Russia

143 million people
10,730 USD GNI (PPP)
Internet:
Partly Free
Press:
Not Free
Not Free

Population and GNI data source

News & Updates

Press Release

Freedom House Condemns Attacks on LGBT Activists in Russia

Jan 22 2013 - 4:27pm


Freedom House condemns the violent attacks against LGBT rights activists in two Russian cities who were peacefully protesting against an anti-homosexuality bill to be considered by Russia’s Duma. The attacks, which occurred in Voronezh and Moscow, resulted in numerous injuries and at least one person was hospitalized.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Human Rights Defense, LGBTI Rights, Rule of Law
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia
In the News

The Crisis in the West

Jan 18 2013 - 10:38am

A year ago, the world was abuzz with talk of the euro crisis and the feared disintegration of the European Union. By the end of 2012, the discussion has shifted to the crisis of the liberal democracy model itself. The debate is no longer “Keynes vs. Hayek” or expansionary vs. austerity fiscal measures. At the heart of today’s debate are the systemic problems affecting Western civilization.

Issues: 
Intergovernmental Bodies, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Americas, Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Western Europe
Freedom Alert

In Memoriam: Yuri Schmidt

Jan 15 2013 - 6:35pm

Freedom House celebrates the life and career of renowned Russian human-rights lawyer and advocate Yuri Schmidt (1937-2013).

Issues: 
Civil Society, Human Rights Defense
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia
In the News

Russian children: Pawns in Putin’s power play

Jan 1 2013 - 11:59pm

In a display of callousness unusual even by Vladimir Putin’s standards, Russia eliminated the possibility of a better life for thousands of orphans last week when Putin signed into law a ban on adoptions by Americans. David J. Kramer and Arch Puddington examine Vladimir Putin's 'power play' in a Washington Post op-ed.

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense, Rule of Law, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia

Experts

Arch Puddington

Vice President for Research

Issues: 
Democratic Governance, Elections, Internet Freedom, Media Freedom, Religious Freedom, Rule of Law, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Western Europe

David J. Kramer

President

Issues: 
Democratic Governance, Elections, Freedom of Expression, Media Freedom, Rule of Law, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia

Susan Corke

Director for Eurasia Programs


Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia

Signature Reports

Freedom in the World

Freedom on the Net

Freedom of the Press

Nations in Transit

Countries at the Crossroads

Special Reports

Promise and Reversal: The Post-Soviet Landscape Twenty Years On

“Promise and Reversal: The Post-Soviet Landscape Twenty Years On,” marks the 20th anniversary of the failed Soviet coup of August 19, 1991. The retrospective essay examines the changes in the political rights and civil liberties in the former Soviet Union over the last two decades, as well as includes graphs and rankings that illustrate the region's performance in the annual Freedom House publications Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press. The report  concludes that there is a serious and disturbing failure to embrace democratic institutions in most of the post-Soviet region.

Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia

Programs

Russia - North Caucus

Freedom House’s American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus coordinates with an international network of activists, journalists, scholars and nongovernmental organizations to advocate for and support human rights and rule of law, to monitor the upward trend of violence in the region, and to promote peace and stability in the North Caucasus.

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia

Russia

We collaborate with Russia’s two most renowned human rights groups, Memorial and the Moscow Helsinki Group, to help end the increasingly common practice of government manipulation of the legal system.

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia