Georgia Makes the Call: Russian Discrimination based on Ethnic Grounds. Bad Press from Reporters Without Borders.

Human Rights Violations

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry has made a complaint with the UN High Commisioner for Human Rights.

The complaint has to do with Russia’s crackdown on illegal migrants of Georgian descent, which followed Georgia’s detention of four Russian diplomats last month. Russia’s response has been adequate in terms of foreign policy — the country has exercised restraing and not acted with military force (as, Israel did, this summer). Domestically, however, Russia has failed miserably exercising a policy of ethnic-based discrimination, going as far as asking schools for lists of Georgian students.

Press Freedom Index

Reporters Without Borders published its list of dangerous places to be a journalist. While North Korea has topped the list yet again, Russia does not have a favourable position either: the former super-power was 147 (out of 168 countries). The most recent example of the danger being the murder of Journalist Anna Politkovsaya.

It’s been a week of bad PR for Russia. And rightly so.