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Russian Federation

Monthly Event Reports

August 2023 | Record number of treason cases filed

Russia is set to open more treason cases in 2023 than over the past twenty years combined, the independent Russian media outlet Kholod reported on 7 August. Kholod’s calculations were based on media reports, which it says necessarily undercounts ongoing cases as not all are made public, and reports of historical cases compiled by the legal advocacy group Team 29 (which was closed under state pressure in 2021). The overwhelming majority of the 82 current cases are against individuals accused of conspiring to support Ukraine, with the rest suspected of working for China, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Each case carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Civil society organizations argue that suspects charged with espionage are at high risk of torture in custody. 

July 2023 | Russia clamps down on trans rights

Russia outlawed both legal and surgical sex changes and gender-affirming care on 25 July. Transgender Russians will now also be banned from adopting children and marriages where at least one partner is transgender will be annulled. The law was sharply criticized by human rights advocates, and many trans Russians say they have no choice but to flee the country.

April 2023 | New laws expand toolbox of repression

Several bills signed into law on 28 April raised the maximum sentence for treason to life in prison, and allowed for depriving naturalized citizens of their citizenship for “discrediting” the armed forces. A decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on 27 April legalized the deportation of residents of illegally occupied Ukrainian territory who decline to take up Russian citizenship. The laws and decree are interpreted as providing the Russian state with more tools to punish and discourage dissent.

March 2023 | Forced deportation of children a war crime, UN says

A report by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine published on 15 March found that the hundreds of illegal transfers of children from occupied Ukraine to Russia constituted a war crime. The report also included evidence of other war crimes, including torture, rape, attacks on healthcare facilities, and summary executions. The International Criminal Court had previously issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova on 24 February for the removal of children from Ukraine.

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
143 446 060
System of government
Semi-Presidential system
Head of government
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (since 2020)
Head of government party
Independent
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
Parallel
Women in lower or single chamber
16.2%
Women in upper chamber
21.9%
Last legislative election
2021
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
3.14
Head of state
President Vladimir Putin
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
14/05/2018
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
60.25%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
No Action
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
in
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Categories of Democratic Performance

Representation neutral Representation
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Representation neutral Rights
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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
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Global State of Democracy Indices

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Representation
Representation
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/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Annual value

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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