During meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday in Moscow, President Bush sidestepped the ongoing conflict in Chechnya, where Russian forces continue to commit serious human rights violations.
In February, President Bush did raise the need for democratic reforms in Russia while meeting with President Putin in Bratislava, and during a short visit to the Netherlands on May 9 again stated that “there is no power like the power of freedom.” President Bush is flanking his visit to Moscow with stops in Latvia and Georgia, where democracy is central to his message.
However, the Bush administration’s reluctance to comment specifically on the escalating conflict in Chechnya and mounting repression of those who monitor and comment on the human rights situation in the region is disappointing.
“President Bush should not substitute generalities about freedom and democracy for objections to specific violations,” said Neil Hicks, Director of International Programs at Human Rights First. “This is especially vital since those in Russia who expose violations of human rights have themselves become the target of government attack.” Human rights defenders are accused and investigated under counterterrorism laws, criticized for their supposed lack of patriotism, and of being fifth-columnists in a country at war.
Another important opportunity for Bush and other G8 leaders to pressure Putin to stop human rights violations in Chechnya will come at the G8 summit scheduled for July 6, 2005 in Scotland. Russia is scheduled to host the G8 in 2006.
Background
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the Putin government has described its violent conflict with separatists in Chechnya – which has resulted in grave abuses against civilians, including torture, disappearances, and killings – as part of the international fight against terrorism. Today, while remembering those who lost their lives in the conflict with Nazi Germany, President Putin again alluded to the current global conflict with terrorism. Through such allusions, the Russian leader seeks to divert global attention from continuing violations in Chechnya and the North Caucasus.
Since September 2001, international criticism of the Russian government’s human rights abuses in the name of counterterrorism, especially in Chechnya, has diminished. After President Putin refused to allow the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Chechnya to continue its human rights monitoring activities in late 2002, and the OSCE closed down its office in the region. At this year’s 61st meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the United States joined other governments in announcing its intention to not introduce resolutions critical of the Russian Federation’s practices in Chechnya.
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