POLITICS: Human Rights Slip Down the Summit

By Pavol Stracansky Reprint | | Print |

Pavol Stracansky

BRATISLAVA, Feb 24 2005 (IPS) - Rights groups were left disappointed after concerns over human rights and democracy appeared to have been given less prominence than expected at the summit between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush.

The two men met in the Slovak capital Bratislava Thursday at a meeting originally cut short from four hours to two hours – a move which led to speculation that the shorter time had been decided to limit potential questions on the issue of democracy in Russia.

President Bush had earlier in the week and again when he came to Slovakia, stated publicly that he would press President Putin on concerns over what many rights groups in the West and in Russia have said is a creeping authoritarianism in Putin’s leadership.

Bush had made freedom and democracy a central part of a speech to an estimated 10,000 people in the centre of Bratislava just before the summit.

But political experts said that these statements were most likely a way of appeasing European and U.S. watchers, and that the matter would be raised only briefly between the two men in private discussion.

"This is something we very much regret," Milan Sebo, head of Amnesty International Slovakia told IPS.

Amnesty had written an open letter to both presidents before the summit expressing its concerns over human rights abuses in the Guantanamo Bay prison and in Chechnya. It called on them to strengthen their commitment to rights.

Other groups had also called on the two leaders to address concerns over human rights, and especially concerns over the Kremlin’s commitment to democracy in Russia.

When pressed on the issue after the summit President Bush said he had raised questions about democracy with President Putin in a "constructive and friendly way".

"Democracies have certain things in common – a rule of law and protection of minorities and a free press and a viable political opposition. I was able to share my concerns about Russia’s commitment in fulfilling these universal principles. I did so in a constructive and friendly way," Bush said at a press conference after the summit.

Putin, when asked to comment on criticism that his regime was going back on democratic progress made first by Mikhail Gorbachev and then Boris Yeltsin, said he and Russia remained committed to democracy.

"We are not going to make up, to invent any kind of special Russian democracy. We are going to commit to the fundamental principles that have been established in the world," he said.

The statement came as the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia had committed serious abuses, including the torture and killing of civilians during military offensives in Chechnya.

The comments also came just hours after some Russian opposition party members claimed they had been stopped from traveling to Slovakia by the Russian secret service.

The group of 20 Russians claimed the FSB secret service monitored all Russian citizens planning to attend the summit.

Some observers fear that Putin, a former KGB officer, is remodelling the FSB, the KGB’s successor, as a state secret police force like the KGB once was.

The talks Thursday were focused on political issues. Bush sought cooperation from Moscow on issues such as Iran and North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. He sought to shore up a relationship damaged by serious differences over Iraq.

Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic and Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda had said before the summit that they would not raise concerns over democracy and human rights in Russia with President Putin.