Some political experts say Amnesty International report on Russia based on opposition evaluations

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 23, 2013) Some political experts say that the annual report of Amnesty International human rights organization on the state of human rights in Russia is a political order based on statements coming from radical opposition.

“On the one hand, conclusions made in the report are based on the opinions of opposition radicals, on the other, they are aimed at convincing the global community of the Amnesty International’s efficiency,” head of political science department at the Higher School of Economics, Leonid Polyakov, said.

“Their reaction to the human rights situation in Russia in the past 15 years is standard and predictable and is based mostly on reports and statements of people involved in the anti-systemic radical opposition circle. Conclusions are always unmistakable in the sense that the Russian authorities have established an oppressive regime and are suppressing everyone and everything. This is a routine depiction of Russia as an international monster, who virtually eats children,” Polyakov told Interfax on Thursday.

Polyakov said that Amnesty International did not aspire to provide real help to protect human rights but to demonstrate its activities. “On the one hand, Amnesty International is obviously captive of its own stereotypes and sees the world a little differently than normal people living in Russia. On the other hand, certain political order for such researches and for creating such virtual picture definitely exists. It is quite weird to observe such research and even more weird that this research makes certain impression on the public,” Center for Political Information General Director, Alexei Mukhin, told Interfax.

Amnesty International has posted the annual report on the human rights state in the world on its website, criticizing in particular the Russian authorities.