Nuovi dati impressionanti sull’andamento della repressione politica in Russia vengono forniti dalla Fondazione Inostrannyi Agent – Human Rights Initiative for the Former USSR. L’anno scorso si è verificato, come attestato dai dati che seguono, un drammatico aumento degli arresti per motivi religiosi, ma anche politici o per attività di blogger. E i luoghi di detenzione sono spesso campi o colonie di lavoro. Il dato più evidente è l’aumento di arresti fra le donne e i giovani, che non hanno memoria diretta dei tempi della repressione sovietica, e perciò saranno verosimilmente protagonisti di nuovi movimenti di opposizione aperta al regime di Putin nel prossimo futuro.
Russia, Repression rises as Opposition Strenghtnes
The statistical analysis of political prisoners shows a sharp increase of political repression in Russia in 2014.
(1) The number of persons persecuted for political or religious reasons has dramatically increased. Only in the course of the last year it has almost doubled (increased by 97%).
(2) This trend is continuing: the ratio of persons under investigation to the number of convicted persons increased from 1.7 in October 2014 to 3.5 in March 2015, indicating a new wave of repression and increase in the number of new criminal cases.
(3) The sentences passed by the courts have been tightened. Since October 2014 the number of persons who received relatively light punishment (conditional sentences) has decreased by 17%. This happened partly due to the fact that for some individuals serving a suspended sentence, it was replaced by a real imprisonment in camp or colony.
(4) There is an increase in the average term of imprisonment. If in October last year the average term was 4 years and 6 months, it is now 5 years and 10 months (increase by 30%).
(5) Statistics also reflects the main directions of the new wave of repressions. The most significant increase is shown in the number of political prisoners repressed for their opposition political activities (54%), as well as in the number of bloggers (111%) and religious dissidents ( 117%).
(6) There is a striking increase in the number of foreign citizens (from Ukraine, in the first place), persecuted by the laws of the Russian Federation. Some of them were illegally abducted by the security services of the Russian Federation from the territory of their states. Their number has increased from 0 in June 2014 to 16 in March 2015.
(7) There is an absolute increase in the number of women, against whom criminal repression has been applied. Already during the period June-October 2014 this neumber has nearly doubled, and during the whole period from June 2014 to March 2015 it has increased almost three times.
(8) Demographic analysis shows that the most dissidents are those who grew up after the collapse of the USSR and have neither experience in double thinking, no fear that was instilled in youth in the USSR. The average age of today’s political prisoner is 34 years, and the youngest political prisoner is only 19 years old. This suggests that the protest movement has a high potential and will gain even more momentum as a new generation becomes more mature and deprived of Soviet complexes.
Gaston Beuk
