EDITORIAL
Russia, Land of Barbarians
According to the European Court for Human Rights, as of the end of last year it had nearly 120,000 pending cases and 28% of them, a shocking total of over 33,000 cases, had been filed by Russians. The next-highest contributor of cases to the ECHR docket was Turkey, with three times fewer matters contributed than Russia. Russia has only twice Turkey’s population, which means that pound for pound Russia generates one-third more human rights atrocities than the second-worst offender in the world even when judged on a per capita basis.
Of course, when Russians talk economics, they don’t talk “per capita,” they talk national statistics. When Vladimir Putin wants to brag about Russia being one of the top 10 economies in the world, he never stops to mention Russia’s woeful level of economic performance when judges per capita. Then, Russia does not appear in the top 50.
A civilized nation, of course, would not seek to rationalize or justify finding itself the very most horrific contributor of human rights atrocities to the ECHR. A civilized nation would immediately address itself to reform. But Russia, of course, isn’t the least bit civilized, and that’s why its state-sponsored propaganda network Russia Today didn’t say a word about the need for reform when it reported these shocking statistics, and instead fell all over itself seeking to rationalize and ignore them.
We continue to be appalled at Russia’s pathological refusal to accept its own shortcomings and its furious, suicidal refusal to even consider reform. We continue to believe that so-called “friends” like Russia Today, who work fervently to cover up Russia’s faults rather than to work hard to reform them, are Russia’s true enemies. Such as they are responsible for allowing both the institution of the Tsar and the institution of the Politburo to become like the infamous Emperor with is “new clothes” until they quite literally freeze themselves into oblivion and collapse.
It’s not a pretty sight.
La Russophobe 
We are so stubborn in refusing to look at the evidence, aren’t we ? If you had bothered to read the Russia Today article, you might have seen that the statistic you brandish was compiled with absolutely no regard for per capita figures. If the purpose of your article was to say that Russians submit more cases to the rights court then does Belgium, for example, you are very right. Of course, the fact that Russia also has 135 million more people escapes you completely. Why am I not surprised ? You know, France also submits more cases to the EHRC than does Monaco, but I hardly see you attacking the French for their barbarism.
So, just how many times Belgium was convicted by the ECHR of mass murder, systematic torture, or forced disappearance?
Let’s compare, come on.
http://www.srji.org/en/legal/cases
Actually, just 1 (one) case from Belgium comparable to any of those 121 would be enough to convince me that Russia is in fact “not barbaric”.
I dare you.
@in the world
In Europe.
The worst would be some Sudan or some other North Korea.
It’s called ” European Court” for a reason.
[According to the European Court for Human Rights, as of the end of last year Russia had nearly 120,000 pending cases and 28% of them]
Russia has 20% of the total population that belongs to the European Court for Human Rights countries. So, 28% of the cases is higher than average but hardly staggering. And keep in mind that Europe is the most civilised continent on Earth. Moreover, let’s look at the report itself:
Click to access Annual_Report_2009_versionProv.pdf
Pending cases at 31 December 2009
Russia 33,550
Romania 9,800
Georgia 4,050
Slovenia 3,200
Ukraine 10,000
If we divide per capita (in millions), we get:
Slovenia 1600
Georgia 920
Romania 456
Russia 236
Ukraine 217
So, Russia is not nearly as bad as EU and NATO member countries of Slovenia and Romania, and about the same as Ukraine.
Moreover, what matters is not the number of pending cases, because many of the pending cases may be found to be without merit. What matters is the number of actual violations, i.e., court rulings rendered in favour of the complaining parties:
http://www.emportal.rs/en/news/region/112035.html
Turkey leading human rights violator, says European court
30. January 2010
The European Court of Human Rights said it issued 2,395 rulings in 2009. Judges issued 341 rulings against Turkey. Russia remained in second place with 210 rights violations – mostly from war-torn Chechnya.
………………………..
Thus, while its population is at 20% of total, Russia accounts for less than 9% of the total number of violations. Thus, Russia is much better than the European average.
@Thus, Russia is much better than the European average.
Yeah.
I wonder what horrors happen in the said Belgium, France and Monaco to make them “much worse” on “avarage”?
Maybe you’ll be kind enough to remind me – for example – when was the last time since the opening of the ECHR when the German (Polish, British, Spanish, Italian, Estonian, whatever) police entered a suburban settlement in their country and procedded to murder dozens of people (their own citiziens including babies and unborn, basically everybody) at random while looting, with total and absolute impunity? I think you must know about the things I never heard of.
If you’re curious, I’m referring to this:
http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=809252&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649
Fragment:
The bodies of the first applicant’s father and brother were in the courtyard, his uncle’s body in the doorway of the house, partly burned. The bodies of the first applicant’s sister-in-law, who was at the ninth month of pregnancy, and her one-year old son were in the corner of the courtyard. All bodies had gunshot wounds. The woman’s ring and earrings were gone.
About 60 dead, all of them innocent civilians, systematically murdered at point-blank range in a day-long vodka-fueled rampage, also several gang rapes, massive looting and systematic arson. So, what exactly worse than this example is happening in this allegedly horrible Belgium?
Heck, was even anything remotely close to this from Turkey?
Please, tell me about this “European average”. Come on!
He also notes that the numbers he gives are for VERDICTS.
In number of cases pending Russia far outstrips all other states.
Also Russian cases deal with far more severe crimes, and therefore require more time to process.
A bit like the difference between a trial for shoplifting and one for murder.
[Turkey’s population, which means that pound for pound Russia generates one-third more human rights atrocities than the second-worst offender in the world even when judged on a per capita basis.]
Wrong. Pound-for-pound, Russia is not the worst, and Turkey is not second-worst. First of all, we are talking about Europe, not the entire World. Second, even in Europe, the countries of Slovenia, Georgia and Romania generate more pending cases per capita (pound for pound) than Russia and Turkey.
Russia insists on being treated as a first world and first class country. She insists it belongs in G8 and demands that she has a right to veto decisions of others (such as the Ukraine of Georgia having to ask for permission for joining the NATO).
You told us here a number of times that the quality of Russian democracy and freedom record is no different form that of the West. Anytime anyone here dares to criticize your beloved Motherland, you immediately post various links with an intention to show that it’s no worse than in the West.
Very well, then. In that case, Russia’s responsibility is greater. So, the comparison should not be with poorly developed countries like Romania, but with France, Germany, the UK, Norway or Switzerland. Post their per capita records, and we’ll compare. As they say, res ipsa loquitor — the thing speaks for itself.
While this is all true that you’re saying, keep in mind that for Russians it isn’t as easy to appear in front of the court as it is for people from other European countries, because of visas and whatnot. Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if many Russians never heard about the ECHR, because the general awareness about Europe and its institutions is very low.
So, the number of cases could be much higher, but not by orders of magnitude. It could easily be one of the greatest human rights violators per capita in Europe, but saying that Russia and Turkey are greatest human rights violators in the world is ridiculuos.
Maybe it’s a lapsus calami on the author’s part.
[for Russians it isn’t as easy to appear in front of the court as it is for people from other European countries, because of visas and whatnot.]
Why would there be any visa problems? You certainly don’t need a visa to fly out of Russia: you are free to leave any second. So, if there were any visa problems, that would be with France not giving visas to these complaintants, which would make France to be the violator of human rights.
However, I am pretty sure this is not the case: unlike USA, France doesn’t limit visas to Russian citizens much, and certainly not to those who are coming to the Court for Human Rights trials. Plus, I am sure you can file all legal papers without leaving your own country.
[Maybe it’s a lapsus calami on the author’s part.]
You are new here, right? Look at the titles of all these newspaper reports:
http://www.emportal.rs/en/news/region/112035.html
Turkey leading human rights violator, says European court
http://infidelsarecool.com/2010/02/01/european-court-of-human-rights-says-turkey-is-leading-human-rights-violator/
European Court of Human Rights says Turkey is leading human rights violator
………………..
etc., etc
All these reports are titled something like “Turkey is the leading human rights violator in Europe”. Impossible to miss, isn’t it? And yet the blog entry here intentionally hides the main fact, emphasised by the very TITLES of all news reports — that TURKEY HAS THE MOST VIOLATIONS, — and instead talks about how Russia is ahead of Turkey in terms of pending cases, and falsely claims that Russia is the worst in the ENTIRE WORLD.
Well, considering that most of the applicants seem to be from areas where the Russian security forces murder on a daily basis, and that it is a well known fact that the Russian government will refuse passports, or revoke passports, for those wishing to go overseas who it considers “undesirable” I suspect Arthur of being an idiot.
@Russian security forces
Russian insecurity forces.
http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1075583.html
According to a new study published on March 28 [2007] by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Committee Against Torture, a Russian human rights organization, every 25th person in Russia is tortured, beaten, or harassed by law enforcement officials each year.
The report is based on opinion polls carried out in five Russian regions over the past three years. The report does not cover Chechnya, where Moscow’s military campaign against separatists has resulted in what rights groups describe as massive torture and abuse against civilians.
Yakov Gilinsky, a sociology professor with the Russian Academy of Sciences who supervised the study, disclosed the findings at a news conference in Moscow.
“So, has the adult population been subjected to torture within one year? The results — in St. Petersburg: 3.4 percent, in the Pskov region: 4.7 percent, in Nizhny Novgorod: 3.4 percent, in Komi: 4.6 percent, in Chita: 4.5 percent,” Gilinsky said. “The average result for all the regions is that 4.1 percent of people have personally been subjected to torture, or illegal physical or psychological violence.”
Russia’s flawed justice system and fear of reprisal mean only a fraction of police abuses are punished.
@Russian security forces
Russian insecurity forces.
http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1075583.html
According to a new study published on March 28 [2007] by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Committee Against Torture [ http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/ ], a Russian human rights organization, every 25th person in Russia is tortured, beaten, or harassed by law enforcement officials each year.
The report is based on opinion polls carried out in five Russian regions over the past three years. The report does not cover Chechnya, where Moscow’s military campaign against separatists has resulted in what rights groups describe as massive torture and abuse against civilians.
Yakov Gilinsky, a sociology professor with the Russian Academy of Sciences who supervised the study, disclosed the findings at a news conference in Moscow.
“So, has the adult population been subjected to torture within one year? The results — in St. Petersburg: 3.4 percent, in the Pskov region: 4.7 percent, in Nizhny Novgorod: 3.4 percent, in Komi: 4.6 percent, in Chita: 4.5 percent,” Gilinsky said. “The average result for all the regions is that 4.1 percent of people have personally been subjected to torture, or illegal physical or psychological violence.”
Russia’s flawed justice system and fear of reprisal mean only a fraction of police abuses are punished.
Here’s a more detailed list.
Cases per 1,000,000 inhabitants
Slovenia 1551
Bosnia and Herzegovina 545
Romania 456
Bulgaria 360
Estonia 315
Russia 237
Croatia 220
Ukraine 216
Czech Republic 197
Turkey 181
Poland 121
Italy 119
Switzerland 100
France 40
Germany 28
UK 26
Norway 14
Good job digging up information, hroboatos. Could you please give the URL link to these data?
However, there are some countries missing. For example, based on the actual Report, I am sure Moldova is going to be in 2nd place after Slovenia; and Georgia is in3rd.
Also, these are PENDING cases. Can you find the same breakdown on DECIDED cases, that is on the numbers of VIOLATIONS per capita?
I used the following sources
number of pending cases by country
Click to access Annual_Report_2009_versionProv.pdf
population of country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population
You can take a calculator and check.
Also,
Moldova 938
Georgia 922
I’ll try to do it for deiced cases. It will take time, though.
Russia’s stats are disgusting when compared to the other G8 members on the above list
R John,
you just don’t get.
It’s not about any “stats”. Go and see if there’s any case from “the leading” Slovenia comparable with, for example, this:
Umayeva v. Russia, (1200/03)
Judgment: 2008-12-04
Admissible: 2007-12-11
Date of violation: 2000-01-23
Violation: Indiscriminate bombing
Location: Chechnya
Representative: EHRAC/Memorial
In October 1999 hostilities resumed between Russian forces and Chechen armed groups. Grozny came under heavy bombardment. On 22 January 2000 the remaining residents were informed, via an amplifier installed in a helicopter and dropped leaflets, that the following day would be their last opportunity to leave the city through a humanitarian corridor. On 23 January 2000 at 9 a.m. Lipatu Umayeva and her family left the house. They walked in a group of about a hundred other civilians, many wearing white armbands. As the group passed a house where the Russian military was stationed artillery fire and shelling started. A helicopter appeared, from which a sniper fired. Lipatu received several shell and fire wounds and lost consciousness. She could not be taken to a hospital as the shelling continued and did not reach a hospital until a week later. To date she continues to suffer from the consequences of her injuries.
(In short, an elaborate ambush designed to lure into a trap and then systematically murder a large group of unarmed Russian citiziens.)
The stuff from the other countries is VERY trivial stuff on comparison. Go and check.
Btw, you know where this took place? From the Court documents:
“After 10 January 2000 the applicant and her family lived in the cellar of a house at 23 Olympiyskiy Drive, together with several other residents of the area. On 22 January 2000 the residents were informed, via an amplifier installed in a helicopter, that the following day would be their last opportunity to leave the city through a humanitarian corridor. Leaflets containing similar information were dropped, notifying the residents that they could leave on 23 January 2000 at 9 a.m. by the road leading to the settlement of Staraya Sunzha, where they would be picked up by buses and taken out of the Grozny area.
On 23 January 2000 at 9 a.m. the applicant and her family left the house at Olimpiysky Drive. They were joined by other residents who were heading towards Staraya Sunzha. The applicant recalls that there were about a hundred people in their group, including children. People were carrying only their most valuable possessions, in bags or on sledges. Many had white armbands, and a man walking close to the applicant was carrying a pole with a white sheet to show that they were civilians.”
Olimpiysky Drive.
“The Sochi 2014 emblem maintains a dialogue between the past and the future. Fusing various dimensions of Russian culture, the brand can promote several images of our vibrant country:
* A country rich in history, embarking on a successful future
* A country open to opportunities and the passion to make dreams a reality
* A country that is committed to equality and celebrates diversity.”
http://sochi2014.com/
And no, this ambush was not an isolated incident.
Possibly the worst such case:
http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/07/04/mass-grave-uncovered-in-chechnya/
Point taken Robert
“Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.” – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“The People’s Communist Republic of WikipediaⓀ, commonly shortened to simply Wikipedia, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in which participants play editors of a hypothetical online encyclopedia. The goal is to try to insert misinformation as well as pushing a point of view that is randomly assigned at signup, while preventing any contrary information from being entered by others. Players with similar misinformation will generally form guilds in order to aid one another. ” – Encyclopedia Dramatica, the free encyclopedia
Cases per 1,000,000 inhabitants
Slovenia 1551
Bosnia and Herzegovina 545
Romania 456
Bulgaria 360
Estonia 315
Russia 237
Croatia 220
Ukraine 216
Czech Republic 197
Turkey 181
Poland 121
Italy 119
Switzerland 100
France 40
Germany 28
UK 26
Norway 14
Out of the top 10 listed countries (excepting Russia), how many have been under yolk of soviet, communist or Russian rule?
Interesting huh?
All except Turkey!
Let’s try a different categorisation ‘Ex-USSR’!
…and suddenly it all becomes quite clear yes?
You’re getting the wrong picture. I’m one of the last people to defend Russia’s crimes or its regime (though I’m a Russian weapons enthusiast).
Having a high number of cases doesn’t necesarily mean that a country is a wreck. Most of these cases against most countries are trivial stuff when compared with accusations against Russia. People have already posted examples above.
According to the data, you could conclude that Slovenia is a hellhole, while it is in fact a very good place to live in, a West European country by all standards. Along the same lines, you could say that Croatia is as repressive as Russia which is also far from the truth.
I concluded that pending cases at ECHR per capita are not a good measure of the level of human rights violation in a country. Absolute number of cases is even less reliable.
What we have to do, is to measure heavy human rights violations per capita. We have to pick cases which involve violations of most basic rights, such as the right to live, for each country, and then divide by the country’s population and multiply by 1,000,000. Only then will we have a valuable statistic on which we can judge countries.
But it will be a lot of work.
Yes, it’s a very good point. The nature of cases and accusations matter a great deal. I can imagine there are some complaints about French prohibition of total head covering in public schools. I don’t mean to imply that this is not an important issue for some Islamic persons.
However, no matter how important it is to them, it’s not the same as accusations of political murder, indiscriminate bombing and the like. Mere statistics don’t reflect this distinction
Hey Wal, really “yolk” of Russian rule. Funny
That’s how it went in the Civil War of 1918 – 1920: the Whites were separated from the Yolks and ended up in Paris bistros.
This is my “yoke of the day”, amigo.
Including women, children, and young men who have no financial and political power?
Please delete this comment and my comment directly above. They’re pointless because that troll’s comment which I was replying to is deleted.
@stats
Russian North Caucasus violations (many of them joint complaints, most involving more than one victim):
2
Death due to negligence
162
Disappearance
1
Extradition (to Russia)
36
Extra-judicial execution
12
Ill-treatment
13
Indiscriminate bombing
1
Mines
6
Non-return of bodies
5
Property
15
Torture
By location:
203
Chechnya
3
Dagestan
15
Ingushetia
4
Kabardino-Balkaria
2
North Ossetia
1 (extradition case)
Slovakia
Rober wrote:
[@in the world
In Europe. ]
[It’s not about any “stats”. ]
You seem to be suggesting that your fearless leader and goddess is not thinking straight.
You are becoming a dissident here, Robert. And you know what happens to dissidents here – they get banned.
Now be a good boy and return to your usual knee-jerk agreement with all the nonsense being written here.
Iran is showing the same signs of weakening control as Russia. Cheap threats and grandstanding are a give away.
Yes. Iran is about to become an America-loving pro-Israeli Christian culture any day now.
Well, they will certainly be anti-russian if the oppositions chants of “Death to Russia” are anything to go by.
The Iranians know who really props up the current dictatorship with diplomatic and military support.
The Iranians can’t wait to share the fate of Iraqis, i.e., to be “liberated” from their “dictatorship” and their earthly lives by the great American Crusaders.
To me Iran looks even more fragile. It’s a very interesting subject in itself. Democratization of Russia and Iran would be a serious gain for the western world.
I agree, but unfortunately I can see Iran being a democracy long before Russia.
Definitely. That’s what the Muslim culture is all about: democracy and human rights.
Well, Russian culture is certainly nothing to do with democracy and human rights, even less so than Muslims one might add.
Considering you are the biggest mass murderers in history….
[Considering you are the biggest mass murderers in history….]
Exact figures please, showing that the Soviet killed more people than did Germans, Spanish and British/Americans.
Moreover, the vast majority of those, killed by Soviets, were killed by two schizophrenic Georgian monsters – Stalin and Beria. These murders were stopped immediately as soon as Stalin died, Beria was executed, and Russians and Ukrainians came to power in USSR. As a Georgian, you should really keep quite.
Well my poorly informed little deviant.
The fact that a huge number of the deaths in Stalins reign were presided over by Yezhov and Yagoda, both Russians, seems to have escaped you.
As is noted by contemporaries, such as Lenin, Stalin (whose father was actually an Ossetian one might add) was the archetype of the “Great Russian chauvanist.
In addition, the NKVD was dominated by ethnic Russians, as was the party, as was the army.
It was Russians who were the overwhelming majority of those who carried out the communist terror, and its victims were disproportionately those from the ethnic minorities, particularly those with strong indepandance tendencies, in particular Georgia and Ukraine.
61,911,000 Victims: Utopianism Empowered 1917 to 1987
Chapter 2. 3,284,000 Victims: The Civil War Period 1917 to 1922
Chapter 3. 2,200,000 Victims: The NEP Period 1923-1928
Chapter 4. 11,440,000 Victims: The Collectivization Period 1928-1935
Chapter 5. 4,345,000 Victims: The Great Terror Period 1935-1938
Chapter 6. 5,104,000 Victims: Pre-World War II Period 1939 to June, 1941
Chapter 7. 13,053,000 Victims: World War II Period June, 1941 to 1945
Chapter 8. 15,613,000 Victims: Post-War and Stalin’s Twilight Period 1945-1953
Chapter 9. 6,872,000 Victims: Post-Stalin Period 1954-1987
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE4.HTM
Now if you bother to look at the site, it also gives totals for Russian genocide in the period 1900-1917, which was around 3,556,000 people.
Colonialism by ALL countries involved comes to around 50,000,000 for the period from 1500 to 1987.
So Slav, you, and your people make the Nazi’s look good.
Those figures are simply disgusting.
But note the last paragraph on this page
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NAZIS.CHAP1.HTM
The Nazi regime still remains proportionatelly the most deadliest, it’s just that they didn’t have enough time to execute their plans to the end, namely the “famous” extermination of Slavs, over 200 million people ( a handful, 30-40 million, were supposed to live on as slaves).
And you’re last sentence makes it sound as if all Slavs are genocidal. Well, Russians are not the only Slavs. For example, I’m a Croat, therefore a Slav. And then Slavs are Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Serbs, to name the largest ones. Furthemore you’re comparing an ethnolinguistc group, the Slavs, to a regime, the Nazis. You’re mixing apples and pears. You should have either compared two peoples, Russians (not Slavs) to Germans, or two regimes, Nazis to Bolsheviks.
Comparing regimes would be the right thing to do. And both regimes were supported by their people, at least in the beginning, but latter on the people were powerless.
Yes, you are right Hroboatos.
However the difference is that the Germans (who were led by the German chauvanist but Austrian Hitler) have spent many years facing up to their crimes.
The Russians have not, and still glorify the institutions and people that comitted them.
Sorry for using the term slav and thereby giving offence.
Poles, Croats, and others have all been victims of Russia, and have my sincerest sympathies and best wishes.
Actually, Croatia was never a victim of Russia, because Yugoslavia, the communist state Croatia was part of, was not aligned with the Soviet Union. However, it was a victim of Yugoslav communism (1,000,000 murdered, of that 500,000 Croats)and Serb hegemony, Serbs being the leading nationality in Yugoslavia.
And, apology accepted, Andrew.
Yes, and lets not forget the victims of Serbian ethnic cleansing in places like Vukovar and Dubrovnik.
Thanks for contributing to this site Hroboatos
Also note, my retarded little fiend, that the murders did not stop with Stalin.
Then there are the mass murders comitted by Russians in Czecheslovakia in 68, and earlier in Hungary. Stalin was well dead by then.
And lets not get started on the fact that Stalin was recently voted the 3rd greatest RUSSIAN of all time, that he is venerated by people like Putin as the “Great wartime leader”, that there is a new laudatory museum in his honour in Volgograd, that there are new statues of him in many towns and cities across Russia, that he has been reinstated in the moscow metro…..
Meanwhile in Georgia he is generally reviled as a monster and a traitor to the Caucasus in general and to Georgia in particular.
Andrew wrote:
[And lets not get started on the fact that Stalin was recently voted the 3rd greatest RUSSIAN of all time]
Stalin was voted the 3rd greatest RUSSIAN of all time BY GEORGIANS and some other foreigners. My aunt, living in Tbilisi, told me that whenever there is an internet poll about great Russians, thousands of Georgians post hundreds of votes each, all in favour of Stalin.
Do you have reference to a statistically valid opinion poll where Stalin was voted the 3rd greatest RUSSIAN of all time, and all voters were Russian citizens, and everybody voted no more than once? Of course not.
That’s because these disgusting pro-Stalin Georgian voters dominate all internet voting.
Oh yes, really?
Come on retard, where is the evidence.
Considering that in the Georgian TV show “History’s Greates Georgian” Stalin did not make it past the 1st round, you are lying again.
Not that this is surprising considering that you are a Russian, a culture that values lies far above truth.
Now as for opinion polls of Russian citizens in regards to Stalin….
“Russian youth poll: Stalin good, migrants must go
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s youths admire Soviet dictator Josef Stalin — who presided over the deaths of millions of people — and want to kick immigrants out of Russia, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
The poll, carried out by the Yuri Levada Centre, was presented by two U.S. academics who called it “The Putin Generation: the political views of Russia’s youth”.
When asked if Stalin was a wise leader, half of the 1,802 respondents, aged from 16 to 19, agreed he was.
“Fifty-four percent agreed that Stalin did more good than bad,” said Theodore Gerber, a sociologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Forty-six percent disagreed with the statement that Stalin was a cruel tyrant.”
Stalin, who took over from Vladimir Lenin, built a system of terror and repression in which tens millions of people died or were killed. He died in 1953.
“What we find troubling is that there is a substantial proportion of young people in Russia today who hold positive or ambivalent views on Stalin and his legacy,” Gerber said.
“We think it would probably be more appropriate if there was more condemnation of the Stalin era.”
The poll showed 17 percent of the young people disagreed that Stalin was responsible for the imprisonment, torture and execution of millions of innocent people, while 40 percent thought his role in the repression had been exaggerated.
The majority of respondents thought the collapse of the Soviet Union was a tragedy and two thirds thought that America was a rival and enemy. Only a fifth viewed Iran as a potential rival or enemy.
Most young people also wanted immigrants kicked out of Russia: 62 percent said they agreed with the statement that the Russian government should evict most immigrants.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2559010520070725?sp=true
And another poll of Russian citizens gave this result…..
“MOSCOW (AFP) – A majority of Russians admire the leadership of Joseph Stalin, a poll showed Friday amid renewed controversy over the reputation of the wartime Soviet leader 130 years after his birth.
Fifty-four per cent of Russians gave a positive assessment of Stalin’s leadership qualities while eight per cent gave a low assessment, according to the poll for the Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).”
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/19-Dec-2009/Most-Russians-admire-Stalins-leadership-Poll
[Yeah. I wonder what horrors happen in the said Belgium, France and Monaco to make them “much worse” on “avarage”?]
Only a moron would think that old democracies like Belgium and France would have a bad “avarage”(sic.) . Referring to the Annual Report, page 139, “Judgments overall” column, here is a list of thsome countries that are per capita worse than Russia. First column is the name, second column is the total number of violations, the third column is the total number of violations divided by population, i.e., per capita figures:
Malta 5 12.01
Moldova 30 8.41
Bulgaria 63 8.31
Macedonia 17 8.30
Romania 168 7.83
Slovakia 39 7.19
Greece 75 6.63
Finland 29 5.42
Turkey 356 4.91
Croatia 19 4.28
Slovenia 8 3.90
Poland 133 3.49
Latvia 7 3.11
Hungary 30 3.00
Estonia 4 2.99
Albania 9 2.84
Ukraine 126 2.74
Lithuania 9 2.70
Georgia 11 2.51
Austria 15 1.79
Portugal 17 1.60
Bosnia 6 1.59
Russia 219 1.54
Here is the same list, but only with the violations per capita column:
Malta 12.01
Moldova 8.41
Bulgaria 8.31
Macedonia 8.30
Romania 7.83
Slovakia 7.19
Greece 6.63
Finland 5.42
Turkey 4.91
Croatia 4.28
Slovenia 3.90
Poland 3.49
Latvia 3.11
Hungary 3.00
Estonia 2.99
Albania 2.84
Ukraine 2.74
Lithuania 2.70
Georgia 2.51
Austria 1.79
Portugal 1.60
Bosnia 1.59
Russia 1.54
Once again Arthur forgets that the violations of Russia are far worse, usuall involving death or torture, than those in pretty much all other COE countries.
Nice try Arthur, but the difference between someone being kidnapped, tortured (and probably raped into the bargain) then executed without trial by Russian security forces and someone in the other COE countries complaints, which usually involve unfair arrest, is pretty extreme.
Even Medvedev recognises that he has a police force that doesn’t function properly, he wants to reduce the service by 20% hopefully he will have a psychological evaluation done so the worst of the “nut jobs” can be weeded out, It’s a shame Russia stopped doing these checks after the fall of the soviet union then maybe we wouldn’t have witnessed some of these random shootings by the police against innocent citizens. Did you know that gun ownership has shot up over the last few months now 6 million Russians are licensed to own firearms with half a million in Moscow. If Medvedev doesn’t sort his “deranged” police force out soon the citizens might take the law into their own hands.
Andrew wrote:
[Croats have been victims of Russia]
Has anybody ever told you that you are a disgusting liar, Drew?
Well, Russia was supplying Serbia with weapons and diplomatic protection for its genocides at the UN.
Ergo the were victims of Russian actions.
Vukovar, Dubrovnik etc…..
And USA supplies weapons to Saudi Arabia. Does that mean that USA is responsible for the human rights crimes committed by Saudi Arabia and every other dictatorship that buys US weapons?
Or take Israel. USA supplies Israel with weapons and diplomatic protection at the UN. Does that mean that USA committed all the crimes against Palestinians that Israel has committed over the years like the Sabra and Shatila massacre?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre
You were just told by a Croat that Croatia has NEVER been a victim of Russia. In fact, the Croat and Slovenian flags are virtually copies of the Russian flag.
Oh what a liar you are.
Well, the Russian government has repeatedly broken international law (violated arms embargoes by supplying weapons to Serbia), vetoed or threatened to use its veto to derail attempts by the UN to intervene against Sebian agression on Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
Just as it does in Sudan, Burma, and with respect to the separatist areas in Moldovia and Georgia.
Russia is the chief supporter of dictatorial and genocidal regimes in the world today.
So, now Burma and Sudan are also “victims of Russia”?
In other words, you think that Palestinians are “victims of USA”?
Arthur, I don’t really see any similarity between the Croatian and Russian flags, apart from the fact that they both contain red, white and blue (in different arrangements). So then I guess, for example, the US, the Netherlands, the UK, France and Paraguay all copied the Russian flag?
Andrew wrote:
[Considering that in the Georgian TV show “History’s Greates Georgian” Stalin did not make it past the 1st round, you are lying again.]
A TV show? Wow. If it was a TV show – it MUST be true. You are such a tube boob, Andrew.
So, was your TV show conducted by the Academy of Sciences of Georgia? What statisticians conducted the “scientific” polls for your TV show? What was the sample size? How did they make sure that the sample was unbiased and representative? What was the margin of error of their “research”?
Oh, I forgot: it was a TV show. And you revere and worship everything that you see on TV, genius.
Now Arthuretta,
I was just pointing out that Georgians have no time for Stalin, unlike you Russians who hero worship him, especially your youth.
Considering your retarded accusations that Goegians doctored the Russian poll, I suggest you get off the drugs and leave the minors alone for a bit.
Now, about those Russian polls again….
““MOSCOW (AFP) – A majority of Russians admire the leadership of Joseph Stalin, a poll showed Friday amid renewed controversy over the reputation of the wartime Soviet leader 130 years after his birth.
Fifty-four per cent of Russians gave a positive assessment of Stalin’s leadership qualities while eight per cent gave a low assessment, according to the poll for the Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).””
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/19-Dec-2009/Most-Russians-admire-Stalins-leadership-Poll
[I was just pointing out that Georgians have no time for Stalin, unlike you Russians who hero worship him, especially your youth.]
How does talking about a TV show prove that youth has no time for Stalin? If anything, youths spend much time on the Internet and little time watching TV.
Voting for Stalin on the Web is considered cool among thousands of Georgian youths.
Evidence my lying Russian troll, evidence.
Oh thats right, you don’t have any LOL.