The European Union should use its October 26 summit with Russia to robustly challenge the Kremlin on its worsening rights record, Human Rights Watch said today. Failure to tackle deteriorating human rights and the rule of law in Russia will have negative repercussions for the European Union in dealing with Russia in the future.
In a memorandum made public today, Human Rights Watch highlighted three key areas in which EU leadership is urgently needed - the deteriorating environment for civil society, continued impunity for serious abuses in Chechnya, and Russia's implementation of the rising number of European Court of Human Rights judgments finding Russia responsible for these abuses.
At the last EU-Russia summit, held in the Russian city of Samara in May, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel broke the EU's longstanding silence on the Kremlin's rights record by speaking up about the harassment of opposition protesters. But this welcome show of leadership was undermined just weeks later by the incoming Portuguese presidency, when Portugal's Prime Minister José Sócrates told Russia's President Vladimir Putin that there would be no more EU moralizing about Russia's rights record, saying that "no one should claim to lecture anyone else."
"Speaking up about repression is not inappropriate 'lecturing,'" said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "It's about treating Russia like a fully fledged partner that is capable of hearing and addressing criticism."
Human Rights Watch said it was incumbent on Portugal and the EU as a whole to remedy the harm caused by the Portuguese premier's statements, and show that the EU was committed to pursuing a meaningful human rights policy vis-à-vis Russia.
"Sócrates's remarks were a victory for Putin's authoritarian policies, and a betrayal of Russia's besieged civil society," said Cartner. "Friday's summit will be a test of the EU's commitment not to let that stand."
As Russia has become more assertive in international affairs - thanks in part to its lock on gas exports to the European Union - it has become increasingly petulant in responding to the rare foreign expressions of concern about its worsening human rights record. EU expressions of concern, meanwhile, have been muted by energy concerns. Human rights in EU-Russia relations are raised mostly in a low-level consultation process with inadequate follow-up mechanisms.
At the same time, the Kremlin has adopted more repressive measures at home to silence criticism. The atmosphere has only worsened further in the lead-up to the parliamentary and presidential elections in December 2007 and March 2008, with the authorities enforcing greater restrictions on protest rallies, tightening controls over civil society through new legislation, and continuing to curb what remains of the independent media.
"The EU should build on Chancellor Merkel's positive example from May and confront Russia openly on its repressive policies," said Cartner. "It should reaffirm the validity of the human rights principles that underpin its relationship with Russia, and give these principles practical meaning by calling for specific steps the government needs to take to address the EU's concerns."
The Human Rights Watch memorandum suggests a number of steps the EU should ask Russia to take, including the following:
