Kremlin Human Rights Advisor Resigns
Saturday 31 July 2010By EU Reporter Correspondents
Ella Pamfilova, President Medvedev's chief human rights advisor, has resigned her post having voiced sharp criticism of Russia's domestic policies and what she describes as the government's "failure to engage with civil society."
In March, Pamfilova told EU officials that Russia's democratic institutions were underdeveloped, and complained that she hadn't seen any significant changes in the sphere of civil rights. It is generally perceived that the human rights situation in Russia took a retrograde step during Vladimir Putin's presidency, it may be that whilst Medvedev has had a liberalising influence, Pamfilova was dissatisfied with his new Federal Security Bill, which restores certain Soviet-era powers to the security services. Some observers believe the new law will further enable the intimidation of journalists and political opponents.
Last week, Pamfilova published an open letter to Medvedev, calling on him to protect colleagues in Chechnya after Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed president of the republic,described human rights workers as “enemies of the state.”
Pamfilova is a former Deputy, and was a presidential candidate in 2000. Although appointed to her last position by Putin in 2002, she subsequently incurred the wrath of his United Russia Party by attacking the "Nashi" youth movement, believed to be responsible for numerous violent attacks on Putin's rivals and critics.