea on the topic, but she rebuffs him. Valestra, now in failing health, appeals to Reeves for protection from Batman, pointing how in addition to paying him off for selling out Carl Beaumont he also provided Reeves with inside information such as blackmail on his political enemies, but Reeves rebuffs Valestra as a has-been. Valestra then seeks out the Joker to kill Batman, aware of their long feud. Joker declines at first, saying he is not "pest control", but changes his mind when Valestra offers money and remembering old times.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea breaks into Valestra's home to murder him, only to find Joker has beaten her to the punch and set a trap intended for Batman. She escapes unharmed, but Batman attempts to apprehend her. After a brief rooftop skirmish, the Phantasm absconds in a cloud of smoke as the police arrive on the scene. When Andrea realizes that the police will arrest Batman in her stead, she quickly changes out of her costume and helps him escape. At Wayne Manor, in a final attempt to conceal her vendetta, Andrea lies to Bruce that the Phantasm is her father and that she has returned to Gotham to stop his killing spree. Unaware that Carl was murdered, Bruce believes her. Meanwhile, Joker goes to Reeves to inform him that Batman is not responsible for the wave of killings. When Reeves refuses to believe about the Phantasm, Joker attacks him with Joker venom, but the process is interrupted as Andrea soon comes for him. Proof of Reeves' conspiring with the Valestra mob is exposed, however the incomplete poisoning has left him in a state of constant hysteria, likely leaving him incompetent to face charges.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea tracks the Joker to his hideout at the derelict Gotham World Fairgrounds, but he has guessed her identity and anticipated the attack. The two battle in the "Home of the Future" exhibit (also seen in a flashback where Bruce took Andrea on a date, and took a special interest in a model car on display), before the Joker lures Andrea to a giant turbine. He attempts to kill her by sucking her into it, but Batman intervenes, breaking the machine before its blades would have crushed Andrea. She attempts to justify her actions: "They took everything, Bruce. My dad, my life, you. I'm not saying it's right, or even sane, but it's all I've got left. [...] They had to pay!" Batman attempts to reason with Andrea and begs her to leave, and she disappears in a cloud of smoke. After a stalemate battle between Batman and the Joker that sees both men on the brink of exhaustion, the fairgrounds - rigged with explosives - detonate and begin to crumble. Andrea reappears and explains that "one way or another, it ends tonight". With the defeated Joker in her power, Andrea bids farewell and disappears with her captive before Batman can stop her.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: After barely escaping the fairgrounds' destruction through a series of sewers, Batman assumes that Andrea and the Joker have perished. However, Andrea survives and leaves a locket for Bruce in the Batcave as a keepsake. In the penultimate scene of the film, a saddened Andrea stands alone at night on the deck of an ocean liner.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Her first real appearance was in the movie adaptation mini comic that came with the VHS release (this comic was a digest size) and was released in December 1993. Simultaneously there was a Prestige Format which was the traditional sized comic. Both of these books had the same red cover. There was a Newstand edition which featured a different cover.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: The Phantasm makes her first returning appearance in "Shadow of the Phantasm", a story in the comic "Batman & Robin Adventures Annual" #1 (November 1996). In a direct sequel to "Mask of the Phantasm", Andrea and Batman defeat Arthur Reeves, who - having been driven mad with a permanent grin on his face by the Joker as the doctors were unable to fully treat him - is determined to exact revenge on Beaumont and Batman, who he finally learns is Bruce Wayne, with Reeves falling to his death.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: In 2004's "Batman Adventures: Shadows and Masks", Andrea goes undercover in Black Mask's organization, the False Face Society. During this story arc, she meets Bruce (who was also infiltrating the organisation as his criminal disguise "Matches Malone") at Wayne Manor and asks him not to interfere with her operation. He coldly rebukes her, calling her a "killer". She eventually fights Batgirl and has her captured and put in a water tank to kill her only for her to be freed by Bruce who was present there and then later tries to kill Black Mask.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: The Phantasm makes a cameo appearance as an assassin in the season 2 finale episode of the television series "Justice League Unlimited": "Epilogue" (2005). Years after Bruce retired from crimefighting at the beginning of "Batman Beyond", Andrea, now an elderly woman but still active as a mercenary, is hired by Amanda Waller who was concerned about Batman's eventual death or retirement, to murder Terry McGinnis' parents', whose son is secretly also Bruce's under genetic tampering. The psychological trauma, Waller reasons, may steer Terry toward becoming Wayne's successor as Batman. However, the Phantasm abandons the hit moments before she would have slain the young couple. Andrea argues that the murder would defile the Batman legacy by breaking Bruce's paramount rule: to never take a life. Andrea's change of heart marks the official end of Waller's "Project Batman Beyond", though chance would compel Terry to eventually become Bruce's successor regardless after his father is murdered. In the episode, Andrea has no lines or voice actor. Her sentiments are conveyed through Waller's monologue recounting the event.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: The Phantasm returns in "Mark of the Phantasm", a seven-part storyline in the 2015 digital comic "Batman Beyond 2.0" (set after the "Batman Beyond" animated series). At the secret behest of Amanda Waller, Andrea seeks out the great-grandnephew of Joe Chill, Jake Chill (a.k.a. the Vigilante), for the murder of Terry McGinnis' father. Beaumont is charged with killing Jake before Terry learns of Jake's guilt, in an effort to remove any temptation for Terry to attempt the same.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: After an initial attempt on Jake's life fails due to Terry's intercession, Andrea visits Bruce in the Batcave. Bruce reveals that he searched for Andrea, and attempts to convince her that it is not too late for them. Andrea acknowledges that, despite their similarities, they are at loggerheads: "I do things Batman can't. I always have". Beaumont abandons her second attempt on Jake's life when he accidentally dies from exposure to Joker venom.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: Andrea Beaumont/Phantasm made her comic debut in "Batman/Catwoman" limited series by writer Tom King and artist Clay Mann in December 2020. Previously revealed in 2019, posted on Twitter by King and Mann, the image of the Phantasm included Batman and Catwoman reflected in the Phantasm's scythe, in addition to the text "She awaits you" (a reference to the Phantasm's catchphrase) and the series title.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: DC Comics describes Beaumont's role in one of three timelines featured in the comic: "And in the present, Bruce and Selina's union is threatened by the arrival of one of Batman's past flings, Andrea Beaumont, a.k.a. Phantasm. Beaumont's return calls into question how each character chooses to operate in their costumed, and personal, lives, and any move by Phantasm could change the fate of Bruce and Selina's future".


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: In conjunction with the release of "Mask of the Phantasm" in 1993, Kenner released a Phantasm action figure. The toy was packaged with Phantasm's mask and cloak off, revealing the villain's secret identity, and — apocryphally — spoiling the plot twist for audiences. This model was later re-released as part of a "Rogues Gallery" box set, but with the costume's grey and black coloring transposed.


title: Andrea Beaumont

text: In 2016, DC Collectibles released a new action figure in their six inch highly-articulated toy line based on Batman the Animated Series, packed with a re-release of the Batman figure from the series. This figure is more precisely sculpted and has more articulation, though does not include an unmasked Beaumont portrait or feature seen in the 4 inch figure.


title: Bones (season 2)

text: The second season of the American television series "Bones" premiered on August 30, 2006, and concluded on May 16, 2007, on Fox. The show aired on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm ET for the entire season and consisted of 21 episodes. The season averaged 9.4 million viewers.


title: Bones (season 2)

text: This season saw a reworking of the original opening credits sequence to match each actor’s name to footage of their character.


title: Bones (season 2)

text: Tamara Taylor joined the cast this season after the departure of Jonathan Adams. Taylor first appeared in the first six episodes of the season as a guest star and was promoted to a series regular and appeared in the opening credits beginning with episode 7.


title: Bones (season 2)

text: The episode "Player Under Pressure" was originally supposed to air in April 2007 as episode 19, but was delayed in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, as the episode's plot featured finding human remains on a college campus. The episode later aired in April 2008 as part of the third season, with new footage. The episode "Aliens in a Spaceship" introduces the storyline of the Grave Digger, an unresolved case. The Grave Digger would later return in the fourth season, when the team discovers its identity. Serial killer Howard Epps returns for two episodes, in which the team must discover more of his victims.


title: Bones (season 2)

text: The second season of "Bones" was released on DVD in region 1 on September 11, 2007, in region 2 on October 15, 2007 and in region 4 on December 3, 2008. The set includes all 21 episodes of season two on a 6-disc set presented in anamorphic widescreen. Special features include two audio commentaries—"The Glowing Bones in the Old Stone House" by writer Stephen Nathan, actress Emily Deschanel and director Caleb Deschanel and "Stargazer in a Puddle" by executive producers Stephen Nathan, Barry Josephson and Hart Hanson. Featurettes include "The Memories in the Season" and "Visceral Effects: The Digital Illusions of "Bones"". Also included are deleted scenes and a gag reel.


title: Cari Champion

text: Cari Champion (born June 1, 1978) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is the host of The Cari Champion Show on Amazon Prime Video Sports Talk. She has worked as an anchor and reporter for the Tennis Channel and as the host of ESPN2's "First Take". In July 2014, Champion became an anchor for ESPN's flagship program "SportsCenter". After almost eight years at the network, she left ESPN in February 2020. From August 2020 to February 2021, she co-hosted "Cari & Jemele (Won't) Stick to Sports" with Jemele Hill on the Vice on TV network.


title: Cari Champion

text: Champion was born in June 1978 and raised in Pasadena, California. Champion attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she majored in English and minored in mass communications. She wrote for the "Daily Bruin" and was inspired to pursue a career in journalism by UCLA alumni, including Matea Gold of the "Washington Post", who was the editor in chief of the student newspaper. Champion was drawn to journalism with goals of transforming negative stereotypes of African Americans: "I wanted to give people a voice that didn't have a voice. I'm always fighting for the underdog. I don't know where I got it from, but I've been like that all my life. That's why I love journalism." In her junior year, she studied in Washington, D.C. and earned an internship at CNN. Champion graduated from UCLA in 2000, with an English degree.


title: Cari Champion

text: Champion began her broadcasting career at several television stations. She moved to West Virginia for her first reporting job. She later said of working there: "I was a one-man-band carrying a camera and a tripod and that was God-awful. But I loved it because I wanted to do it. I always wanted to be a reporter." She was a reporter at the Orange County Newschannel in Santa Ana, California before joining WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida in the same capacity in 2002.


title: Cari Champion

text: In November 2007, while working as an anchor for WGCL-TV in Atlanta, Champion was fired for allegedly uttering a profanity over the air. She appealed the firing and said in an interview for the Maynard Institute that the floor director had not cued her and her co-anchor following a commercial break, and that the microphone picked up a conversation they were having about an unhandy mechanical screenwriter: "I called the screenwriter a 'mothersucka' not the f-bomb." She was rehired in January 2008, but left shortly after in March for a broadcasting job outside of Atlanta.


title: Cari Champion

text: After moving to Florida, Champion covered news such as human interest stories and devastating hurricanes in the state. While working as a reporter there, she developed an affinity for tennis after covering players such as Venus and Serena Williams: "They made me love the sport even more. They opened the door to tennis for so many different people." She subsequently auditioned for the Tennis Channel's burgeoning news department and was one of three women selected from a pool of more than fifty candidates. She joined the network in 2009. Champion worked as a courtside reporter, and anchored the channel's "Court Report" news segment. She also worked as an entertainment reporter for the Starz network and shows such as "The Insider" and "Hollywood 411".


title: Cari Champion

text: On October 1, 2012, Champion joined ESPN as the new host of ESPN2's live debate show "First Take". She was hired over Heidi Watney and Jemele Hill for the job. As the show's host, she moderated debates between sports pundits Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, who she said had "the biggest, strongest personalities in the building". After proposing ideas for stories to ESPN, Champion made her journalistic debut for the network on November 4, 2014, when she profiled and interviewed American football quarterback Cam Newton in a segment for "". That same day, she was the target of racist and sexist tweets from comedian Artie Lange, who jokingly portrayed himself and Champion in a sexual fantasy set during slavery. Lange tweeted an apology to Champion the following day and ESPN issued a statement to "Sports Illustrated" that rebuked Lange's tweets, while Champion did not respond publicly.


title: Cari Champion

text: After petitioning ESPN for six months to become an anchor on "SportsCenter", Champion was promoted to the position in June 2015. She hosted her last episode of "First Take" on June 19 and began anchoring morning editions of "SportsCenter" in July.


title: Cari Champion

text: In 2022, Embassy Row announced that Champion will host The Cari Champion Show on Amazon Prime Video. On November 14, 2022, Champion made her debut on The Cari Champion Show.


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America.


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: The roseate spoonbill is sometimes placed in its own genus - "Ajaia". A 2010 study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the roseate and yellow-billed spoonbills were each other's closest relatives, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus "Platalea" or alternatively the two placed in the monotypic genera "Platibis" and "Ajaia", respectively. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: The roseate spoonbill is long, with a wingspan and a body mass of . The tarsus measures , the culmen measures and the wing measures and thus the legs, bill, neck and spatulate bill all appear elongated. Adults have a bare greenish head ("golden buff" when breeding) and a white neck, back and breast (with a tuft of pink feathers in the center when breeding), and are otherwise a deep pink. The bill is grey. There is no significant sexual dimorphism


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: Like the American flamingo, their pink colour is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin. Another carotenoid, astaxanthin, can also be found deposited in flight and body feathers. The colors can range from pale pink to bright magenta, depending on age, whether breeding or not, and location. Unlike herons, spoonbills fly with their necks outstretched. They alternate groups of stiff, shallow wingbeats with glides.


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: The species occurs in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of the United States, and from central Florida's Atlantic coast at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjoined with NASA Kennedy Space Center at least as far north as South Carolina's Myrtle Beach. In the summer of 2021, sightings of the bird were reported well outside its typical range, including in Washington, D.C., upstate New York, and even New Hampshire. A large flock was spotted in Huntley Meadows Park in Fairfax County, Virginia, drawing a large crowd of spectators.


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: This species feeds in shallow fresh or coastal waters by swinging its bill from side to side as it steadily walks through the water, often in groups. The spoon-shaped bill allows it to sift easily through mud. It feeds on crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, newts and very small fish ignored by larger waders. In the United States, a popular place to observe roseate spoonbills is "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Roseate spoonbills must compete for food with snowy egrets, great egrets, tricolored herons and American white pelicans.


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: The roseate spoonbill nests in shrubs or trees, often mangroves, laying two to five eggs, which are whitish with brown markings. Immature birds have white, feathered heads, and the pink of the plumage is paler. The bill is yellowish or pinkish.


title: Roseate spoonbill

text: Information about predation on adults is lacking. Nestlings are sometimes killed by turkey vultures, bald eagles, raccoons and fire ants. In 2022, an 18-year-old banded bird was discovered, making it the oldest known wild individual.


title: Ian Chappell

text: Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born into a cricketing family—his grandfather and brother also captained Australia—Chappell made a hesitant start to international cricket playing as a right-hand middle-order batsman and spin bowler. He found his niche when promoted to bat at number three. Known as "Chappelli", he earned a reputation as one of the greatest captains the game has seen. Chappell's blunt verbal manner led to a series of confrontations with opposition players and cricket administrators; the issue of sledging first arose during his tenure as captain, and he was a driving force behind the professionalisation of Australian cricket in the 1970s.