WASHINGTON, May 26 (UPI) -- The Group of Eight summit that will be held in St. Petersburg could offer the international community a chance to pressure the Russian government into enacting greater reforms.
Oppression and human rights violations have reached Soviet-era levels say the leaders of two Russian non-governmental organizations.
"The space (for freedom) started closing down and today we have the feeling that it has closed down to the point of no return," said Tanya Lokshina, chairwoman of the Moscow-based think tank Demos, speaking Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Yuri Dzhibladze, president of the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, said the summit will provide "leverage" against Russia to make changes.
"If it wants to stay in the club, it has to play by democratic rules," he said, adding that they and other non-governmental organizations represent the "other Russia" that works for valid democracy.
"Unfortunately in the recent years we have witnessed a dramatic setback ... in human rights and democracy," Dzhibladze said. "Not only has Russia not moved but is actually moving backwards in many ways."
Lokshina said things are happening in Russia that she had never imagined, such as ominous visits by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to her office. Out of town on business during one such visit, she directed her staff to tell the FSB nothing.
It seemed like a "throwback to Soviet time," she said. Crackdowns have virtually eliminated independent media, opposition political parties and private businesses, she added. "NGOs are the only thing left."
But a new bill signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin in January threatens to put NGOs out of business as well. The law requires NGOs to reveal their sources of funding and monitor the media for coverage of their own activities, among other bureaucratic hurdles.
"The new administrative regulations are so difficult" they hinder NGOs from doing actual work, Lokshina said. Adhering to these new mandates will be almost impossible for her organization. Violations of the law lead to sanctions.
Lokshina and Dzhibladze say they are up against more than governmental restrictions. Apathy plagues the Russian people, as do alcoholism and depression, they said.
"Our main challenge is to inspire the Russian public," Lokshina said.
The Russian government has been delivering the message that human rights and democracy are "Western" values" and that "foreign governments are promoting their own selfish political interests," she said. Promoting professional exchanges and education could help convince Russian youth that "democracy is not a bad thing and that it will work in Russia."
"The culture of civic responsibility is not quite there yet," she said.
The decrepit state of the national health care system, "disregard" for the HIV/AIDS epidemic and continually declining life expectancy are human rights violations in themselves, Dzhibladze said.
The Chechnya conflict still threatens Russian security and democratic solidarity.
While "mainland" Russia is no longer particularly interested in the trial of Nurpashi Kulayev, the only surviving terrorist of the Beslan school massacre, the situation in Chechnya today deserves attention.
"It is scary," Lokshina said. "It is very criminal, lawless. Whatever is happening, positive or negative, it is outside the legal framework."
Chechnya hosts secret prisons where prisoners are detained and tortured, she said.
"It is a parallel reality and it's incredibly frightening."
