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| My father was killed by Russian propaganda, says Nemtsov's daughter | My father was killed by Russian propaganda, says Nemtsov's daughter |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Russian propaganda kills. It kills reason and common sense but it also kills human beings. | Russian propaganda kills. It kills reason and common sense but it also kills human beings. |
| The tragic death of my father on 27 February was an act of political violence for which Russia’s state TV channels, among others, bear responsibility. For years, they stoked hatred towards him and other opposition figures, casting them as “national traitors”. Propaganda is not a crime, in and of itself: it is part of the furniture of the modern world. | The tragic death of my father on 27 February was an act of political violence for which Russia’s state TV channels, among others, bear responsibility. For years, they stoked hatred towards him and other opposition figures, casting them as “national traitors”. Propaganda is not a crime, in and of itself: it is part of the furniture of the modern world. |
| What is a crime is to use propaganda to incite people to break the law, employ violence or wage war. It was for these crimes that, in post-war Germany, the allies convicted propagandists at Nuremberg, and the International Criminal Tribunal condemned the incitement to ethnic massacres in the lead up to the Rwandan genocide. | What is a crime is to use propaganda to incite people to break the law, employ violence or wage war. It was for these crimes that, in post-war Germany, the allies convicted propagandists at Nuremberg, and the International Criminal Tribunal condemned the incitement to ethnic massacres in the lead up to the Rwandan genocide. |
| The founder and director of Radio Télévision Libre des Milles Collines, Ferdinand Nahimana, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for stirring up hatred, as was the editor of the magazine Kangura, Hassan Ngeze. | The founder and director of Radio Télévision Libre des Milles Collines, Ferdinand Nahimana, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for stirring up hatred, as was the editor of the magazine Kangura, Hassan Ngeze. |
| What do Rwanda and Russia have in common? In recent years, our country has witnessed a similar state campaign of widespread brainwashing, pitting one social group against another. | What do Rwanda and Russia have in common? In recent years, our country has witnessed a similar state campaign of widespread brainwashing, pitting one social group against another. |
| Many of the articles printed by the Kremlin-controlled media ape the divisive rhetoric of Rwanda before the genocide. In the place of the Tutsis are liberals, opposition activists, the west and the “Kiev junta”, while the role of Hutus is occupied by Russia’s so-called patriots. | Many of the articles printed by the Kremlin-controlled media ape the divisive rhetoric of Rwanda before the genocide. In the place of the Tutsis are liberals, opposition activists, the west and the “Kiev junta”, while the role of Hutus is occupied by Russia’s so-called patriots. |
| It was a long time before the world reacted to what was happening in Rwanda – and it did not immediately recognise the propagandists’ actions as criminal. | It was a long time before the world reacted to what was happening in Rwanda – and it did not immediately recognise the propagandists’ actions as criminal. |
| Vladimir Putin’s information machine presents opposition activists as “aliens” and employs criminal propaganda techniques to sow hatred, which in turn spawns violence and terror. Its modus operandi? To dehumanise the target. | Vladimir Putin’s information machine presents opposition activists as “aliens” and employs criminal propaganda techniques to sow hatred, which in turn spawns violence and terror. Its modus operandi? To dehumanise the target. |
| Related: Was Boris Nemtsov killed because in Russia opposition activists are deemed traitors? | Related: Was Boris Nemtsov killed because in Russia opposition activists are deemed traitors? |
| As early as the 2000s, the state concentrated its control of Russia’s largest media outlets. A powerful propaganda machine was created whose output, in my view, has become openly criminal. It aims to inspire hatred and enmity, and to debase people’s worth on the grounds of nationality and social affiliation, be they Ukrainians, Americans or Europeans. | As early as the 2000s, the state concentrated its control of Russia’s largest media outlets. A powerful propaganda machine was created whose output, in my view, has become openly criminal. It aims to inspire hatred and enmity, and to debase people’s worth on the grounds of nationality and social affiliation, be they Ukrainians, Americans or Europeans. |
| The pro-Putin media has incited people to participate in the war in eastern Ukraine and commit violence against the Russian opposition. The result? Thousands of people dead in the Donbass and attacks on human-rights activists in Moscow and Grozny. My father fell victim to this hateful propaganda. | The pro-Putin media has incited people to participate in the war in eastern Ukraine and commit violence against the Russian opposition. The result? Thousands of people dead in the Donbass and attacks on human-rights activists in Moscow and Grozny. My father fell victim to this hateful propaganda. |
| The war in Ukraine | The war in Ukraine |
| From the beginning of the Maidan protests in November 2013, Russia’s pro-state media conducted a hysterical campaign against the Ukrainian revolution and the new government in Kiev. They called it a Nazi junta. | From the beginning of the Maidan protests in November 2013, Russia’s pro-state media conducted a hysterical campaign against the Ukrainian revolution and the new government in Kiev. They called it a Nazi junta. |
| Rumours were deliberately spread among Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population, most of whom watched Russian TV, that the new authorities planned to repress and discriminate against them. People were called upon to defend their Russian-speaking brothers, so sparking the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine and its support by armed volunteers from Russia. | Rumours were deliberately spread among Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population, most of whom watched Russian TV, that the new authorities planned to repress and discriminate against them. People were called upon to defend their Russian-speaking brothers, so sparking the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine and its support by armed volunteers from Russia. |
| The aggressive information campaign initiated by the government is dangerous because it has the potential to generate a new wave of violence that no one can control. Poisoned by hatred, people are starting to commit crimes on their own initiative. | The aggressive information campaign initiated by the government is dangerous because it has the potential to generate a new wave of violence that no one can control. Poisoned by hatred, people are starting to commit crimes on their own initiative. |
| This information terror must be stopped. Considering the total impunity surrounding illicit propaganda within Russia, the only way to curb it might be international sanctions, including bans on travel to the EU and US for the most outspoken propagandists. | This information terror must be stopped. Considering the total impunity surrounding illicit propaganda within Russia, the only way to curb it might be international sanctions, including bans on travel to the EU and US for the most outspoken propagandists. |
| Freezing assets abroad might also prove a serious punishment for pseudo-journalists – that is why, speaking recently in Poland, I called for the imposition of sanctions against employees of the leading Russian TV channels controlled by the state. | Freezing assets abroad might also prove a serious punishment for pseudo-journalists – that is why, speaking recently in Poland, I called for the imposition of sanctions against employees of the leading Russian TV channels controlled by the state. |
| Otherwise, the consequences could be still more horrific: there would be nothing more dangerous for Russia or the world than to let loose the huge potential for hatred built up in Russian society. | Otherwise, the consequences could be still more horrific: there would be nothing more dangerous for Russia or the world than to let loose the huge potential for hatred built up in Russian society. |
| A version of this article first appeared in on Echo of Moscow. Translation by Cameron Johnston | A version of this article first appeared in on Echo of Moscow. Translation by Cameron Johnston |