This hearing focused on the human rights situation in Russia. Russia is no longer an authoritarian dictatorship and civil liberties have improved. However, the decline in Russia’s recent economic fortunes has been accompanied by disturbing developments in the area of human rights and civil liberties. A religion law developed in 1977 has led to legal difficulties and complications for some religious organizations in their dealings with local authorities, most notably the declaration of Jehovah Witness as a “destructive sect.” Also recent cases of a crackdown on activist has led to Russia’s first political prisoner since the defunct Soviet Union with the arrest of the environmental whistleblower, Alexandr Nikitin.
Member
Hon. Chris Smith
Chairman
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Witnesses
Elena Bonner
Chair/Original Member
Andrei Sakharov Foundation/Moscow Helsinki Group
Ludmilla Alexeyeva
Chair/President
Moscow Helsinki Group/The International Helsinki Federation
David Satter
Senior Fellow
The Hudson Institute
Larry Uzzell
Moscow Representative
The Keston Institute
Micah Naftalin
National Director
The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
Mark Levin
Director
National Conference on Soviet Jewry
Relevant Issues
Relevant Countries
Leadership
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