Can’t teach an old dog new tricks. And this old dog was former head of the KGB.
Governments and rights organizations are decrying raids by Russian authorities on more than 2,000 international and domestic advocacy groups, what observers say is an unprecedented campaign to silence critics of the Kremlin.
In the past couple of weeks, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has conducted surprise inspections at hundreds of locations, including the offices of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Transparency International.
In addition, Russian groups that receive money from foreign donors have been targeted, as have religious groups, environmental advocates, and cultural exchange and education programs.
“This is an unprecedented crackdown on civil society in Russia that started in June with the adoption of a number of restrictive laws, which curtailed freedom of association, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression,” said Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. “There is a lot of poisonous anti-foreigner rhetoric and proposals for new laws; it is a very bad atmosphere.”