MOSCOW, December 10 - RAPSI. The human rights situation in Russia is "tense" and "ambiguous," Presidential Council on Human Rights head Mikhail Fedotov said on Monday.

"There are examples of how human rights are strengthened and also how they are weakened," he told RIA Novosti on the International Day of Human Rights, which is celebrated on December 10. "If we are talking about strengthening human rights guarantees, then the best example is the public monitoring commissions in prisons."

Everyone in Russia knows about the incident that took place in Prison No. 6 in Kopeisk, he said, when prisoners rallied against the prison administration thanks to one such commission's work, he said.

Fedotov said other human rights issues concern spheres where publically controversial laws were approved, such as the law classifying certain non-governmental organizations as foreign agents, the new version of the article on state treason and slander, and the law on protecting children from harmful information.

A new law obligating Russian NGOs financed from abroad and involved in political activity to be registered as foreign agents entered into effect on November 20.

A law increasing the severity of punishment for disclosing state secrets and imposing criminal liability for illegally acquiring classified information was also introduced in November. The law broadens the definition of "state treason" and "espionage" in the Criminal Code.