State Department Details Human Rights Abuses In Russia

The Russian government perpetrates myriad human rights abuses, including torture, restricting participation in the electoral process, politically motivated arrests, the occupation of Ukraine and discrimination against LGBTI people, according to a new human rights report from the State Department.

Noting that President Vladimir Putin runs an authoritarian government, the report proceeds to list the human rights violations the department says the Russian government engages in.

"The government continued to train, equip, and supply pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, who were joined by numerous fighters from Russia," it says. "Credible observers attributed thousands of civilian deaths and injuries, as well as widespread abuses, to Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region, and to Russian occupation authorities in Crimea."

The report also lists many of the domestic abuses committed by the Russian government, which include:

• Restricting the public right to assemble
• Preventing "free and fair" elections
• Using laws to "harass, discredit, prosecute, imprison, detain, fine, and suppress individuals and organizations critical of the government"
• Discriminating against religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTI people, migrant workers and people with disabilities
• Violence against women and limits on women's rights
• Human trafficking

It also notes that law enforcement is plagued by allegations of torture, excessive force, prison overcrowding and official corruption. "The government failed to take adequate steps to prosecute or punish most officials who committed abuses, resulting in a climate of impunity," the report says.

The report's strong criticism of Russia's human rights record is noteworthy considering President Trump's repeated assertions that he wants to get along with Putin and his downplaying of criticisms of the regime.

"For 1st time in a long time @StateDept #humanrights report will not be presented by Secretary of State," Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said in a tweet. "I hope they reconsider."

In the past, the secretary has presented the report publicly instead of simply releasing it to the media.

Rubio was particularly critical of Secretary Rex Tillerson's reluctance to call out human rights abuses during his Senate hearings, though he would eventually vote to confirm the former ExxonMobil executive. While Tillerson ran the oil company, he had frequent contacts with the Russian government to negotiate extraction rights, which led some to speculate that his State Department might be more tolerant of the Kremlin.

Sarah Margon, the Washington director with Human Rights watch, expressed similar concerns to Rubio's.

"Trump’s anti-Muslim refugee policy and hinted cuts to foreign aid have heightened concerns that the US won’t be a vocal player on human rights issues abroad," she said. "Secretary Tillerson's absence from the State Department's annual human rights report release reinforces the message to governments, rights activists and at-risk minorities that the State Department might also be silent on repression, abuse, and exploitation."

"Promoting human rights and democratic governance is a core element of U.S. foreign policy," reads the report's preface, signed by Tillerson. "These values form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies. Standing up for human rights and democracy is not just a moral imperative but is in the best interests of the United States in making the world more stable and secure."

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