The chairwoman of the Kremlin's human rights committee - who has criticized supporters of the ruling United Russia party in the past - resigned Friday, according to dpa. Ella Pamfilova, chair of the Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council founded by President Dmitry Medvedev, said she had not been put under pressure to resign. The 56-year-old's resignation is a severe blow to Medvedev's promises to the West to improve the state of human rights and civil society in his country. Most recently Pamfilova had used the position to criticize a summer camp organized by a youth group, Nashi, which supports Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia. Youths attending the camp had impaled pictures of the heads of human rights activists and critics of the government on stake, calling them traitors to Russia. Pamfilova said she was afraid of such people coming to power. At similar events organized by the so-called Putin Youth, book burnings had also taken place, she said.
