Defending Human Rights in Russia: Sergei Kovalyov, Dissident and Human Rights Commisioner, 1969-96 (Basees Curzon Series on Russian & East European Studies)

Sergei Kovalyov is a central figure in the struggle for human rights in Russia. He was a leading Soviet biology academic and, in the 1970s after becoming active in dissident circles, was arrested by the KGB, tried, imprisoned and subjected to internal exile. After his release, he continued to work for human rights, eventually becoming chairman of the Soviet Human Rights Committee and chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission, in which positions he was extremely influential in framing human rights provisions in post-Communist Russia. He subsequently took President Yeltsin to task for human rights failings, eventually resigning in protest. This book, by tracing Kovalyov's political career, shows how human rights developed in Russia in late Soviet and post Soviet times. "Sergei Kovalyov is a central figure in the struggle for human rights in Russia. He was a leading Soviet biologist and, in the 1970s after becoming active in dissident circles, was arrested by the KGB, tried, imprisoned and subjected to internal exile. After his release, he continued to work for human rights, eventually becoming chairman of the Supreme Soviet Human Rights Committee and chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission. He rose to become Russia's first Human Rights Commissioner under President Yeltsin, in which he was extremely influential in framing human rights provisions in post-Communist Russia. He subsequently took President Yeltsin to task for the tragic war in the southern republic of Chechnya, eventually resigning in protest Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Series Title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedications......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 11 1. Dissidentstvo......Page 18 2. The Dissident Nomenklatura......Page 69 3. The Supreme Soviet Human Rights Committee......Page 88 4. The Presidential Human Rights Commission......Page 139 5. The Chechen War 1994–96......Page 159 6. Troubling Times......Page 201 Conclusion......Page 210 Appendix 1......Page 215 Appendix 2......Page 218 Appendix 3......Page 220 Bibliography......Page 222 Index......Page 231 Introduction Dissidentstvo The dissident nomenklatura The Supreme Soviet Human Rights Committee The Presidential Human Rights Commission The Chechen War 1994 - 1996 Troubling times. This book, by tracing Kovalyov's political career, shows his attempts to shape a new human rights culture in Russia in the late Soviet and post-Soviet era."--Jacket