Rights and freedoms in Russia have been restricted to the point that the country is de facto under martial law. This is the conclusion of a new report authored by prominent human rights experts Pavel Chikov, head of the rights group Agora, and Damir Gainutdinov, head of the Net Freedoms Project. Indeed, against the backdrop of Moscow’s month-long invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities have moved to impose serious restrictions on basic constitutional rights and freedoms at home. As Chikov and Gainutdinov write, these restrictions have primarily affected freedoms of assembly, speech, and movement, as well as private property rights. Meduza summarizes the report’s main findings here. The Russian authorities haven’t authorized a single anti-war demonstration — or a single public gathering in support of the so-called “special military operation” — since the Kremlin began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Applications to hold public gatherings have been rejected under the pretext of “pandemic restrictions.” At unauthorized anti-war rallies, protesters have been detained en masse. Russian law enforcement have already carried out more than 15,000 arrests at anti-war protests across the country, and there have been dozens of reports of police officers beating demonstrators.
via meduza: The war at home Russia is de facto under martial law, human rights experts warn