Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Putin clamps down on freedom of travel

http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_putin_clamps_down_on_freedom_of_travel335
 
 
Putin clamps down on freedom of travel
 
By Maria Lipman
30th October, 2014
 
A quarter of a century ago, freedom of travel was among the most amazing 
developments of Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika. In the years since, 
this freedom has remained uncompromised – even as most supposedly 
guaranteed civil rights have been reduced to hollow declarations. But 
now, in 2014, the right to travel is rapidly being rolled back.
 
In the late 1980s the Soviet Union was opening up. Gorbachev proclaimed 
that the Soviet Union shared “common human values” with the West, and 
contacts with those outside the country were no longer seen as a threat 
to national security. The Soviet people, who had for decades been locked 
behind the “iron curtain”, were suddenly free to travel abroad – to pick 
their own destination, to buy their own tickets, to visit friends and 
family, to attend academic and artistic events, and even to challenge 
the state monopoly on foreign trade. The right to free travel was 
legally codified in 1991 and then, after the Soviet Union fell apart, 
Russian federal law decreed that a “citizen of the Russian Federation 
cannot be restricted in his right to leave the Russian Federation”.
 
When Vladimir Putin became president of Russia, the Kremlin 
administration took tight control over the political sphere and steadily 
encroached on civil liberties, such as media freedom, freedom of 
assembly, the right to due process and fair trial, and so on. But 
throughout the 2000s, travel abroad was left unhampered, whether for 
business or for fun. The Russian people enjoyed the various 
opportunities of the globalised world, even as the Kremlin, and Putin in 
particular, engaged in anti-Western rhetoric and insisted that the West 
wanted to do harm to Russia.
 
As soon as Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, occasional 
anti-Western rhetoric gave way to relentless and scathing anti-Western 
propaganda.
As soon as Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, occasional 
anti-Western rhetoric gave way to relentless and scathing anti-Western 
propaganda. Contacts with the West were once again deemed suspicious. 
New legal norms and practices were introduced, aimed at shielding the 
Russian people from the allegedly deleterious influence of the West – 
and at making them even more dependent on the Kremlin’s whims and will. 
Western families were banned under law from adopting Russian orphans. 
Nongovernmental organisations that received foreign funding and pursued 
“political activity” (a form of action that was very loosely defined) 
had to register as “foreign agents”. Hundreds of them had their 
operations disrupted by intrusive inspections from the prosecutor’s 
office and other government agencies. The United States Agency for 
International Development was forced out of Russia. This autumn saw the 
closure of an American academic exchange programme for Russian 
high-school students that had been launched in the early 1990s. Foreign 
ownership of media assets has been radically restricted. Russians who 
have dual citizenship must register with the government.
 
Russian officials who had bought real estate properties or opened bank 
accounts abroad were informed that their foreign assets have become 
illegal. Late last year Putin called for a crackdown on Russian 
companies registered in offshore jurisdictions. In October this year a 
bill on “deoffshorisation” was submitted to the Duma.
 
In an alarming development, a wide range of civil servants have been 
denied their constitutional right to travel abroad. This includes 
officials of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Defence, as well as 
of the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Federal Drug Control Service, 
and the Federal Migration Service. According to some estimates, the 
total number of government employees essentially banned from leaving 
Russia amounts to about 4 million, roughly one-fifth of all Russian 
tourists. This restriction has taken a heavy toll on the Russian tourist 
industry, which is already suffering from an abrupt fall of demand. But 
apparently, the sharp decline of the tourist industry is an acceptable 
cost to the Russian government, since its major concern is insulating 
the nation from the Western adversary.
 
Rumour has it that employees and managers of state companies under 
Western sanctions have been strongly advised not to leave Russia.
Just a couple of days ago, Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin demanded that 
federal lawmakers not use their diplomatic passports as and when they 
chose. They were ordered to hand in their passports, so that from now 
on, legislators' travels could be kept under control. Rumour has it that 
employees and managers of state companies under Western sanctions have 
been strongly advised not to leave Russia.
 
Last week, speaking at the Valdai Forum, an annual international meeting 
between political experts and journalists and Russian officials, Putin 
denied that Russia has shifted towards isolationist policies. “We do not 
intend to seal ourselves off,” he said, “this is not our goal. Moreover, 
I believe this would only do us harm.” Responding to a question about 
Kremlin pressure on nongovernmental organisations that receive foreign 
funding, he emphasised that the measures are not about “shutting the 
country off”. “This is self-defence,” Putin said.
 
The line between self-defence and isolation is hard to demarcate, but 
the restrictive trend on foreign travel is unmistakable. Those in Russia 
who care about freedom of travel are now asking each other whether – or 
how soon – the restrictions will be extended to cover ordinary Russians 
as well.
 
-- 
Namib
.....
There's a blaze of light in every word (Leonard Cohen)

 There's a blaze of light in every word (Leonard Cohen)
 
Stiamo alla fase paranoica del regime, non che sia una novita', vedi Stalin. Almeno non ci sono le esecuzioni di massa, ma Memorial, che le documentava e' stato chiuso.
 
E' probabile che la stretta sui viaggi sia legata all'esportazione di valuta e al crollo di valuta.
 
Piu' preoccupante il 'discorso' del regime, che inizia a parlare di 3GM. attrbuendone la responsabiita' agli USA, mentre ne provoca le risorse con incursioni aeree.
 
Io spero in un opposizione clandestina di massa, visto che quella manifesta non ha abbastanza leva. E che si inizia a contestare la salute mentale del leader e il suo piano di mendace grandezza.

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finchè lo fanno i cirry :D

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Tu sei sempre libero di andare a leccar lo scroto, e di rimanerci - povero malato.