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The Daily Vertical: A Creative Approach To Rights (Transcript)


So now Russia has a human rights commissioner who says human rights are a Western tool to blackmail and threaten Russia.

Now Russia has a human rights commissioner who once proposed legislation criminalizing "assaults against morality."

Now Russia has a human rights commissioner who proposed confiscating the property of the families of suspected terrorists.

Now Russia has a human rights commissioner who wanted to rename the Interior Ministry after the infamous Soviet-era VChK.

WATCH: Today's Daily Vertical

To say that Tatyana Moskalkova has a rather creative take on human rights would be somewhat charitable.

In her first interview after being confirmed as the Kremlin's point person on human rights, Moskalkova said one of her primary tasks will be protecting the rights of Russians living abroad.

And in case you were wondering what she had in mind, as a State Duma deputy, Moskalkova was known for collecting information about the alleged rights abuses against ethnic Russians by the Ukrainian authorities.

The post of human rights commissioner has long been seen as window dressing.

It was a decoration to create the illusion that the Kremlin actually cared about its citizens' rights.

In the past, Russia has had very earnest and capable human rights commissioners -- people like Vladimir Lukin and Ella Pamfilova.

But the regime very rarely -- if ever -- heeded any of their advice.

Moskalkova's voice, on the other hand, is very likely to be heard.

And that is probably not a good thing at all.

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