President Kadyrov’s debut as an official predator of press freedom comes as no surprise following last year’s surge in violence against journalists in the North Caucasus. The report cites 5 journalists killed in that region in 2009 alone, and 22 since 2000:

Often referred to as “Putin’s guard dog,” Ramzan Kadyrov shares the Russian prime minister’s taste for crude language and strong action. President and undisputed chief of this Russian republic in the North Caucasus since April 2007, he has restored a semblance of calm after the devastation of two wars. A high price has been paid for this superficial stability, the introduction of a lawless regime. Anyone questioning the policies of this “Hero of Russia” (an award he received from Putin in 2004) is exposed to deadly reprisals. Two fierce critics of the handling of the “Chechen issue,” reporter Anna Politkovskaya and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, were both gunned down – Politkovskaya in Moscow in October 2006 and Estemirova in Chechnya in July 2009. When human rights activists blamed him for their deaths, Kadyrov was dismissive: “That’s bullshit, that’s just gossip,” he said.

The report blames the Kremlin for buying Kadyrov’s loyalty and for using government-run media outlets to create the veneer of a legitimate press. The analysts were equally scathing of the prime minister himself:

“Control” is the key word for this former KGB officer: control of the state, control of the economic and political forces, control of geopolitical strategic interests and control of the media. The national TV stations now speak with a single voice. …The Nashi (Ours), a young patriotic guard created by the Kremlin in 2005 at the behest of Putin and others who lament Russia’s imperial decline, sues newspapers critical of the Soviet past or the current government when it is not staging actual manhunts. As well as manipulating groups and institutions, Putin has promoted a climate of pumped-up national pride that encourages the persecution of dissidents and freethinkers and fosters a level of impunity that is steadily undermining the rule of law.

Putin and Kadyrov found themselves among fifteen other presidents and prime ministers condemned as predators of press freedom, including Chinese President Hu Jintao, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. All over the world, says the organization, 9 journalists have been killed since the beginning of 2010, and another 300 are sitting behind bars. In Russia alone, the Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that 19 journalists have been murdered as a direct result of their work since 2000. A murder conviction has only been handed down in one of those cases.

As the report explains, freedom of the press has turned south under Putin, and has declined consistently since 1994. “Fourteen journalists have been slain in direct relation to their work during Putin’s tenure, making Russia the world’s third-deadliest nation for the press,” the report states. This ranking also includes other factors affecting the media in the past five years, such as state control of all three national television channels.

Disturbing new methods, including anti-terrorist legislation have also made reporters in the country susceptible to pressure from above. The most notable are new laws against so-called “extremist” speech, which have been applied to an increasing number of independent outlets. “Criticizing public officials and covering dissenting views are now outside the limits of permissible journalism,” the report reads. Other false legal attacks are also on the rise. “Provincial authorities used spurious charges such as infringing on copyright law and using counterfeit software to shutter independent and opposition outlets ahead of national elections.”

The Committee’s publication was presented on February 4th to the United Nations. According to their data, 65 journalists perished in the line of duty in 2007. The most dangerous country for the press was Iraq, where 170 journalists and mass-media employees were killed since March 2003.

Still, some human rights activists within Russia believe the report understates the problems in the country. CPJ metrics only include journalists whose death is directly connected with their professional duty, and do not count press assistants or support staff who have perished.

One group, the Glasnost Defense Foundation, writes that eight reporters perished in Russia in 2007, while CPJ counts one. “They mostly concentrate on whatever deaths foment scandals or whatever, while a great deal of journalists killed in the provinces are never even mentioned,” the group’s president, Aleksei Simonov, told Novye Izvestia. “Freedom of expression exists only in several newspapers, one radio broadcaster, and one program on the REN-TV channel,” he added. “All others play one and the same tune.”

We wonder if that last point included the very latest plan to revise the infamous extremism law promulgated last summer. The current “enhancement” is to eliminate the need for a court hearing to decide whether or not the statements in question constitute extremism, letting the prosecutor initiate criminal charges directly.

The Freedom House report places Russia’s press freedom together with Azerbaijan, right below Venezuela and Togo and right above Brunei and Swaziland, all deep into the “not free” point designation. The draft report section on Russia includes the following comments:

Media freedom was further curtailed in 2006 as President Vladimir Putin’s government passed legislation restricting news reporting and journalists were subjected to physical violence and intimidation. Although the Russian constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, authorities are able to use the legislative and judicial systems to harass and prosecute independent journalists. . . .

Despite public objections, Russia’s parliament also passed amendments to the Law on Fighting Extremist Activity, which Putin then signed in July. The measure expanded the definition of extremism to include media criticism of public officials, and authorized up to three years’ imprisonment for journalists as well as the suspension or closure of their publications if they were convicted. . . .

Authorities continued to exert influence on media outlets and determine news content in 2006. The state owns or controls significant stakes in the country’s three main national television networks: Channel One, Rossiya, and NTV. . . . During 2006, journalists continued to face criminal libel charges for printing and broadcasting statements that were unfavorable to public officials. Criminal courts also sentenced several journalists on charges of “inciting racial hatred” for publicizing controversial events in Chechnya. . . .

With online media developing and 16 percent of the population now online, the government also harassed some of Russia’s leading news websites.

The draft report also detailed the many journalists who were murdered in Russia in 2006, “likely for reasons tied to their work, according to media watchdogs.” Names that should not be forgotten: Anna Politkovskaya, Ilya Zemin, Vagif Kochetkov, Yevgeny Gerasimenko, Anatoly Voronin.