USA TODAY International Edition
ACTIVISTS WORRY POST- GAMES
They say retribution possible with light off Olympics
Though a handful of activists were arrested in conjunction with Olympic protests over the last two weeks, including the high- profile detainment of punk band Pussy Riot, Russia’s treatment of dissident voices rarely came to the forefront during the Sochi Games.
But as the Winter Olympics end and the intense media scrutiny fades, there is concern among those familiar with Russia’s human rights record that activists who have been in the cross hairs of Vladimir Putin’s government will be dealt with harshly in the aftermath.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but since Putin’s inauguration in May 2012 there’s been a pretty unrelenting crackdown on civil society, political activism, critical voices, threats of criminal charges, real criminal charges and a real kind of poisonous rhetoric on state TV about human rights activists, environmental activists and gay activists,” said Rachel Denber, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch.
“There was a slight relenting of that campaign as we started to move into the final months before the Olympics because they knew the world was watching. So of course there’s concern about retribution.”
Two environmental activists who had been detained earlier in the Games were picked up again Sunday. David Khakim, another activist, was at a bus stop when he was picked up, attorney Alexander Popkov said.
Olga Noskovets was taken away when she showed up to meet Khakim.
Khakim was treated rudely when he was taken to the police station, Popkov said.
Though Russian officials did everything they could to minimize protests around the Olympics, allowing them only in a district about 8 miles from the Olympic Park, there was noteworthy activity.
On the opening day of the Olympics, four gay rights activists were arrested in St. Petersburg and 10 in Moscow after unfurling a banner referencing Principle 6 of the Olympic charter, banning any form of discrimination.
Evgeny Vitishko, an environmental activist who had been critical of the Sochi Games, was
“We must remain vigilant.”
Ty Cobb, director of global engagement for the Human Rights Campaign
arrested Feb. 3 for allegedly swearing at a bus stop, then given a three- year sentence for violating parole related to an incident of vandalism in 2011. Khakim was detained for protesting the sentence given Vitishko.
And then there was the brief Feb. 18 detainment in Sochi of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyok- hina, who were in town to record a music video for a song titled Putin will teach you to love the motherland.
Those two, along with seven others, were taken to the police station in Adler and questioned about a theft at a hotel before being released.
The following day, as Pussy Riot attempted to perform outside a downtown Sochi restaurant, they were attacked by a Cossack militia with whips and pepper spray.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak characterized Pussy Riot’s trip to Sochi as a provocation “they’ve been searching for for a long time” but said there would be no retribution against anyone “who peacefully protested against the Games.”
“This is simply impossible under the Russian constitution,” Kozak said. “We can’t punish anyone who spoke out under the framework of the law — I can guarantee that.” Others aren’t so sure. Pussy Riot’s release from jail in December after 21- month sentences was part of an amnesty measure widely viewed as Russia’s response to the outcry over its human rights record in the run- up to the Olympics.
It’s also noteworthy that sentencing for eight people involved in a 2012 anti- Putin protest that became violent has been delayed until today — the day after the Olympics end.
That’s all the more reason, Denber said, for the West not to ignore human rights in Russia going forward.
“The Olympics were really important to them and Russia’s international standing, and prestige is extremely important to the Kremlin,” she said. “So policymakers around the world, the more they watch, the more they speak out in support of activists who are doing good work and speak out in support of human rights and good governance the better — no matter how much the Russian government gets hysterical and says it’s a conspiracy to undermine sovereignty.”
There’s also a question about what kind of treatment Russia’s gay citizens will receive now that the spotlight is off the so- called “anti- propaganda” law that has been tied directly to an increasing number of homophobic attacks in Russia.
Though Russia made good on its promise that gay athletes or spectators at the Olympics wouldn’t be arrested or subjected to harassment, the relaxation of anti- gay sentiment seems temporary, according to Michael Bronski, a Harvard professor and scholar on activism and LBGT history.
“As a general rule, people act better when they’re being watched,” he said. “There was so much coming out of Washington from the Obama administration sending over lesbian and gay people to represent America ( at the opening ceremony), it doesn’t surprise me that even Putin would back down a bit.
“But once it goes away, I don’t think LGBT activists in Russia are going to have it much easier than they had it before the Olympics. The social structures haven’t changed. The law is still the same, the sort of hooliganism of conservative elements in society hasn’t changed.”
Ty Cobb, director of global engagement for the Human Rights Campaign, said in an e- mail that even though the International Olympic Committee might be leaving Russia, how gays are treated there will remain at the forefront of his organization’s agenda.
“We must remain vigilant,” he said. “We will continue to collaborate with Russian LGBT advocates in ways that support their efforts to combat anti- LGBT statements and acts coming from Russian government leaders.”