UN body tells Russia to act against human rights abuses
United Nations experts on Thursday called on Russia to repeal laws limiting free speech and targeting homosexuals and urged action to prevent torture, racist crimes and a wide range of other human rights abuses.
The 18-member Human Rights Committee also told Moscow it should move to prevent violation of UN pacts that it has signed by insurgents in eastern Ukraine and by the authorities in the Chechen republic, and in Crimea. The calls came in a report that indirectly drew a picture of a country rife with persecution of critics of the government and of groups that do not conform to its political and social views, and that gave no recourse to a proper judicial system. The 12-page document largely referred to reports of abuses and violent activities, including by what it called "ultra-nationalist, racist and neo-Nazi groups", and of torture of suspects by police.
