Russia and Europe Spend a Civilized Six Months Together
// Russia's Tenure as Chair of EC Committee of Ministers Considered a Success
In Strasbourg yesterday a ceremony was held to mark the transfer of the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (EC) from Russia to San Marino. Both Russia and the EC expressed satisfaction with the work that has been done. EC General Secretary Terry Davis told Kommersant that he was impressed by Russia's energy, particularly when it came to organizing cultural events. Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Duma committee on international affairs, told Kommersant that Russia will soon ratify the 14th clause of the European Human Rights Convention, which will allow for reform of the European Court of Human Rights.
Yesterday morning in Strasbourg an exhibit showcasing an architecture competition for the best design of St. Petersburg's Square of Europe was opened by Council of Europe (EC) General Secretary Terry Davis and Russian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Grushko. It fell to Mr. Grushko yesterday to perform most of the ceremonial duties ending Russia's period of chairing the EC's Committee of Ministers. At a special session of the committee, Mr. Grushko summed up the results of Russia's activities in the post of committee chair over the last six months. Then Mr. Grushko handed over the keys to the office of the committee chair to San Marino Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Fiorenzo Stolfi. The tiny state on the Apennin peninsula succeeds Russia not because it is next in line in terms of significance but because the leadership of the committee rotates among the EC's members in alphabetical order.
Russia's tenure as committee chair was not an uncomplicated affair. Six months ago, Cypriot parliamentary deputy Kristos Punguridis even tried to advance a motion to strip Russia of the position. The motion failed when only 12 PACE deputies signed the petition circulated by Mr. Punguridis. Nevertheless, during its tenure Russia was the target of many reproaches. The main complaint of the European deputies was that Russia is the only EC country that has yet to ban capital punishment. The deputies criticized Russia for not implementing several decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights and for not ratifying the 14th clause of the European Human Rights Convention, which would pave the way for reform of the court. All of the EC's members were supposed to ratify the 14th clause before October 31 of this year, and only Russia failed to meet the deadline, thus effectively blocking reform of the court.
Nevertheless, in summing up Russia's six-month period as chair, the deputies expressed satisfaction with the work that had been done. "We are all impressed by the energy and level of activity displayed by the Russian Federation during its chairmanship," said EC General Secretary Terry Davis to Kommersant. "Russia initiated international and interreligious dialog and held a forum called 'For the Future of Democracy'. We were particularly struck by its cultural program – many musical concerts were held in Strasbourg. That allowed a large number of people to become better acquainted with Russian culture."
"To my knowledge, the assessment of our chairmanship was exclusively positive," said Duma deputy Konstantin Kosachev, chair of the Duma's international affairs committee. "Russia turned out to be an effective chair – much more effective than many of our predecessors and successors. We have always looked upon the chairmanship not as a possibility to advance Russia's interests but as an opportunity to demonstrate that we are a European country." In the opinion of Mr. Kosachev, who is the head of the Russian delegation to the EC's parliament, PACE, Russia made its own important contribution to the work of the Council of Europe. "Together with the EC, we have continued to advocate for better conditions for prisoners, fought against dedovshchina [the practice in the Russian military of giving ill-trained senior recruits authority over younger recruits, which often encourages brutality and grave abuses of power], and sought transparency and accessibility from the judicial system, as well as freedom of speech and of the media. These are very topical subjects both for the EC and for Russia. During Russia's chairmanship, we analyzed the appropriateness of our entry into the EC and came to the conclusion that our membership in the EC is justified."
Mr. Kosachev also told Kommersant that Russia will soon fulfill its responsibility to the EC by ratifying the 14th clause of the Human Rights Convention. "Russia's position is that the 14th clause will improve the effectiveness of the European Court of Human Rights. I hope that the 14th clause will be officially introduced for ratification very soon. the Duma will ratify the clause according to its own short timetable, meaning that the 14th clause will be ratified no matter what before the end of this year," said Deputy Kosachev.
It should be noted that Russia's chairmanship really did pass without any particular failures or disappointments. This was Moscow's first time in such a role, and it came to the position with no relevant experience. Representatives of the Russian delegation to the EC complained more than once to Kommersant's correspondent that their European colleagues met the Russian chairmanship with nice words, but on a practical level no one was willing to help them. Despite that, however, the Russian delegation managed to use its clout to silence almost all incipient scandals: for example, at the most recent session of PACE practically nothing was said about the crisis in relations between Georgia and Russia, even though the session took place at the height of the anti-Georgian campaign in Russia.
Kommersant's sources in European diplomatic circles noted that during the ten years of Russia's membership in the EC, the council has succeeded in obliging the Russian authorities to pay more attention to the problems of civil society and to take the council's opinion seriously. For example, in 2005, when the Russian government was drafting legislation concerning NGOs that drew harsh words from the Europeans, Moscow sent then Justice Minister Yury Chaika to Strasbourg to consult with lawyers from the EC. It is also in large part thanks to pressure from the EC that oversight of the country's SIZOs, or pre-trial detention facilities, was transferred from the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Justice. The Council of Europe considers Russia's cooperation with the European Court of Human Rights to be another important achievement. Russia's delegate to the court, Pavel Laptev, reported that the court has so far handed down 198 decisions against Russia. In 2005, Russia paid 14.6 million rubles in compensation; by the end of the first half of 2006, Russia had already paid out 12 million rubles. The last event during Russia's chairmanship of the Council of Ministers was last week's congress of municipal and local communities, which was held in Moscow. The basic topic of discussion was legislation sponsored by three deputies from United Russia that would end local elections for mayors in the regional capitals of the Russian Federation. The Russian authorities present, who included First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, assured the participants that Russia will not tear up the charter of local self-administration, which prohibits the direct appointment of mayors, and that the legislation will not get off the ground.
EC General Secretary Terry Davis shared with Kommersant that, in the last six months, it was the meeting in September with the "Mothers of Beslan" that struck him the most. "What those women talked about made a huge impression on everyone in Strasbourg," said Mr. Davis, who said that the meeting was made possible by Russia's chairmanship of the EC's Committee of Ministers.
Nargiz Asadova and Mikhail Zygar
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 16, 2006
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