This latest dispatch from CNN’s Matthew Chance on Russia’s human rights problem is very well done in that there is no specific news hook beyond the Politkvoskaya murder anniversary of last week, no fresh bodies slain in Moscow or Chechnya, and no court victories or setbacks, and no self-referential tomes of reports from the international NGOs being published.  It is precisely this lack of typical triggers which makes this a remarkable and rare piece – a presentation of the long laundry list of innocent people murdered for their work in human rights, and the clear track record of government disinterest and impunity.  We should really see more of these kinds of reports, but the machinerary of media is instead so quick to pick up with the next update Iran dithering, Sochi Olympics, World Cup bids, a fake rivalry in the diarchy, or Putin taking his shirt off.

Last 5 posts by Robert Amsterdam

• Russia's China Envy - November 23rd, 2009
• Video: Radio Free Europe and the Velvet Revolution - November 23rd, 2009
• Grigory Pasko: Yuri Luzhkov's Water Grab - November 23rd, 2009
• Who Helps Russia's Corrupt Get their Money Out? - November 23rd, 2009
• Sergei Magnitsky's Final Petition - November 23rd, 2009