Russia has a sad history of human rights abuses, spanning issues from\u00a0the 2013 law banning “propaganda of nontraditional relationships” to the imprisonment of Pussy Riot in 2012 for an act of free speech.\u00a0After researching\u00a0Pussy Riot, I am aware that they performed in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and chose the location in part because of their outrage in the church leaders’ support of Putin in his\u00a0election. Members of Pussy Riot\u00a0were arrested for “hooliganism” as well as for acts of religious hatred. Would their 2-year imprisonment have been enforced as harshly in the Soviet Union, when\u00a0the government was more anti-religious? How does the political atmosphere affect the state of human rights?<\/p>\n
How is\u00a0Putin able to commit these abuses of human rights\u00a0and still maintain his high popularity ratings? Does opposition by groups, such as Amnesty International, make any impact in Russia?\u00a0How does the majority of the Russian population, particularly in cities like\u00a0Moscow, view the arrests and disappearances of human rights activists?<\/p>\n
In the preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, more than 2,000 families were apparently forced to resettle to make room for Olympic venues, and were not given fair compensation. Fair compensations was also reportedly not given to workers who built Olympic venues. In light of these human rights abuses, does it not send a poor message that Western countries which claim to uphold and defend human rights, such as the United States, still attended and competed in the Olympic Games? What can the United States do differently to preserve\u00a0a firm stance against human rights abuses?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia has a sad history of human rights abuses, spanning issues from\u00a0the 2013 law banning “propaganda of nontraditional relationships” to the imprisonment of Pussy Riot in 2012 for an act of free speech.\u00a0After researching\u00a0Pussy Riot, I am aware that they … Continue reading