18 June 2004 10:58
Russian human rights watchers beg to differ on cooperation with police
[Presenter] The Russian Interior Ministry has suggested that a ministry employee be attached to every human rights
organization.
In the opinion of ministry experts this implies closer cooperation with human rights organizations, the Gazeta
newspaper says.
Valeriya Novodvorskaya, the leader of the Democratic Union, described the idea as extremely silly. In her opinion,
this could lead to human rights organizations being abolished in the country, she told Ekho Moskvy.
[Novodvorskaya] Let this Interior Ministry employee dare come to the Democratic Union and claim that he has been
attached to us. We shall not let him come near us.
This idea is sheer fantasy. Poor Vladimir Lukin has started working as a civil servant, having forgotten that the
very essence of human rights protection is complete independence from the state.
This is what was good about dissidents earlier. They had absolutely no relations with the state , they were free in
their actions.
[Correspondent] In his turn, former Russian ombudsman Oleg Mironov told Ekho Moskvy that only coordination between
human rights watchers and official bodies will stop the state from violating human rights.
[In a separate report, at 0842 gmt in Russian, Ekho Moskvy news agency quoted Lyudmila Alekseyeva, the chairperson of
the Moscow Helsinki group, as saying she approved of the proposal. "If this is coordination, and not an intention
to control, this is good," she said. "We are working in close cooperation with the Justice Ministry and the
Prosecutor-General's office, while the police and the Federal Security Service are completely closed to us,"
she added.]
[Ekho Moskvy radio] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
