Human Rights
Thursday 4 October 2018
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Some media outlets are “pushing through a theory that Mr. Skripal is some sort of a rights activist. He’s plainly a spy. A traitor to his homeland. There’s such a thing – being a traitor to the homeland. He is one … Imagine, if there’s a person in your country who betrayed it. How would you treat him? He’s plainly scum.”
From little fish to Russian spy, the Western media has never attempted to beatify Sergei Skripal, despite Putin’s claim to the contrary. -
“The Ukrainian authorities want to completely seize the Ukrainian Church, to outlaw it, and for this purpose various kinds of bills are being created. For example, there is such a bill that says the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be renamed ‘the Russian Church in Ukraine’.”
The Ukrainian patriarch suggested changing the name of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate to accurately reflect its affiliation. He did not advocate violence against the Church. -
“For six months we have been demanding, asking, and citing the legal grounds for getting consular access to the Russian citizen Yulia Skripal. In various forms, on various obviously far-fetched pretexts, we are not allowed to do this.”
Yulia Skripal said she was aware of the consulate’s offers and refused to meet with consular officials on her own volition. -
Would Visiting the U.S. Help Vladimir Putin ‘Humanize' His Adversary? Fact: Putin Visited Nine Times
“Indeed it is arguable that without his prolonged visit to the U.S. in 1959, Khrushchev may not have been so willing to accommodate JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis three years later in 1962 – the reason being that only in visiting the country or countries of his adversaries is a leader able to humanize it beyond the realm of geopolitical differences. In 2018, due to the unbounded anti-Russia fever that has Washington in its grip, it is highly unlikely that any such visit to the U.S. by Russian President Vladimir Putin will be taking place anytime soon, nor to Russia by his U.S. counterpart, President Trump. In this respect at least, the hard lessons of the twentieth century have been lost.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has much more experience “visiting the country of his adversaries,” with his nine publicly known visits to the U.S., than did Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who only visited America once. Thus, the author’s argument is baseless. -
Representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) called the information from Russia’s FSB on the Ukrainian agency’s cooperation with the international terrorist organization ‘Islamic State’ … ‘another fake.’”
The FSB provided no evidence to back up the allegation that that the SBU, the Islamic State, or the right-wing group Pravy Sektor was involved in a murder plot against a man who worked as a pro-Russian operative in Ukraine. -
“In general, the situation during the united Election Day remained calm.”
Independent media reported clashes between the protesters and the police with scores detained in multiple regions during the election day in Russia. -
“In our country, the average salary of women is 74% of the average salary of men. However, you can console yourself with the fact that in 2005 this figure was only 60%. It seems that there have been changes for the better. But the gap still persists, and it is large.”
If we proceed from Rosstat’s estimates, the gap between the salaries of men and women in Russia is 28.3%. After shrinking to its lowest level in 2013 (25.8%), it has since increased. -
Commenting on the chemical attack that allegedly took place on Syrian territory, Lavrov noted that ‘such situations have happened in the past -- 2016, Khan-Sheikhoun, 2017, East Ghouta.’ As the minister recalled, in the first case Russia insisted on an OPCW inspection, but ‘Western colleagues blocked the inspectors’ way’."
It was not the Western countries that tried to block OPCW inspections in Syria. Rather, Russia and the Syrian government have tried to block such inspections, and Russia has used its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to impede investigations into the use of chemical weapons in Syria. -
“Russian Defence Ministry: English-speaking ‘foreign specialists’ have arrived in #Syria to attempt staging chlorine chemical attack early this week. Latest intel indicates the hoax is planned to take place in the village of Kafr Zita (Hama province) #HoaxAlert”
The photograph is of the set of a Syrian government film. No evidence has ever been provided showing that rebels or their supporters staged a chemical attack anywhere in Syria. -
"We noted the participation of the United Nations Office (UNO) in the evacuation of the White Helmets, the UNO confirmed their involvement in these events. The UNHCR thereby supports the disinformation campaign [in Syria], arranged by these ‘fearless humanitarian workers.’ This is at the very least a big mistake."
The disinformation campaign about the White Helmets led by the Russia and Assad calls the White Helmets “terrorist collaborators,” without providing any proof. In fact, the volunteers work under the 1949 Geneva Convention to protect civilians in the Syria conflict zones. -
“Legal religious activities are not only allowed in any region of China, but also well protected. However in an attempt to divide China's national unity, many Western forces have repeatedly made an issue of the country's religious freedom, making groundless claims that religious groups are suppressed in China.”
A human rights organization and the media cite evidence from inside China and eyewitnesses that members of Muslim minorities are subject to surveillance, arrest, and “reeducation camps” due to their religious affiliation. -
“The head of the Russian Lower House Committee for Eurasian Integration says the recent proposal to split Russia into several parts, voiced by a Latvian MP, is proof of NATO’s hostile plans.”
The “proposal” was only a tweet by a minority party Latvian MP who claimed that Russia would be at peace with its neighbors if it was divided along ethnic lines. He did not suggest that NATO or any outside force should do this.