VZCZCXRO3982
OO RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0702/01 0731441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 131441Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7117
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 000702 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM PINR RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA CRIES FOUL OVER 2007 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Although press coverage of the 2007 Human 
Rights Report has been largely straightforward, the Russian 
MFA and several members of the State Duma have accused the 
U.S. of having double standards and a "Cold War" mentality. 
The head of the Helsinki Moscow Group defended the report and 
called upon the Russian government to correct the 
shortcomings mentioned, rather than simply condemn it out of 
hand.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Russian print and internet press have for the most 
part reported factually on the contents of the 2007 Human 
Rights Report with little editorial comment.  Their reports 
focused mainly on U.S. criticism of Russia's centralization 
of power in the executive branch, restrictions on freedom of 
expression, media independence, unsolved murders of 
journalists, abuse by members of law enforcement 
(particularly in Chechnya and elsewhere in the North 
Caucasus), hazing in the military and government pressure on 
NGOs.  Several newspapers picked up on the absence of China 
on this year's list of the worst offenders, and theorized 
that it was because of sensitivities over the Olympics. 
According to the independent daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta (NG), 
as in previous years, the report "abounds in criticism of 
Moscow called fair by Russian human rights activists and 
rejected as unjustified by officials."  Vremya Novostey 
observed that the report "repeats its cliche accusations year 
after year," and further chided that "still China, listed 
among the worst violators in the two previous years, was 
spared this time.  However, the power of the Communist Party 
of China has not weakened during the past year." 
 
MFA Pulls Few Punches in its Criticism 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In a statement posted March 12 on its official 
website, the MFA accused the U.S. of double standards and 
called the report "not objective."  It also claimed that many 
paragraphs do not change from year-to-year, giving the 
impression that the report is written to fit pre-determined 
conclusions about the human rights situation here.  The MFA 
contested the criticism in the report of the decision by the 
OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 
(ODIHR) not to send an observation mission for the December 
Duma elections, stating that "the politicized approach of 
ODIHR" never received the backing of the OSCE member states. 
The MFA went on to call the report yet another demonstration 
of the "double standards" in U.S. human rights policy -- one 
for external use and another for domestic consumption.  It 
chastised the U.S. for distorted criticism of the human 
rights situation in other countries while it has "legalized 
torture, applied capital punishment to minors, denied 
responsibility for war crimes and massive human rights abuses 
in Iraq and Afghanistan, and refused to join a series of 
human rights treaties."  The statement closed with the hope 
that in its periodic review of the human rights performance 
of all countries, the UN Human Rights Council will enable an 
unprejudiced discussion of existing human rights problems, 
including a report on the United States. 
 
Duma Members Also React Defensively 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Vasiliy Likhachev, Deputy Chairman of the 
Federation Council Committee for International Affairs, told 
reporters that the report could not "free itself from 
Russophobic trends."  He added that the report bodes poorly 
for relations between the U.S. and Russia, as it came during 
the transfer of power from Putin to Medvedev, and therefore 
signals how the U.S. will "assess future political, economic 
and humanitarian processes in Russia."  Likhachev also noted 
that the U.S. had problems of its own, such as crime, the 
penal system and camps at which suspected terrorists are 
being held.  Andrey Klimov, Deputy Chairman of the Duma 
Committee on International Affairs, thought that U.S. 
officials were comfortable giving such assessments since they 
have "grown up during the Cold War and know nothing else." 
 
Local Human Rights Leader Defended the Report 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Lyudmila 
Alekseyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, called the 
report "professional" and asserted that its author knows the 
human rights situation in Russia.  She called upon the GOR to 
react to such reports by paying attention to the shortcomings 
noted in it and improving the situation.  According to 
Alekseyeva, Russia's misplaced vision of its glory keep it 
from being able to do this.  She added, "honor is not lashing 
out when shortcomings are noted, but rather correcting the 
problem." 
 
 
MOSCOW 00000702  002 OF 002 
 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The largely factual discussion in the print media 
of this year's report and measured response by Alekseyeva are 
in sharp contrast to the (traditional) chest-thumping by the 
MFA and those Duma members who have ventured to make 
statements about it.  There is much in the report that will 
have resonance with ordinary Russians -- mothers whose sons 
have been hazed in the military and families in the North 
Caucasus whose members have suffered mistreatment by law 
enforcement. 
BURNS