Rice Meets With Activists From Russian Ngos

Oct 13, 08:50 PM

Current Headlines: MOSCOW. Oct 13 (Interfax) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with activists of Russian non-governmental organizations in Moscow on Saturday to discuss the observance of human rights in Russia.

"We discussed the condition of the Russian civil society, the law on non-governmental organizations, and the Russian anti-extremist laws, which could be used as a weapon against political opposition. We also talked about the situation in the North Caucasus and the explosive situation prevailing there, especially in Ingushetia and Dagestan," Tatyana Lokshina, the head of the Demos human rights center, told Interfax following the meeting with Rice.

"We talked about the problems of weak democratic institutions, the problem of freedom of speech, and the situation in the judicial system," Lokshina said.

"I asked Ms. Rice whether Washington was doing anything in cooperation with the European Union to develop a common policy in the area of human rights in Russia. She answered to this that cooperation with the EU was definitely maintained, but that the U.S. was the most prominent protagonist of human rights and democracy," Lokshina said.

Another participant in the meeting, Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva, said she did not see anything special in the fact that Russian human rights activists should discuss the observance of human rights in the country with foreign government officials.

"I did not divulge any military secrets but discussed human rights. As long as I live, I will talk about the situation surrounding human rights with anybody. If this situation is good, I will praise it, and if it is bad, I will criticize it," Alexeyeva told Interfax following the meeting with Rice.

Many human rights activists who met with Rice on Saturday are members of the presidential civil society development and human rights council, she said.

"Within the framework of this council, we have urged our leadership to influence the condition of human rights protection in Belarus, where the situation in this area is much worse than in our country. We learn about problems with protecting human rights in Belarus from our Belarusian partners," she said.

"Sure, Russian government officials do not meet with us very often to discuss human rights in our country. But even if we met more often, this could not make us less willing to talk about human rights with representatives of democratic countries. I am convinced that the problem of human rights in the modern world is not an internal affair of this or that country. Only closed countries can be aggressive," Alexeyeva said.

"This is not the first time that I met with Rice. She is a very communicative person, it is a pleasure to talk with her, and besides, it seems to me that she understands Russian," Alexeyeva said.

"I said that, while the vector toward democracy and protection of human rights was developing in our country in the 1990s, although not without mistakes, it has changed now. We see the purposeful construction of an authoritarian society and an onslaught on the people's rights, elections are being turned into farce, and human rights and opposition organizations are experiencing pressure," Alexeyeva said.

Moscow Human Rights Bureau head Alexander Brod told Interfax that a number of rights activists quite harshly criticized the protection of human rights in Russia.

"We talked about authoritarianism and the crisis of human rights. But I cannot paint everything in black, and I disagree with the opinion that we had a flourishing democracy in the 1990s and that we have a setback now. Not all is ideal in America, either. We see protests against the war in Iraq, and violations of human rights on the part of security services, and violations of human rights in countering terrorism," Brod said.

"The situation surrounding human rights in the U.S. should not be idealized. We should not teach each other or complain that everything is so bad, but we need to co-exist and help each other," Brod said.

He said he suggested setting up a Russian-U.S. public forum at the meeting with Rice.

"This is necessary, because it is easier for non-governmental organizations to find a common language than for politicians, bearing in mind some bureaucratic aspects and old grievances," Brod said.

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