Human rights in the Soviet Union were severely limited. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state from 1927 until 1953[1][2][3][4] and a one-party state until 1990.[5] Freedom of speech was suppressed and dissent was punished. Independent political activities were not tolerated, whether they involved participation in free labor unions, private corporations, independent churches or opposition political parties. The citizens' freedom of movement was limited both inside and outside the country.
In practice, the Soviet government significantly curbed the very powerful rule of law, civil liberties, protection of law and guarantees of property,[6][7] which were considered examples of "bourgeois morality" by Soviet legal theorists such as Andrey Vyshinsky.[8] The Soviet Union signed legally-binding human rights documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973, but they were neither widely known or accessible to people living under Communist rule, nor were they taken seriously by the Communist authorities.[9]: 117 Human rights activists in the Soviet Union were regularly subjected to harassment, repressions and arrests.
^Rutland, Peter (1993). The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union: The Role of Local Party Organs in Economic Management. Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-521-39241-9. "after 1953 ...This was still an oppressive regime, but not a totalitarian one.".
^Krupnik, Igor (1995). "4. Soviet Cultural and Ethnic Policies Towards Jews: A Legacy Reassessed". In Ro'i, Yaacov (ed.). Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-714-64619-0. "The era of 'social engineering' in the Soviet Union ended with the death of Stalin in 1953 or soon after; and that was the close of the totalitarian regime itself.".
^von Beyme, Klaus (2014). On Political Culture, Cultural Policy, Art and Politics. Springer. p. 65. ISBN 978-3-319-01559-0. "The Soviet Union after the death of Stalin moved from totalitarianism to authoritarian rule.".
^"Закон СССР от 14 марта 1990 г. N 1360-I "Об учреждении поста Президента СССР и внесении изменений и дополнений в Конституцию (Основной Закон) СССР"". 2017-10-10. Archived from the original on 2017-10-10. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
^Cite error: The named reference Pipes2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Pipes1994 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Vyshinsky1949 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference thomas-hrideas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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