Vladimir Putin visited Lyudmilla Alexeeva yesterday at her home to wish her a happy 90th birthday. Alexeeva is a former Soviet dissident and one of the founders of the Moscow Helsinki Group, the oldest human rights organization currently in Russia. She has led the Moscow Helsinki Group for much of the post-Soviet era and is often referred to as the doyenne of Russia’s human rights movement.
It’s a hard to criticize Russia’s president for congratulating a living legend and someone who has done so much to promote the dignity of so many people in Russia. Putin thanked her for dedicating her life to people. Still, it’s hard grasp Putin saying this, given he has done so much to deliberately poison the very movement Alexeeva helped create and to which she devoted at least half of her 90 years.
Why did Putin visit her? Who knows? Was he sincere? Hardly. If he was he would call off his government’s campaign against Russia’s civil society, now in its fifth year. He would repeal the foreign agents law, which seeks to demonize independent advocacy groups, and makes it difficult for them to stay funded. He would order his Justice Ministry and prosecutor’s office to stop harassing other human rights groups, like Memorial, which has been fighting to stay alive against a barrage of serial lawsuits and crippling fines. And he would call off the notorious “undesirable organizations” law, which bans foreign and international organizations that the government likes to allege undermine Russia’s national security and constitutional rule, but so far has targeted American donors and democracy-promoting groups. He would also stop cracking down on peaceful protesters and show at least some respect for people’s right to free expression.
That would truly honor Alexeeva on her birthday – not to mention be a huge boon to Russian society.
