"The rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association are a cornerstone for a functioning civil society. The Russian authorities are curtailing these rights as part of their strategy to counter so-called western influence," said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Program Director at Amnesty International in the report made public on Tuesday.
In the report, "Freedom limited. The right to freedom of expression in the Russian Federation," the rights group said no real political debate was taking place in the country ahead of the March 2 vote. Amnesty accused President Putin of a crackdown on the free media and political opposition. The group also criticized new restrictive laws on NGOs.
Amnesty said that the Russian authorities had violently dispersed opposition demonstrations and "the space to express critical views" in Russia, where television and many other media outlets are controlled by the state, was shrinking.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Amnesty Russian researcher Freiderike Behr said only citizens of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities had access to opposition newspapers.
Behr said the organization hoped the new president would give more heed to its recommendations: "As a human rights organization, we always work with the hope that things will get better."
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Europe's main election watchdog, earlier in February announced it would not send monitors for the Russian presidential elections, citing major restrictions on its monitoring work.
Moscow has accused international organizations and governments of using media and 'human rights' issues as a political tool to curb Russia's reemergence as a global power.
A recent state-run opinion poll show that the Kremlin front-runner Dmitry Medvedev - who is backed by the popular Putin credited for presiding over economic revival - enjoys the support of 72.9% of voters.
Putin has said he will accept the post of prime minister if Medvedev becomes president.
