German Human Rights Commissioner Reports Little Progress in Russia
Having just returned from a trip to Russia, Germany's human rights commissioner, Markus Loening, says non-governmental organizations in the country are still suffering under an unsympathetic government.
Loening said that rights activists in Russia are still struggling against a government that is unsympathetic to their cause and which takes measures to hamper their work.
Whilst he was warmly welcomed by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Loenig said that the country still had some way to go to ensuring some basic freedoms. He said the Russian government had "a completely wrong understanding" when it came to rights most Europeans take for granted, such as freedom of assembly. He also noted that Russia's judiciary is not independent.
To conclude his journey, Löning attended a hearing of the ongoing trial Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial. According to Löning, the hearing was a farce - despite the controversial trial's global attention which is perceived as an indicator for the rule of law in Russia. He also called the trial "a lawsuit at the edge to ridiculousness".
Following his trip, the human rights commissioner summarized that he did not see serious efforts from Russia's government to establish the rule of law. The situation, he stated, is in great need of improvement. The lack of an independent judicial system, corruption and arbitrary interference by the state were serious constraints of civil liberty. Löning requested from the Russian government to couple modernization efforts with nurturing a state founded on the rule of law - and to let "powerful deeds follow fine words".