19 May 2004 01:23
Duma surprised by U.S. criticism of Russia`s Chechnya policy
MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - The head of the Russian State Duma's international relations committee said he was
surprised by the U.S. Department of State's human rights report which is critical of the Russian authorities'
policy in Chechnya.
"The Department of State has issued its traditional report. It says nothing new about Russia, but only repeats
hackneyed complaints related to the so-called Chechen dossier," the committee's chief, Konstantin Kosachev,
told Interfax.
The stance taken by the United States is all the more surprising as the Department of State does not want to note the
positive changes that have taken place in Chechnya since it adopted its constitution and held presidential elections,
Kosachev said.
The recently published U.S. Department of State report says that
the number of human rights violations in Russia has increased and
described the conflict in the republic as a major threat to human
"I am also surprised by the fact that the Department of State's report contains absolutely no mention of
the Baltic issue since Latvia and Estonia continue to routinely violate human rights in the gravest manner," he
said.
Kosachev said that the United States has no right to criticize Russia following the scandal over abuses by U.S.
servicemen in Iraqi prisons.
"All this allows us to treat the Department of State report as a routine document, which is quite shallow and
unbalanced," Kosachev said.
rights in the country as a whole. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG POL US DIP] tm tj <>
[Interfax] |
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