sssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzwwzz theGuardian October 7, 2006
Russia: A Very Dangerous Place for a
Human Rights Investigator
Human Rights Investigator
 |
| Citizens walk to Anna Politkovskaya's memorial after her murder to pay their respects. |
By Yun Kim
Human Rights Journalist
________________________________________
Today at 4:30 P.M. local time, in central Moscow, on the birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin, human rights investigator Anna Politkovskaya was found murdered in the elevator of her apartment flat. Four bullets were found on her body (3 on the torso and 1 in the head), as well as a markarov pistol, which is leading experts to believe that this murder was a contract killing, a murderer hired by another party to assassinate the investigator.
Politkovskaya had previously received many death threats- more than once she had to flee the country, fearing for her life- as well as murder attempts, such as being served poisoned tea during a school hostage crisis negotiation.
The reason for so many dangers and threats to Ms Politkovskaya was because she constantly criticized and exposed the government's flaws and corruption. However, Politkovskaya strongly opposed the Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing Putin of bringing Russia back to a "Soviet-style Dictatorship" and abusing his powers as president, and using ruthless methods silence political enemies and protesters. For example, during the second Chechen war, there were many cases of human rights violations and violent atrocities committed during the conflict. Ms Politkovskaya severely criticized Putin and his administration during this conflict, even writing several non-fiction books on the corruption and misery in Putin's Russia.
It is a sad day for Russia when a journalist that loves her country has been murdered. Especially because the murder occurred on Vladimir Putin's birthday, the man she criticized, there is a large suspicion that he had something related with this murder, or possibly a contract killing. However, if Putin admits anything, it won't be anytime soon, as he hotly denied having anything to do with this murder after being accused of being "a murderer".
If you are further interested, there is more information on these websites:
"Chechen War Reporter Found Dead." BBC News. BBC, 10 July 2006. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5416218.stm"
This is why there are few human rights journalists in Russia nowadays; most are silenced with brutal force, or in the case of Ms Politkovskaya, assassinated. Someone who reports about the flaws and problems in their country should be given the freedom of speech and movement, as Ms Politkovskaya was not. However, she was determined to find information that the government did not allow her, when she made several trips alone into the extremely dangerous Chechen territory, for days at a time. In fact, she was caught several times during her trips, was threatened with death and given a mock execution by Russian soldiers. She was even forced to flee to Austria when she received an e-mail with a death threat.
This resembles the censored, controlled world of 1984. Citizens of Oceania are prohibited from travelling outside Oceania or communicating with any foreigners. If anyone is caught doing so, they are given the death sentence (For example, three Inner Party members were caught travelling from Canada to meet with Eurasians in Siberia, and were promptly executed). The Party operates on the same manner as whoever ordered the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya; refusing to allow the journalist to share the government's corruption, flaws and injustice, they promptly silenced her. The Party did the same; not allowing the party members to return and spread tales about life outside Oceania, the Party executed them.
Why? If people know about the government's problems and injustice and corruption, they no longer support the government. Furthermore, if the information-deprived citizens gain knowledge about other people from other countries and realize that other countries have just as bad qualities of life or perhaps live better lives than what they live in, they no longer support the Party. With the use of censorship and limited freedom of the Press, these two governments seem to be aiming to silence protesters and political enemies.
Politkovskaya had previously received many death threats- more than once she had to flee the country, fearing for her life- as well as murder attempts, such as being served poisoned tea during a school hostage crisis negotiation.
The reason for so many dangers and threats to Ms Politkovskaya was because she constantly criticized and exposed the government's flaws and corruption. However, Politkovskaya strongly opposed the Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing Putin of bringing Russia back to a "Soviet-style Dictatorship" and abusing his powers as president, and using ruthless methods silence political enemies and protesters. For example, during the second Chechen war, there were many cases of human rights violations and violent atrocities committed during the conflict. Ms Politkovskaya severely criticized Putin and his administration during this conflict, even writing several non-fiction books on the corruption and misery in Putin's Russia.
It is a sad day for Russia when a journalist that loves her country has been murdered. Especially because the murder occurred on Vladimir Putin's birthday, the man she criticized, there is a large suspicion that he had something related with this murder, or possibly a contract killing. However, if Putin admits anything, it won't be anytime soon, as he hotly denied having anything to do with this murder after being accused of being "a murderer".
If you are further interested, there is more information on these websites:
"A Suspicious Death in Russia." The Economist. N.p., n.d. Web.
________________________________________________________________________________
This is why there are few human rights journalists in Russia nowadays; most are silenced with brutal force, or in the case of Ms Politkovskaya, assassinated. Someone who reports about the flaws and problems in their country should be given the freedom of speech and movement, as Ms Politkovskaya was not. However, she was determined to find information that the government did not allow her, when she made several trips alone into the extremely dangerous Chechen territory, for days at a time. In fact, she was caught several times during her trips, was threatened with death and given a mock execution by Russian soldiers. She was even forced to flee to Austria when she received an e-mail with a death threat.
This resembles the censored, controlled world of 1984. Citizens of Oceania are prohibited from travelling outside Oceania or communicating with any foreigners. If anyone is caught doing so, they are given the death sentence (For example, three Inner Party members were caught travelling from Canada to meet with Eurasians in Siberia, and were promptly executed). The Party operates on the same manner as whoever ordered the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya; refusing to allow the journalist to share the government's corruption, flaws and injustice, they promptly silenced her. The Party did the same; not allowing the party members to return and spread tales about life outside Oceania, the Party executed them.
Why? If people know about the government's problems and injustice and corruption, they no longer support the government. Furthermore, if the information-deprived citizens gain knowledge about other people from other countries and realize that other countries have just as bad qualities of life or perhaps live better lives than what they live in, they no longer support the Party. With the use of censorship and limited freedom of the Press, these two governments seem to be aiming to silence protesters and political enemies.
No comments:
Post a Comment