Group Says Russia Now at 'Not Free' Status
 

By JUDITH INGRAM, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW - Russia has restricted rights to such an extent that it has joined the countries that are not free for the first time since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Freedom House said Monday, marking Moscow's march away from the Western democracies it has embraced as diplomatic partners.

"This setback for freedom represented the year's most important political trend," the U.S.-based non-governmental organization wrote in its annual study, Freedom in the World 2005.

Freedom House noted increased Kremlin control over national television and other media, limitations on local government, and parliamentary and presidential elections it said were neither free nor fair.

The rest of this article is here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...mocracy_survey

That chekisti Putin must still long for the bad old days...

* chekisti - Russian slang referring to someone who works for the state security apparatus, either as an employee or as an informant. Dates back from the very early days of Commie Russia when the security service was called the Cheka, which later became the OGPU, NKVD, MGB, KGB and now the FSB.

Putin used to work for the old KGB before he went on to bigger and better things.

And what did Bush have to say about this?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._go_pr_wh/bush
He could at least admit there was a problem and try to use his access to gently nudge for reform without being overbearing if democracy is truly one of his foreign policy goals. (You know, given all the Iraq rhetoric and such.) Right now it sounds like he either doesn't care about the problem or thinks his relationship with Putin is more important than human rights.

Neither. His personal relationship with Putin is not what it was a few years back. Its more important to keep Russia allied with us, where possible.

Also, Russia's economic development is more important than human rights. Not just fdor Bush, but in general. Human rights can not exist without economic prosperity. If an authoritarian (but not totalitarian) government has an educated population, and economic growth, a middle class will emerge. That middle class will force democratic reforms, and the human rights will follow.

Not always. Singapore is a good example.