Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who Kasparov criticizes in his speech for lacking the want or will to dismiss the prime minister and pave the way for a democratic state, was ironically also in Oslo at the time for an official visit to Norway and stayed in the same hotel as the rights advocates. The president, notes Kasparov, would have done well to attend the forum.

Other videos from the forum can be viewed by clicking here. As of this writing, a speech by renowned Chechen lawyer and rights activist Lidia Yusupova has not yet been posted, but is apparently forthcoming.

The ships will spend time around the Svalbard archipelago, entering waters that Norway claims are its own. Russia does not recognize a 200-mile fisheries territory around the islands that was defined by Norway in 1977. Russian fishermen have continued to frequent the area, and have periodically encountered the Norwegian navy, which claims they are fishing illegally. The resurgence of Russian patrols comes after requests from the State Fisheries Agency to support its fleet.

The archipelago, known as Spitsbergen in Russia, has a special international status. Although a Norwegian territory, a long-standing treaty allows Russia full access to all land-based mineral resources. The archipelago has two official languages, Norwegian and Russian, and Russian nationals may work on the islands without a visa. A Russian settlement, Barentsburg is in place on the largest island, Spitsbergen. Workers are primarily involved in coal extraction.

The naval press-service tried to make clear that its actions were justified, explaining that “all activities of Russia’s battleships are implemented in strict compliance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982.”

On a different front, another territorial dispute was bubbling to the surface. As the Associated Press reported on July 14th, a new Japanese educational manual describes a set of contested islands in the Russian far east as “Japanese territory, illegally occupied by Russia.” The manual, which will be used to teach junior high schools starting in 2012, also names a group of islands controlled by South Korea as its sovereign territory. Seoul has already withdrawn its envoy to Tokyo in protest.