Citizendia

A prisoner about to be shot by NKVD executioners. Painting by Nikolai Getman, provided by the Jamestown Foundation
A prisoner about to be shot by NKVD executioners. The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat For other meanings of the term see Executioner (disambiguation. Painting by Nikolai Getman, provided by the Jamestown Foundation

The Soviet Union was a single-party state where the Communist Party officially ruled the country according to the Soviet constitution [1]. Nikolai Getman (Николай Гетман Микола Ґетьман an artist was born in 1917 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and died at his home in Orel, The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington DC -based Think tank, whose stated mission is to "inform and educate" policy makers about events and trends which The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of Party system Government in which a single Political party A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity 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. Marxism-Leninism is a Communist ideological stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency amongst the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted Property is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual The entire population was mobilized in support of the state ideology and policies. An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics Independent political activities were not tolerated, including the involvement of people with free labour unions, private corporations, non-sanctioned churches or opposition political parties. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral The regime maintained itself in political power by means of secret police, propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, personality cult, restriction of free discussion and criticism, the use of mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror tactics, such as political purges and persecution of specific groups of people. Political power ( Imperium in Latin is a type of power held by a group in a Society which allows administration of some or all of Secret police (sometimes political police) are a Police agency which operates in Secrecy to maintain National security against internal Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses Mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation. Mass surveillance is the pervasive Surveillance of an entire population or a substantial fraction thereof Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion 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). Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a concept used to describe Political systems where a State regulates nearly every aspect of public and private Dr George Robert Ackworth Conquest (born July 15 1917) British Historian, became a well known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union Richard Edgar Pipes (born July 11, 1923) is an American historian who specializes in Russian history, particularly with respect to the history of the Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski (Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ˈzbigɲev bʐɛˈʑiɲski: (born March 28 1928 Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish-American Juan José Linz (born 24 December 1926 in Bonn, Germany) is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Yale This article only discusses criticisms that are specific to Communist states and not necessarily to other forms of socialism

Contents

Soviet conception of human rights

Soviet people have been deprived of their basic civil liberties including the protection of law, the rights of assembly and association, and guarantees of property. thumb| |Broken Liberty Istanbul Archaeology Museum Civil liberties are freedoms that protect the Individual from the Government. Criminal justice is the system of practices and organizations used by national and local governments directed at maintaining Social control, deterring Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the Freedom of association, is the Individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively Freedom of association is the Individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express promote pursue and defend common interests Property is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual Moreover, the entire Western concept of the "rule of law" was officially rejected by Soviet justice. The rule of law, in its most basic form is the principle that no one is above the law People's court in the late Soviet Union is a Court of first instance which handled the majority of civil and criminal offenses as well as certain Administrative 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 [2]. 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, a desire to make a profit could be interpreted as a counter-revolutionary activity punishable by death. Speculation, in a financial context is making an investment that increases the overall risk in a portfolio A counter-revolutionary is anyone who opposes a Revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it in full or in part The liquidation and deportation of millions peasants in 1928-31 was carried out within the terms of Soviet Civil Code [3]. Dekulakization (раскулачивание was the Soviet campaign of Political repressions including Arrests, Deportations and Executions According to some Soviet legal scholars, there are "instances in which criminal repression is applied also in the absence of guilt"[3].

According to Soviet propaganda, each individual had to sacrifice his civil rights and desires to fulfill the needs of the collective. The Communist propaganda was extensively based on the Marxism-Leninism ideology to promote the Communist Party line A collective is a group of people who share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together on a specific project(s to achieve a common objective 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,[4] 6. 6 million by V. V. Tsaplin,[5] 9. 5 million by Alec Nove,[6] 20 million by The Black Book of Communism,[7] 50 million by Norman Davies,[8] and 61 million by R. J. Rummel. Alexander Nove FRSE, FBA ( 24 November 1915, Saint Petersburg - 15 May 1994, Glasgow) was a Professor The Black Book of Communism Crimes Terror Repression is a book which describes a history of Repressions both Political and Civilian, by Ivor Norman Richard Davies Fellow of the British Academy (born 8 June 1939 to Richard and Elizabeth Davies Rudolph Joseph Rummel (born October 21, 1932) is Professor emeritus of Political science at the University of Hawaii. [9] 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. The Soviet Union 's collapse into independent nations began early in 1985

Nikolai Getman, Moving out
Nikolai Getman, Moving out

Political repression

Main article: 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. Nikolai Getman (Николай Гетман Микола Ґетьман an artist was born in 1917 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and died at his home in Orel, The Political system of the Soviet Union was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU the only party permitted by Its theoretical basis were the theory of Marxism about the class struggle and the resulting notion of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Class struggle is the active expression of Class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective The " dictatorship of the proletariat " or workers' state is a term employed by Marxists that refers to what they see as a temporary state between the Its legal basis was formalized into the Article 58 in the code of RSFSR and similar articles for other Soviet republics. Article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code was put in force on February 25, 1927 to arrest those suspected of counter-revolutionary activities The Republics of the Soviet Union were according to the Article 76 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, Sovereign Soviet Socialist states that had united with other Aggravation of class struggle under socialism was proclaimed. The theory of aggravation of the class struggle along with the development of socialism was one of the cornerstones of Stalinism in the internal Politics of the 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. [10]

Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya Birth in a prison car for Bessarabian deportees
Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya Birth in a prison car for 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 classes which Marxism considered antagonistic to the class of proletariat. Eufrosinia Antonovna Kersnovskaya (Евфросиния Антоновна Керсновская January 8, 1908 &mdash March 8, 1994) The Soviet deportations from Bessarabia were part of Joseph Stalin 's policy of political repressions (see Population transfer in the Soviet Union) Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. The proletariat (from Latin la ''proles'' "offspring" is a term used to identify a lower Social class; a member of such a class is proletarian The entire "ruling classes" have been exterminated, including "rich people", and a significant part of intelligentsia and peasantry labeled as kulaks. The term ruling class refers to the Social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy For the coffee shop company often called Intelligentsia for short see Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea. Kulaks ( Russian: кула́к kulak " Fist ", by extension "tight-fisted" were a category of rich Peasants in later The numerous victims of extrajudicial punishment were called the enemies of the people. Extrajudicial punishment is Punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a Court or legal authority The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term The punishment by the state included summary executions, torture, sending innocent people to Gulag, involuntary settlement, and stripping of citizen's rights. A summary execution is a type of Extrajudicial punishment in which a person is killed on the spot without Trial. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Forced settlements in the Soviet Union took several forms Though the most notorious was the Gulag Labor camp system of Penal labor, resettling of entire A lishenets ( Russian: лишенец from Russian word лишение "deprivation" properly translated in this context as a disenfranchised, was a person Usually, all members of a family, including children, were punished simultaneously as "traitor of Motherland family members". The NKVD Order № 00486 instructed about repression of wives of Enemy of the people also known as "traitors of the Motherland members of Right- The repressions have been conducted by Cheka, OGPU and NKVD in several consecutive waves known as Red Terror, Collectivisation, Great Purge, Doctor's Plot, and others. The Cheka ( ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya,) was the first of a succession of Soviet State security The State Political Directorate was the Secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( RSFSR) and the Soviet Union from 1922 until The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The Red Terror in Soviet Russia was the campaign of mass arrests and Executions conducted by the Bolshevik government Collectivization in the Soviet Union was a policy pursued under Stalin, between 1928 and 1940(much later for areas further away from capital to consolidate individual Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution The Doctors' plot ( Russian language: дело врачей (doctors' affair врачи-вредители (doctors-saboteurs or врачи-убийцы The secret police forces conducted massacres of prisoners at numerous occasions. Secret police (sometimes political police) are a Police agency which operates in Secrecy to maintain National security against internal The massacre of prisoners refers to a series of mass executions committed by the Soviet NKVD against prisoners in Poland, the Baltic states, 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. The Republics of the Soviet Union were according to the Article 76 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, Sovereign Soviet Socialist states that had united with other The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Baltic states (Balti riigid Baltijas valstis Baltijos valstybės or Baltic countries are three countries in Northern Europe, all members of the Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia,

State repression led to uprisings, which were brutally suppressed by military force, like the Tambov rebellion, Kronstadt rebellion, or Vorkuta Uprising. The Tambov Rebellion of 1919&ndash1921 was one of the largest and best organized peasant rebellions against the Bolshevik regime during the Russian Civil War This article is about the historical event known as the Kronstadt rebellion The Vorkuta Uprising was a major uprising of the Concentration camp inmates in Vorkuta in July-August 1953 shortly after arrest of Lavrentiy Beria. During Tambov rebellion, Soviet military forces widely used chemical weapons against civilians. Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of Chemical substances to kill injure or incapacitate an enemy. [11] Most prominent citizens of villages were often taken as hostages and executed if the resistance fighters did not surrender. A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security

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 "social parasites". Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (ASA (Антисоветская агитация и пропаганда (АСА was a Criminal offence in Soviet Union. This article describes parasitism as a social offense in Human Society. Others were labeled as mentally ill, having sluggishly progressing schizophrenia and incarcerated in "Psikhushkas", i. Sluggishly progressing schizophrenia or sluggish schizophrenia was a category of Schizophrenia diagnosed by Psychiatrists in the Soviet In the Soviet Union, Psychiatry was used for punitive purposes e. mental hospitals used by the Soviet authorities as prisons[12]. A psychiatric hospital (previously called insane asylum, mental hospital; or derogatorily looney bin, nut house or Funny Farm) is A few notable dissidents were sent to internal or external exile, as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Vladimir Bukovsky, and Andrei Sakharov. Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn ( Алекса́ндр Иса́евич Солжени́цын) (December 11 1918 – August 3 2008 was a Russian Novelist Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky (Влади́мир Константи́нович Буко́вский b Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (Андре́й Дми́триевич Са́харов (May 21 1921 – December 14 1989 was an eminent Soviet nuclear Physicist

Genocide

Ukrainian Famine Victim, 1933
Ukrainian Famine Victim, 1933

Entire nations have been collectively punished by the Soviet Government for alleged collaboration with the enemy during World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including In legal terms, the word "genocide" may be appropriate because specific ethnic groups were targeted. Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction in whole or in part of an ethnic racial religious or national group At least nine of distinct ethnic-linguistic groups, including ethnic Germans, ethnic Greeks, ethnic Poles, Crimean Tatars, Balkars, Chechens, and Kalmyks, were deported to remote unpopulated areas of Siberia and Kazakhstan. The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Crimean Tatars (sg Qırımtatar, pl Qırımtatarlar) or Crimeans (sg The Balkars ( Karachay-Balkar: sg малкъар - malqar, pl Chechens ( Chechen: Hохчи / Noxçi) constitute the largest native Ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region At the end of December 1943, the entire population of Kalmykia ( Kalmyk SSSR) were packed into cargo wagons and transported to various locations in Siberia Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the It is commonly accepted that the ethnicity-targeted population transfers in the Soviet Union led to millions of deaths due to the inflicted hardships. Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories deportations of " Anti-Soviet " categories of population often classified Koreans and Romanians were also deported. From September to October 1937 the Soviet authorities deported tens of thousands of persons of Korean origins from the Russian Far East to Soviet Central Asia. The Soviet deportations from Bessarabia were part of Joseph Stalin 's policy of political repressions (see Population transfer in the Soviet Union) Mass operations of the NKVD were needed to deport hundreds of thousands of people. Mass operations of the NKVD were carried out during the Great Purge and targeted specific categories of people Deportation, not to be confused with Extradition, generally means the expulsion of someone from a place or Country.

The deaths of millions of people in Ukraine during the Holodomor famine of 1932–1933 was, according to many historians, caused intentionally by confiscating all food and blocking the migration of starving population by the Soviet government. Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. The Holodomor (Голодомор is the famine that took place in Soviet Ukraine during the 1932-1933 agricultural season A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation Council of Ministers of the USSR (Совет Министров СССР tr The number of Holodomor victims was estimated by Robert Conquest at 5 million. Dr George Robert Ackworth Conquest (born July 15 1917) British Historian, became a well known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union [13] The overall number of peasants who died in 1930–1937 from hunger and repressions during collectivisation (including in Kavkaz and Kazakhstan) was at least 14. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Hunger is a feeling experienced usually followed by a desire to Eat. Collectivization in the Soviet Union was a policy pursued under Stalin, between 1928 and 1940(much later for areas further away from capital to consolidate individual The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the 5 million. [13] 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 article: Suppressed research in the Soviet Union
Main article: Socialist Realism

Censorship in the Soviet Union was pervasive and strictly enforced [14]. Research in the Soviet Union in Science and Humanities was placed from the very beginning under a strict ideological scrutiny Socialist realism is a teleologically -oriented style of realistic art which has as its purpose the furtherance of the goals of Socialism and Communism Censorship in the Soviet Union was pervasive and strictly enforced This gave rise to Samizdat, a clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature. Samizdat (самиздат was the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media in Soviet-bloc

Art, literature, education, and science were placed under a strict ideological scrutiny, since they were supposed to serve the interests of the victorious proletariat. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding The proletariat (from Latin la ''proles'' "offspring" is a term used to identify a lower Social class; a member of such a class is proletarian Socialist realism is an example of such teleologically-oriented art that promoted socialism and communism. Socialist realism is a teleologically -oriented style of realistic art which has as its purpose the furtherance of the goals of Socialism and Communism Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based All humanities and social sciences were tested for strict accordance with historical materialism. Historical materialism is the methodological approach to the study of society economics and history which was first articulated by Karl Marx ( 1818 - 1883

All natural sciences have to be founded on the philosophical base of dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism, according to many followers of Karl Marx 's thinking is the philosophical basis of Marxism. Many scientific disciplines, such as genetics, cybernetics, and comparative linguistics, were suppressed in the Soviet Union, condemned as "bourgeois pseudoscience", and replaced by real pseudoscience, such as Lysenkoism. Genetics (from Ancient Greek grc-Latn genetikos, “genitive” and that from grc-Latn genesis, “origin” a discipline of Biology, is Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the Structure of Complex systems especially Communication processes control mechanisms and Feedback Comparative linguistics (originally comparative Philology) is a branch of Historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages in order to Research in the Soviet Union in Science and Humanities was placed from the very beginning under a strict ideological scrutiny Bourgeois Pseudoscience (Буржуазная лженаука was a term of condemnation in the Soviet Union for certain scientific disciplines that were Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the Lysenkoism was a set of repressive political and social campaigns in science and Agriculture by the powerful Stalinist director of the Soviet Lenin All-Union Many prominent scientists were declared to be "wrecklers" or enemy of the people and imprisoned. Wrecking (вредительство or vreditel'stvo, lit "inflicting damage" was a crime specified in the criminal code of the Soviet Union in the The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term Some scientists worked as prisoners in "Sharashkas", i. Sharashka (sometimes Sharaga or Sharazhka, шара́шка) was an informal name for secret Research and development e. research and development laboratories within the Gulag labor camp system. The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union.

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. The First Department (Первый отдел Pervyj Otdel was in charge of secrecy and political security of the workplace of every enterprise or institution of the Soviet KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty

Right to vote

Main article: Soviet democracy

According to communist ideologists, the Soviet political system was a true democracy, where workers' councils called "soviets" represented the will of the working class. For the Soviet republics of the Soviet Union see Republics of the Soviet Union. The Communist propaganda was extensively based on the Marxism-Leninism ideology to promote the Communist Party line For the Soviet republics of the Soviet Union see Republics of the Soviet Union. A workers' council is a Deliberative assembly, composed of Working class members intended to institute Workers' self-management or Workers' control Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types In particular, the Soviet Constitution of 1936 guaranteed direct universal suffrage with the secret ballot. The 1936 Soviet constitution, adopted on December 5, 1936, and also known as the " Stalin " constitution, redesigned the government Universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to The secret ballot is a voting method in which a Voter 's choices are confidential 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: a model constitution adopted in 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. Dr George Robert Ackworth Conquest (born July 15 1917) British Historian, became a well known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union The 1936 Soviet constitution, adopted on December 5, 1936, and also known as the " Stalin " constitution, redesigned the government Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution " [15]

Property rights

Personal property was allowed, with certain limitations. Personal property is a type of Property. In the Common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. All real property belonged to the state. In the Common law, real property (or realty) refers to one of the two main classes of Property, the other class being Personal property ( Unauthorized possession of foreign currency was forbidden and prosecuted as criminal offense. A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment

Freedoms of assembly and association

Freedoms of assembly and association did not exist. Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the Freedom of association, is the Individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively Freedom of association is the Individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express promote pursue and defend common interests Workers were not allowed to organize free trade unions. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming All existing trade unions were organized and controlled by the state[16]. Trade unions in the Soviet Union trace their history back to Russian Revolution of 1905. All political youth organizations, such as Pioneer movement and Komsomol served to enforce the policies of the Communist Party. A pioneer movement is an organization for children operated by a communist party Komsomol (Комсомол is a Syllabic abbreviation word from the Russian Kom munisticheskiy So yuz Mol odiozhi (Коммунистический

Freedom of religion

Main article: Religion in the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was an officially atheistic state. The Soviet Union was an Atheist state, in which religion was largely discouraged and heavily persecuted Atheism 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. Society of the Godless ( Общество безбожников in Russian) other names include Союз воинствующих безбожников All religious movements were either prosecuted or controlled by the state and KGB. KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty

Freedom of movement

Main article: Passport system in the Soviet Union

Emigration and any travel abroad were not allowed without an explicit permission from the government. The passport system in the Soviet Union underwent a number of transformations in the course of its history People who were not allowed to leave the country are known as "refuseniks". Refusenik (אסיר ציון asir tzion, "zion prisoner" מסורב עליה mesorav aliyah, "one who is not allowed to perform Aliyah

Passport system in the Soviet Union restricted migration of citizens within the country through "propiska" (residential permit/registration system) and use of internal passports. The passport system in the Soviet Union underwent a number of transformations in the course of its history Propiska (пропи́ска full term Прописка по месту жительства, "The record of place of residence" was a regulation in the Soviet An internal passport is an Identity document that can be compared to Identity card used in some countries to control the internal movement and residence of people For a long period of the Soviet history peasants did not have internal passports and could not move into towns without permission. An internal passport is an Identity document that can be compared to Identity card used in some countries to control the internal movement and residence of people

Many former inmates received "wolf ticket" and were allowed to live only at 101 km away from city borders.

Travel to closed cities and to the regions near USSR state borders was strongly restricted. A closed city or closed town is a settlement in the former Soviet Union with travel and residency restrictions

References

  1. ^ Constitution of the Soviet Union. Preamble
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b Richard Pipes Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, Vintage books, Random House Inc. Richard Edgar Pipes (born July 11, 1923) is an American historian who specializes in Russian history, particularly with respect to the history of the , New York, 1995, ISBN 0-394-50242-6, pages 402-403
  4. ^ Ponton, G. (1994) The Soviet Era.
  5. ^ Tsaplin, V. V. (1989) Statistika zherty naseleniya v 30e gody.
  6. ^ Nove, Alec. Victims of Stalinism: How Many?, in Stalinist Terror: New Perspectives (edited by J. Arch Getty and Roberta T. John Arch Getty (born in 1950 is an American historian and professor at the University of California Los Angeles. Manning), Cambridge University Press, 1993. Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP is a Publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534 ISBN 0-521-44670-8.
  7. ^ Bibliography: Courtois et al. The Black Book of Communism
  8. ^ Davies, Norman. Europe: A History, Harper Perennial, 1998. ISBN 0-06-097468-0.
  9. ^ Bibliography: Rummel.
  10. ^ Koehler, John O. Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police. Westview Press. 2000. ISBN 0-8133-3744-5
  11. ^ Fragments from Tambov rebellion by B.V. Sennikov (Russian)
  12. ^ The Soviet Case: Prelude to a Global Consensus on Psychiatry and Human Rights. Human Rights Watch. 2005
  13. ^ a b Bibliography: Conquest. The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine.
  14. ^ A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former). Chapter 9 - Mass Media and the Arts. The Library of Congress. Country Studies
  15. ^ Robert Conquest Reflections on a Ravaged Century (2000) ISBN 0-393-04818-7, page 97
  16. ^ A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former). Chapter 5. Trade Unions. The Library of Congress. Country Studies. 2005.

Bibliography

External links

See also

For other articles on the topic see:

For the Soviet republics of the Soviet Union see Republics of the Soviet Union. Human rights in the Soviet Union The rights and liberties of the citizens of the Russian Federation are granted by Chapter 2 of the Constitution adopted in 1993 Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953
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