Human rights in the Soviet Union 87382 214105317 2008-05-22T03:02:00Z Biophys 2497317 /* Soviet conception of human rights */ - link [[Image:NKVD Dungeon.jpg|thumb|250px|A prisoner about to be shot by [[NKVD]] [[executioner]]s. Painting by [[Nikolai Getman]], provided by the [[Jamestown Foundation]]]] The [[Soviet Union]] was a [[single-party state]] where the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] officially ruled the country according to the Soviet [[constitution]] <ref name="SovietConst"> [http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/r100000_.html Constitution of the Soviet Union. Preamble] </ref>. All key positions in the institutions of the state were occupied by members of the Communist Party. The state proclaimed its adherence to [[Marxism-Leninism]] ideology that restricts rights of citizens on the [[private property]]. The entire population was mobilized in support of the state [[ideology]] and policies. Independent political activities were not tolerated, including the involvement of people with free [[labour union]]s, private [[corporation]]s, non-sanctioned [[church]]es or opposition [[political party|political parties]]. The regime maintained itself in [[political power]] by means of [[secret police]], [[propaganda]] disseminated through the state-controlled [[mass media]], [[personality cult]], restriction of [[freedom of speech|free discussion and criticism]], the use of [[mass surveillance]], and widespread use of [[Terrorism|terror]] tactics, such as political purges and persecution of specific groups of people. Therefore, the Soviet Union was regarded as a [[totalitarian]] state by prominent historians, such as [[Robert Conquest]], [[Richard Pipes]], [[Hannah Arendt]], [[Carl Friedrich]], [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], and [[Juan Linz]] (see [[Criticisms of Communist party rule]]). ==Soviet conception of human rights== Soviet people have been deprived of their basic [[civil liberties]] including the [[Criminal justice|protection of law]], the rights of [[Freedom of assembly|assembly]] and [[Freedom of association|association]], and [[Property rights|guarantees of property]]. Moreover, the entire Western concept of the "[[rule of law]]" was officially rejected by [[People's court (Soviet Union)|Soviet justice]]. According to Western legal theory, "it is the individual who is the beneficiary of human rights which are to be asserted ''against'' the government", whereas Soviet law claimed the opposite <ref>Lambelet, Doriane. "The Contradiction Between Soviet and American Human Rights Doctrine: Reconciliation Through Perestroika and Pragmatism." 7 ''Boston University International Law Journal''. 1989. p. 61-62.</ref>. Crime was determined not as the infraction of law, but by its perceived potential consequences, as any action dangerous to society, which threatens the foundations of the Soviet state. For example, [[Speculation|a desire to make a profit]] could be interpreted as a [[Counter-revolutionary|counter-revolutionary activity]] punishable by death. [[Dekulakization|The liquidation and deportation of millions peasants in 1928-31]] was carried out within the terms of Soviet Civil Code <ref name="regime"> [[Richard Pipes]] ''Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime'', Vintage books, Random House Inc., New York, 1995, ISBN 0-394-50242-6, pages 402-403 </ref>. According to some Soviet legal scholars, there are "instances in which criminal repression is applied also in the absence of guilt"<ref name="regime"/>. According to [[Soviet propaganda]], each individual had to sacrifice his civil rights and desires to fulfill the needs of the [[collective]]. It was claimed that Soviet state had provided all necessary rights, including the provision of basic health care, adequate nutrition, and the right to an education. ==Loss of life== The number of people killed under Joseph Stalin's regime in the Soviet Union has been estimated as between 3.5 and 8 million by G. Ponton,<ref name="Ponton"> Ponton, G. (1994) ''The Soviet Era.''</ref> 6.6 million by V. V. Tsaplin,<ref name="Tsaplin"> Tsaplin, V.V. (1989) ''Statistika zherty naseleniya v 30e gody.''</ref> 9.5 million by [[Alec Nove]],<ref name="NoveStalin"> Nove, Alec. ''Victims of Stalinism: How Many?'', in ''Stalinist Terror: New Perspectives'' (edited by [[J. Arch Getty]] and Roberta T. Manning), [[Cambridge University Press]], 1993. ISBN 0-521-44670-8.</ref> 20 million by [[The Black Book of Communism]],<ref name="Black"> Bibliography: Courtois et al. The Black Book of Communism </ref> 50 million by [[Norman Davies]],<ref name="Davies"> Davies, Norman. ''Europe: A History'', Harper Perennial, 1998. ISBN 0-06-097468-0.</ref> and 61 million by [[R. J. Rummel]].<ref name="RummelStalin"> Bibliography: Rummel.</ref> The numbers of victims are inconsistent because they are determined using different criteria and methods and counted during different periods of time. Most recent publications are probably more reliable, since after the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], researchers gained access to Soviet archives. [[Image:Moving Out.jpg|thumb|250px|thumb|right|[[Nikolai Getman]], Moving out]] ==Political repression== {{main|Soviet political repressions}} Soviet political repression was a ''de facto'' and ''de jure'' system of prosecution of people who were or perceived to be enemies of the [[Soviet system]]. Its theoretical basis were the theory of [[Marxism]] about the [[class struggle]] and the resulting notion of the [[dictatorship of the proletariat]]. Its legal basis was formalized into the [[Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)|Article 58 ]] in the code of [[RSFSR]] and similar articles for other [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet republic]]s. [[Aggravation of class struggle under socialism]] was proclaimed. An extensive network of civilian [[informants]] - either volunteers, or those forcibly recruited - was used to collect intelligence for the government and report cases of suspected dissent.<ref name="Informants"> Koehler, John O. Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police. Westview Press. 2000. ISBN 0-8133-3744-5</ref> [[Image:Kersnovskaya Lucky Car.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya]] Birth in a prison car for [[Deportation of Romanians in the Soviet Union|Bessarabian deportees]]]] The term "repression", "terror", and other strong words were normal working terms, since the dictatorship of the proletariat was supposed to suppress the resistance of other [[social class]]es which Marxism considered antagonistic to the class of [[proletariat]]. The entire "[[ruling class]]es" have been exterminated, including "rich people", and a significant part of [[intelligentsia]] and peasantry labeled as [[kulaks]]. The numerous victims of [[extrajudicial punishment]] were called the [[Enemy of the people|enemies of the people]]. The punishment by the state included [[summary execution]]s, [[torture]], sending innocent people to [[Gulag]], [[Involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union|involuntary settlement]], and [[Lishenets|stripping of citizen's rights]]. Usually, all members of a family, including children, were punished simultaneously as "[[NKVD Order № 00486|traitor of Motherland family members]]". The repressions have been conducted by [[Cheka]], [[OGPU]] and [[NKVD]] in several consecutive waves known as [[Red Terror]], [[Collectivisation in the USSR|Collectivisation]], [[Great Purge]], [[Doctor's Plot]], and others. The [[secret police]] forces conducted [[NKVD prisoner massacres|massacres of prisoners]] at numerous occasions. The repressions against "ruling classes" and general population were practiced in [[Soviet republics]] and at the territories "liberated" by [[Soviet Army]] during [[World War II]], including [[Baltic States]], [[Eastern Europe]], [[China]], and [[North Korea]]. State repression led to uprisings, which were brutally suppressed by military force, like the [[Tambov rebellion]], [[Kronstadt rebellion]], or [[Vorkuta Uprising]]. During Tambov rebellion, Soviet military forces widely used [[chemical weapons]] against civilians. <ref name="Tambov"> [http://gulag.ipvnews.org/article20061017.php Fragments from ''Tambov rebellion'' by B.V. Sennikov (Russian)] </ref> Most prominent citizens of villages were often taken as [[hostages]] and executed if the resistance fighters did not surrender. After Stalin's death, the suppression of dissent was dramatically reduced and took new forms. The internal critics of the system were convicted for [[anti-Soviet agitation]] or as [[Parasitism (social offense)|"social parasites"]]. Others were labeled as mentally ill, having [[sluggishly progressing schizophrenia]] and incarcerated in "[[Psikhushka]]s", i.e. [[mental hospitals]] used by the Soviet authorities as prisons<ref name="Psyche"> [http://hrw.org/reports/2002/china02/china0802-02.htm#P397_91143 The Soviet Case: Prelude to a Global Consensus on Psychiatry and Human Rights. Human Rights Watch. 2005]</ref>. A few notable dissidents were sent to internal or external exile, as [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]], [[Vladimir Bukovsky]], and [[Andrei Sakharov]]. ==Genocide == [[Image:Holodomor.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ukrainian Famine Victim, 1933]] Entire nations have been collectively punished by the Soviet Government for alleged collaboration with the enemy during [[World War II]]. In legal terms, the word "[[genocide]]" may be appropriate because specific ethnic groups were targeted. At least nine of distinct ethnic-linguistic groups, including [[History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union|ethnic Germans]], ethnic [[Greeks]], [[Polish minority in the Soviet Union|ethnic Poles]], [[Crimean Tatars]], [[Balkars]], [[Chechen people|Chechen]]s, and [[Kalmyk deportations of 1944|Kalmyks]], were deported to remote unpopulated areas of [[Siberia]] and [[Kazakhstan]]. It is commonly accepted that the [[Population transfer in the Soviet Union| ethnicity-targeted population transfers]] in the Soviet Union led to millions of deaths due to the inflicted hardships. [[Deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union|Koreans]] and [[Deportation of Romanians in the Soviet Union|Romanians]] were also deported. [[Mass operations of the NKVD]] were needed to [[deport]] hundreds of thousands of people. The deaths of millions of people in [[Ukraine]] during the [[Holodomor]] [[famine]] of 1932&ndash;1933 was, according to many historians, caused intentionally by confiscating all food and blocking the migration of starving population by the [[Government of the Soviet Union|Soviet government]]. The number of Holodomor victims was estimated by [[Robert Conquest]] at 5 million.<ref name="Conquest"> Bibliography: Conquest. The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine.</ref> The overall number of [[peasant]]s who died in 1930&ndash;1937 from [[hunger]] and [[Soviet political repressions|repression]]s during [[Collectivisation in the USSR|collectivisation]] (including in [[Kavkaz]] and [[Kazakhstan]]) was at least 14.5 million.<ref name="Conquest"/> More than a million of people died earlier during other [[droughts and famines in Russia and the USSR]]. ==Freedom of expression, literature, and science== {{main|Suppressed research in the Soviet Union}} {{main|Socialist Realism}} [[Censorship in the Soviet Union]] was pervasive and strictly enforced <ref name="FreeSpeech"> [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former). Chapter 9 - Mass Media and the Arts. The Library of Congress. Country Studies] </ref>. This gave rise to [[Samizdat]], a clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature. [[Art]], [[literature]], [[education]], and [[science]] were placed under a strict ideological scrutiny, since they were supposed to serve the interests of the victorious [[proletariat]]. [[Socialist realism]] is an example of such teleologically-oriented art that promoted [[socialism]] and [[communism]]. All humanities and social sciences were tested for strict accordance with [[historical materialism]]. All natural sciences have to be founded on the philosophical base of [[dialectical materialism]]. Many scientific disciplines, such as [[genetics]], [[cybernetics]], and [[comparative linguistics]], were [[Suppressed research in the Soviet Union|suppressed in the Soviet Union]], condemned as "[[bourgeois pseudoscience]]", and replaced by real [[pseudoscience]], such as [[Lysenkoism]]. Many prominent scientists were declared to be "[[Wrecking (Soviet crime)|wrecklers]]" or [[enemy of the people]] and imprisoned. Some scientists worked as prisoners in "[[Sharashka]]s", i.e. research and development laboratories within the [[Gulag]] labor camp system. Every large enterprise or institution of the Soviet Union had [[First Department]] run by [[KGB]] people responsible for secrecy and political security of the workplace. ==Right to vote== {{main|Soviet democracy}} According to [[Soviet propaganda|communist ideologists]], the [[Soviet democracy|Soviet political system]] was a true democracy, where [[workers' councils]] called "soviets" represented the will of the [[working class]]. In particular, the [[1936 Soviet Constitution|Soviet Constitution of 1936]] guaranteed direct [[universal suffrage]] with the [[secret ballot]]. However all candidates had been selected by Communist party organizations, at least before the June 1987 elections. Historian [[Robert Conquest]] described this system as "a set of phantom institutions and arrangements which put a human face on the hideous realities: [[1936 Soviet Constitution|a model constitution]] adopted in [[Great purge|a worst period of terror]] and guaranteeing human rights, elections in which there was only one candidate, and in which 99 percent voted; a parliament at which no hand was ever raised in opposition or abstention." <ref name="reflections"> [[Robert Conquest]] ''Reflections on a Ravaged Century'' (2000) ISBN 0-393-04818-7, page 97 </ref> ==Property rights== [[Personal property]] was allowed, with certain limitations. All [[real property]] belonged to the state. Unauthorized possession of foreign [[currency]] was forbidden and prosecuted as [[criminal offense]]. ==Freedoms of assembly and association== Freedoms of [[Freedom of assembly|assembly]] and [[Freedom of association|association]] did not exist. Workers were not allowed to organize free [[trade union]]s. [[Trade unions in the Soviet Union|All existing trade unions]] were organized and controlled by the state<ref name="Unions"> [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former). Chapter 5. Trade Unions. The Library of Congress. Country Studies. 2005.] </ref>. All political youth organizations, such as [[Pioneer movement]] and [[Komsomol]] served to enforce the policies of the Communist Party. ==Freedom of religion== {{main|Religion in the Soviet Union}} The Soviet Union was an officially [[atheistic]] state. The stated goal was control, suppression, and, ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs. Atheism was propagated through schools, communist organizations, and the media. The [[Society of the Godless]] was created. All religious movements were either prosecuted or controlled by the state and [[KGB]]. ==Freedom of movement== {{main|Passport system in the Soviet Union}} Emigration and any travel abroad were not allowed without an explicit permission from the government. People who were not allowed to leave the country are known as [[Refusenik (Soviet Union)|"refuseniks"]]. [[Passport system in the Soviet Union]] restricted migration of citizens within the country through "[[propiska]]" (residential permit/registration system) and use of [[internal passport]]s. For a long period of the Soviet history peasants did not have [[internal passport]]s and could not move into towns without permission. Many former inmates received "[[Wolf ticket (Russia)|wolf ticket]]" and were allowed to live only at [[101st kilometre|101 km away from city borders]]. Travel to [[Closed city|closed cities]] and to the regions near USSR state borders was strongly restricted. ==References== <references/> ==Bibliography== *Applebaum, Anne (2003) ''[[Gulag: A History]]''. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0056-1 *Conquest, Robert (1991) ''[[The Great Terror]]: A Reassessment''. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-507132-8. *Conquest, Robert (1986) ''The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505180-7. *Courtois, Stephane; Werth, Nicolas; Panne, Jean-Louis; Paczkowski, Andrzej; Bartosek, Karel; Margolin, Jean-Louis & Kramer, Mark (1999). ''The [[Black Book of Communism]]: Crimes, Terror, Repression''. [[Harvard University Press]]. ISBN 0-674-07608-7. *Khlevniuk, Oleg & Kozlov, Vladimir (2004) ''The History of the Gulag : From Collectivization to the Great Terror (Annals of Communism Series)'' Yale University Pres. ISBN 0-300-09284-9. *Pipes, Richard (2001) ''Communism'' Weidenfled and Nicoloson. ISBN 0-297-64688-5 *Pipes, Richard (1994) ''Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime''. Vintage. ISBN 0-679-76184-5. *Rummel, R.J. (1996) ''Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1917''. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 1-56000-887-3. *Yakovlev, Alexander (2004). ''A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia.'' Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10322-0. ==External links== *[http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/musframe.htm Museum of Communism] **[http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/faqframe.htm Museum of Communism FAQ] *[http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM How many did the Communist regimes murder?] *[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/about/ The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation] *[[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] (2006) [http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta06/Eres1481.htm Res. 1481 Need for international condemnation of crimes of totalitarian communist regimes] *[http://www.angelfire.com/de/Cerskus/english/links1.html Crimes of Soviet Communists] — Wide collection of sources and links *[http://www.demokratizatsiya.org/Dem%20Archives/DEM%2001-04%20armes.pdf Chekists in Cassocks: The Orthodox Church and the KGB] - by Keith Armes *[http://www.romanitas.ru/eng/THE%20BATTLE%20FOR%20THE%20RUSSIAN%20ORTHODOX%20CHURCH.htm The battle for the Russian Orthodox Church] - by Vladimir Moss *[http://cmpage.org/betrayal/chapt5.html The Betrayal of the Church] - by Edmund W. Robb and Julia Robb, 1986 ==See also== *[[Soviet democracy]] *[[Human rights in Russia]] *[[Stalinism]] ===For other articles on the topic see: === *[[:Category:Political repression in the Soviet Union]] *[[:Category:Victims of Soviet repressions]] *[[:Category:Gulag]] *[[:Category:Forced migration in the Soviet Union]] *[[:Category:Soviet and Russian intelligence agencies]] *[[:Category:Law enforcement in the Soviet Union]] *[[:Category:NKVD]] *[[:Category:Soviet phraseology]] *[[:Category:Rebellions in Russia]] *[[:Category:Moscow Helsinki Watch Group]] *[[:Category:Soviet dissidents]] *[[:Category:Sharashka inmates]] *[[:Category:Exonerated Soviet death sentences]] *[[:Category:Prisons in Russia]] [[Category:Human rights by country]] [[Category:Political repression in the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Soviet state]] [[Category:Soviet Union]] [[es:Derechos humanos en la URSS]] [[ru:Права человека в СССР]]