Russia no longer needs gulags to silence the opposition. The punishment for drawing attention to the sins of the mighty used to be a show trial and exile, possibly to a labor camp. Now journalists receive an anonymous but credible threat of violence to themselves or their families, a beating on their doorstep or, in some cases, execution in broad daylight.
Journalists are not the only victims of this policy of terror. Russia claims to be a member of the global community of democratic nations. But democracy is not functioning when citizens are denied basic information with which to judge the actions of their leaders. We are often told, for example, that the Russian government's policies in Chechnya are "popular" at home. But can we hold Russian citizens responsible for what their country does if they do not know what it is really doing? Democratic choices made in ignorance are not free but fixed. The freedom of journalists to report about life in their societies is critical, because without it, citizens lose their freedom, too.
Americans were right to hope that the end of the Soviet system would bring rewards for us as well as for the people of Russia. But democracy only starts at the ballot box. Independent speech is crucial. We must do all we can to support journalists in this important work, including pressuring the Russian government to protect reporters and their freedom to speak. The murder of journalists affects more than just journalists; and the undermining of Russian democracy is a problem for more than just Russia.
