| Wednesday, March 30, 2005. Issue 3135.
Page 3. U.S. Criticizes Russia on Chechnya, NGOs By Oksana Yablokova Staff Writer The U.S. State Department released an annual report of its efforts to promote human rights and democracy worldwide, accusing Russia and its leadership of human rights abuses in Chechnya, putting pressure on NGOs and further strengthening the executive power. But the report was noticeably silent on abuses by U.S. armed forces personnel in Iraq. The report, released Monday, was in addition to a State Department report last month on human rights violations. It acknowledged that the Russian government had generally respected the human rights of its citizens in some areas, but said that its record was poor in some areas and had even worsened in others. The report expressed concern at the replacing of popular elections for governors with nominations by the president as a further strengthening of the power of the executive branch. It also pointed out that "a compliant State Duma, shortcomings in recent national elections, law enforcement corruption, and political pressure on the judiciary raised concerns about the erosion of government leaders' accountability to the people." "Government pressure further weakened freedom of _expression and undermined the effectiveness of independent nongovernmental organizations," the report said. The report said that there were credible reports of abuses of civilians by both federal security forces and Chechen government security forces but conceded that rebel fighters had also committed acts of terrorism and human rights abuses in the North Caucasus. The report said that the U.S. strategy in Russia was to promote democratic institutions and processes, vibrant civil society, fundamental freedoms, rule of law, human rights and anti-trafficking measures. It listed among American achievements U.S.-funded programs to expand citizens' monitoring of regional lawmakers and to encourage interaction and accountability between constituents and their elected officials. The report cited U.S. programs that support NGOs, resource centers, advocacy and watchdog groups, policy think tanks, business associations and environmental protection groups. To improve citizens' access to sources of nonstate information, U.S.-funded NGOs conducted training seminars for a total of 502 regional television outlets, the report said. Amnesty International welcomed the report, but said U.S. credibility was hurt by the scandal over prisoner abuses by U.S. military personnel in Iraq, including at Abu Ghraib prison, and the reports of ill treatment of prisoners at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Many of the United States' policies to promote democracy and human rights worldwide would be met with deep skepticism if the U.S. government's current practices continue, the group said in a statement, posted on the Amnesty International U.S.A. web site. Chechnya Round Table in Strasbourg Disappoints Created: 28.03.2005 12:13 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:13 MSK MosNews Russian human rights activists voiced disappointment over the round table on the Chechen conflict held under the aegis of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, last week. Nonetheless, they are convinced that such events need to be held in the future. Hopes that the sides in the Chechen conflict would use a recent international round table in Strasbourg to begin discussions with each other were dashed when both representatives of the rebel government and key human rights activists decided to stay away. Instead, the meeting was attended mostly by Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen officials. Russian human rights activists voiced their concern over the outcome of the Strasbourg round table on Chechnya, as they addressed a news conference in Moscow, Deutsche Welle reported. Svetlana Gannushkina, Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the Civil Assistance committee, and Tatiana Lokshina, chairperson of the Demos research center and the International Helsinki Federation representative, had accepted PACE's invitation and attended the forum. Both had hoped that the round table would prompt the belligerent parties to start dialogue, but those hopes were not to materialize, they said. Representatives of Chechen separatist forces did not go to Strasbourg after the death of their leader Aslan Maskhadov. Thus, the official Chechen delegation headed by the Moscow-appointed president, Aslan Alkhanov, was left without opponents. As a result, the Chechen delegation focused on the discussion of what Alkhanov himself called "the resolution of economic and humanitarian issues in the republic". Tatiana Lokshina said the round table reminded her of Soviet-era party meetings. Official representatives reported to the European parliamentarians on the number of houses, schools and hospitals built in the republic, refusing even to discuss the problem of peace settlement. Human rights activists tried to raise the issue several times, but none of the Russian or Chechen officials, except Aslambek Aslakhanov, Kremlin aide for Chechnya and a prominent human rights activist himself, backed their proposals. Moreover, some officials accused him of representing "the other camp". Lokshina said she had proposed declaring a state of emergency in Chechnya. In her view, the conflict would then become the direct responsibility of the Russian government. "In that way, EU and OSCE representatives could be invited to Chechnya to monitor the situation, thereby enabling people to express their will more openly," she said. Still, both Lokshina and Gannushkina are convinced that attempts to start the dialogue between the warring parties should continue. Round table discussions must be attended by all the sides concerned, not just by government officials. |