Human and civil rights in Russia are an ongoing battle on many fronts. The most recent presidential election was as close to a joke as you can get in an election. Russia has a rather specific constitution, but it is not really enforced and citizens are denied their rights. Activists who try to exercise their constitutional rights are beaten and given no opportunity to counter law enforcement abuses. In light of the upcoming Winter Olympics to be held in Russia in 2014, the government has found another excuse to steal and violate citizens' rights. Women are secondary citizens and are constantly abused. Russian citizens are not listened to by the government and have very little freedom of the press to spread the word. Russia in general is not a good place regarding human rights, but some specific places in Russia have the worst situation. In December 2011 Russia held elections for its fourth president, but there was little fairness about it; once former president Vladimir Putin declared he was running, there wasn't much anyone could do really, it was foreshadowed that he would win no matter what. There we have put in place rules restricting the registration of independent parties, initially any party founded in 2010 was not allowed to register, but in a seemingly big step forward, the current president, Dmitry Medvedev, has relaxed the rules to allow other parties to enter, but not until the 2016 elections. Even with these recently relaxed rules, smaller parties will always have difficulty gaining ground, most of the Russian press is controlled by the government and, even without this, the parties older people have more access to the media because they have more money. to support them and help them stay in power....... middle of paper...... Federation. The Constitution of the Russian Federation, chapter 2. Web. November 6, 2013."Russia." Human Rights Watch World Report 2012. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2012. 479-87. Human Rights Watch 2012 World Report. Human Rights Watch. Network. November 6, 2013."Russia." Human Rights Watch World Report 2013. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2013. 460-69. Human Rights Watch 2013 World Report. Human Rights Watch. Network. November 8, 2013. Stacey, Aisha. "Muslim Women's Dress Code." Islamic information portal. Muslims today, May 6, 2013. Web. November 6, 2013. United States. Department of State. Office for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. National reports on human rights practices. [Washington, DC]: US Department of State, 2012. Web. November 6, 2013. You dress by their rules. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2011. Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, March 10, 2011. Web. November 6. 2013.