Around Russia

And you have blacks linked

December 29, 2011 Vladimir Kara-Murza (ml)

The Voice of America asks the Armenian radio: "What is the salary of the Soviet engineer?" After a three -day pause, the Armenian radio gives the answer: "And your blacks are linked."

(Soviet joke)

The report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation “On the situation with human rights in a number of states of the world”, published this week, should read it to everyone. “Our Hilary’s answer” - the obvious tracing paper from the annual reports of the US State Department - fit on 90 pages. 20 of them is a description of the situation in America, which, according to human rights activists from Smolensk Square, "far from the ideals proclaimed by Washington." By the way, countries like the DPRK, Syria or China are not on the Midovsky list. But in it there are such malicious violators of human rights as Great Britain, Finland and Canada. 14 out of 15 countries submitted in the report are recognized democracies, members of the European Union or NATO (the only exception is Georgia).

In addition to annoying lexical errors (“take measures”), the report is replete with phrases that the master of Soviet agitprop could envy. What, for example, are “sins of the British authorities” or “the situation with human rights in Canada continues to be difficult” (the classic one recalls: “The difficult journalistic fate brought me to Paris”). The “old systemic problems of American society” include, in particular, “corruption” and “imperfection of the electoral system”. Especially touching - against the background of thousands of protests against the falsified Duma elections - the Foreign Ministry is anxious about “blocking access to the elections and elected posts of independent candidates” in the United States (examples are not given), as well as restrictions on freedom of speech. “Increasingly, journalists in the United States lose their jobs because of their“ politically incorrect ”statements,” the authors of the report write. - So, in June 2010. Under the pressure of influential Jewish circles (highlighted by me-V.K.-M.), the legendary H. Tomas, who dared to criticize the actions of Israel regarding the Flotilla of Liberty, was forced to end his career.

Let me remind you that the “criticism of Israeli actions” from the lips of the “legendary” Helen Thomas was that she advised the Jews to “get out of Palestine to all hell”, namely, “home”, to Germany and Poland. Where they were relatively recently (when Thomas was already a conscious age) in millions were exterminated in gas chambers.

A significant part of the report (18 pages of 90) is devoted to the Baltic countries with traditional criticism of the “discriminatory course (...) regarding the Russian -language minority living there”. In particular, the Foreign Ministry indicates the “problem of providing“ non -citizens ”of passive and active suffrage in Latvia and active suffrage in Estonia in the municipal elections.” It is worth noting that in Russia, contrary to last year’s decision of the ECHR , hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Russian citizens who have a residence permit or dual citizenship are deprived of passive suffrage in any election. And all other Russian citizens are endowed with voting rights very conditionally.

The Russian authorities are accused of Lithuania of a “distorted look at history”, since local textbooks mention the “bloody Stalin” (the phrase “Bloody Stalin” in the report of the Russian Foreign Ministry is put in quotes). Perhaps Mr. Lavrov should be familiar with his subordinates, if not with the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in the CPSU case No. 9-P of November 30, 1992, then at least with the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU “On overcoming the cult of the personality and its consequences” dated 30.06.1956

They say that the end of authoritarian regimes comes when they cease to inspire fear and become ridiculous. If so, then employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and personally Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Supreme of Law Konstantin Konstantinovich Dolgov also made his small contribution to the inevitable and quickly completion of the Putin era.

The author is a historian, publicist, member of the Federal Political Council of the Solidarity movement