Chechnya Picture War

In July Gleb Pavlovkskiy, head of the Effective Policy Foundation, sold his web site to the Russian State TV and Radio Company (VGTRK), a large conglomerate that includes all the government-owned media assets. The media community had previously considered the web site to be a de facto Kremlin media outlet.Government agencies continued to bring lawsuits and other legal actions against journalists and journalistic organizations during the year, the majority of them in response to unfavorable coverage of government policy or operations. The GDF estimated that several hundred such cases had been brought in 2001. Judges rarely found in favor of the journalists; in the majority of cases, the Government succeeded in either intimidating or punishing them. In July the Central District Court of Sochi ordered the newspaper Sochi and correspondent Sergey Zolovkin to pay $3,175 and $1,587 (105,000 and 50,000 rubles), to the Krasnodar region administration for a ... [Read More]

Progress Report on the Global War on Terrorism

Since September 11, 2001, the FBI has received and assessed the credibility of approximately 3,600 threats to the United States. The National Threats Warning System has issued 62 threat warnings, 55 Be On the Lookout (BOLO) alerts, and 82 Intelligence Bulletins. These warnings are disseminated to more than 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States, over 60 Federal agencies and subcomponents, and all U.S. Attorneys. ...

Success in the global war against terrorism depends on the actions of a powerful coalition of nations maintaining a united front against terror. Over 170 nations continue to participate in the war on terrorism by taking terrorists into custody, freezing terrorist assets and providing military forces and other support. International organizations are becoming more agile, adapting their structures to meet changing threats. We support the actions of our partners as they facilitate international, regional, and local solutions to the challenge of terrorism. ... [Read More]

U.S.-Russian Relations in the Post-Post-Cold War World

U.S.-Russian relations are of course still evolving from a Cold War relationship dominated by efforts to prevent what we could do to one another to a new post-post-Cold War one based on promoting what we can do with each other. In the process, Russia and the United States are slowly moving away from a relationship that was centered on bilateral issues, first and foremost the prevention of nuclear war. To the extent the United States and Russia are still engaging in bilateral arms control, like the Treaty of Moscow, it is largely to manage the strategic relationship in a period of transition marked by continuing nuclear reductions and the likely introduction of limited ballistic missile defenses. Beyond that, arms control efforts are focused on preventing Cold War stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction from getting into the wrong hands or damaging the environment. Obviously, the United States and Russia must deal with the political and physical residue of the Cold War. ... [Read More]

U.S.-Russia Relations in Putin's Second Term

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, I am delighted to be with you this morning to discuss the current state of U.S.-Russian relations and the prospects for their evolution. Hardly a day goes by without our addressing aspects of this important relationship in one way or another, and yet the occasions for reflecting seriously on its entirety are surprisingly few. I especially value the chance to share my thoughts with you this morning on where we are in the relationship and where we are headed -- and to hear your comments and questions. The time is certainly right, now that the Russian presidential election is behind us and the shape of the new Russian administration has become clear. Let me begin with a brief assessment of where we are at present. As I reported to your Subcommittee on Europe earlier this month, we have ma ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: White House Daily Briefing, October 29

Q: Ari, Putin said, in dealing with the Chechens, that this was a part of the global war on terrorism. And earlier today you were asked whether or not the administration agreed with that position. You said, to the extent that al Qaeda is in Chechnya and the rest of the world. Considering that Russia has given assistance to our war on terrorism, would the White House, would the administration consider offering intelligence or personnel or training regarding going after al Qaeda, say in Chechnya? ... [Read More]

Introduction

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, various armed groups continued to commit massacres and other atrocities, but the poor human rights situation improved slightly. After five years of war, a Transitional Government was inaugurated, a vital step in starting the country on a path toward democracy. Uganda withdrew its forces by June, and, following the adoption of a transitional constitution, a transitional power-sharing government was established on June 30. In Liberia, a cooperative transitional power sharing agreement emerged between civil society, former government forces and the rebel groups, “Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy” (LURD) and “Movement for Democracy in Liberia” (MODEL), with elections scheduled for October 2005. However, numerous abuses occurred in the context of the conflict, and sporadic fighting, looting and human rights violations continued in remote areas where peacekeepers from the U.N. Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) have not yet reached. ... [Read More]

Russia

In August after a number of television stations showed footage of Chechen leaders in their reports on the conflict in Dagestan, the Ministry warned the companies against "giving air time to Chechen field commanders," stating that this "violates Article 4 of the Law of the Russian Federation on the Mass Media" (which forbids the inciting of racial violence or hatred). Days earlier, a city-owned station in St. Petersburg was issued an almost identical warning for airing anti-Semitic material (see Section 5). Later that month, Minister Lesin issued another stern warning to the ORT in connection with a news report by the station that allegedly displayed "flagrant disrespect for the flag of the Russian Federation" and allegedly contained "disrespectful comments about the Russian President." Minister Lesin informed the station that "such violations might lead to the revocation of the station's broadcasting license." In late August, the Ministry again warned the ORT that it could lose its bro ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: National Security Advisor Rice Briefing on APEC Meeting

I hope to be able to talk to the message that the President has been delivering, that this is a war on terrorism, a war on evil, this is not a war of civilizations. The President has enormous respect, and all of us do, for Islam, for a religion that preaches peace, that would never countenance the violent deaths of innocent people. And I hope to get that word across. So that's why we're doing it. ...

DR. RICE: It's an excellent point. It's an excellent point, because among the APEC leaders, of course, are leaders of important Muslim countries. And we do think that the President is -- that it's important to enlist Muslim leaders not just in the Middle East, but from around the world, to understand that this is clearly not a war of religions, not a war with the Muslim world. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: Terrorism Expert Says War on Terrorism May Take Years

Now, obviously, it's tragic when civilians are killed in the course of war and in military operations, but I still think there's a world of difference between military operations that, in a theater of war, in a theater of declared war, that inadvertently or accidentally kill civilians and the acts of terrorists, which deliberately and specifically attempt to inflict violence and harm on civilians. That's firstly. ...

I mean, certainly, the wars that were fought most recently in Afghanistan and in Iraq conformed to the rules of war. And I think that's a very important distinction right there, is that we live in an imperfect world, and, of course, the rules of war that exist at times, unfortunately and tragically, especially for innocent civilians in military parlance, you know, the collateral casualties that are inflicted in the course of military operations, the consequences are equally tragic, whether you're killed or harmed in a terrorist incident or in a bombing raid. ... [Read More]