Leonid Razvozzhayev, a political opposition leader, was
jailed and reportedly held in a basement without food, water or use of the
toilet. Razvozzhayev was held in these conditions for more than two days and,
according to human rights officials, forced to confess to plotting mass riots
in Russia. A televised documentary accused him of seeking funds from Georgia to
aid in toppling the government of President Vladimir V. Putin. Razvozzhayev was
seeking advice in Kiev, Friday, on political asylum when he was kidnapped. He
reappeared Sunday night outside a Moscow courthouse, shouting to a reporter
that he had been tortured. The human rights group reports that he was not
beaten, but subjected to psychological torture. Vladimir Markin, one of
Russia’s top federal investigator spokesman, said that Mr. Razvozzhayev turned
himself in, and was “in his right mind” when he signed his substantial
confession. He was one of 45 people elected, on Monday, to the new body of the
Russian political opposition.
The documentary that exposed Razvozzhayev was shown on NTV,
the pro-Kremlin channel, this month. Kremlin is where the old head of the
Soviet Union was housed, and so this channel will promote Putin, and the
current Russian government. It is not clear how much of this news is true, and
how much is propaganda. However, regardless torture is a direct violation of
human rights under all circumstances. I find it interesting that this comes
only a week after a group of Russian lawmakers, in the Russian Parliament
cataloged human rights violations by American’s over the years. It is a fair to
say that the US should realize what goes on in our own country before talking
about another, however this is the same vice versa.
No comments:
Post a Comment