Helsinki Commission Urges Bush to Discuss Human Rights with Putin at G8 Summit
Jun 3, 2004 Washington
Congressional members of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) sent a letter to President Bush May 28 urging him to discuss several "particularly disturbing developments" in the Russian Federation when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the upcoming G8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia.
"Mr. Putin is increasingly relying on the security-intelligence apparatus to run Russia, with ominous consequences for human rights, civil liberties and democratic progress," the letter said.
It also cited the sentencing of Igor Sutyagin, a researcher from the U.S. and Canada Institute, to 15 years in hard labor for "espionage," repression of Jehovah's Witnesses' activities, government pressure on electronic media outlets, human rights abuses in Chechnya, and other examples.
"President Putin is well positioned to reverse these troubling trends," the CSCE letter said.
The CSCE, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent federal agency that by law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords.
