Chechnya Picture

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]

Russia

Job advertisements often specify sex and age groups, and sometimes physical appearance as well. Government statistics for 1997 showed that women earn between 69 and 81 percent of men's salaries in 5 of the 10 fields examined, but between 95 to 105 percent of men's salaries in the remaining 5 sectors. However, these figures do not provide a complete picture of the problem. Women's average incomes generally are estimated to be significantly below average male incomes. Professions dominated by women are much lower paid than those dominated by men. Moscow human resources managers privately admit that discrimination against women in hiring is common. Unemployment, at 11.7 percent of the work force in October, also disproportionately affects women. ... [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: State Department Noon Briefing, October 5, 1999

RUBIN: I don't want to speculate on what we do when we are able to complete the picture for a full investigation, but let me be clear the United States has used a variety of means to respond to terrorism in the past. We have used economic and diplomatic sanctions, as in the case of the Libyan involvement in the Pan Am 103. We have employed military force consistent with international law when we believed it was necessary in self-defense to prevent further attacks. ... [Read More]

Introduction

Reports from North Korea continue to paint a bleak picture of one of the world’s most inhumane regimes. Rigid controls over information, which limit the extent of our report, reflect the totalitarian repression of North Korean society. Basic freedoms are unheard of, and the regime committed widespread abuses of human rights. This year’s report details – among other abuses – killings, persecution of forcibly repatriated North Koreans, and harsh conditions in the extensive prison camp system including torture, forced abortions and infanticide. ... [Read More]

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

MR. FLEISCHER: I think the President believes that the agenda that he believes in will have much more of a chance of passing if there were members of the Congress in both the House and the Senate who shared his view. And, clearly, when you take a look at what has not gotten done on the Hill this year, you can see a great many issues which would have gotten done if the House and the Senate had been in Republican hands. And so the President looks at this from a very broad picture and thinks that it would better for the country if many of the items on his agenda had enough support to get passed into law. So he is talking about, when he campaigns, the need to have a Republican Senate and a Republican House. ... [Read More]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003

It also provides a picture of the situation in China, where unfulfilled commitments, backsliding on key human rights issues and the Government’s poor record on Tibet have inspired our movement toward a resolution at this year’s UN Commission on Human Rights. The introduction also reflects the totalitarian repression in North Korea, the darkening picture for democracy in Burma with the May attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy, and the dramatic worsening of human rights abuses in Cuba, where 75 peaceful dissidents were sentenced to prison terms a year ago. It describes the campaign of violence, repression, and intimidation in Zimbabwe. And it describes the manipulation of elections in Russia and the continued violence and human rights abuses in Chechnya. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, March 24

This is a satellite photograph of a new headquarters complex that Saddam Hussein has built for the MEK. This is the main headquarters complex. The whole complex consists of this area all around here, and this is the main headquarters complex that's described in this larger picture. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: Human Rights Reports Vital Policy Instrument, Says U.S. Official

It also provides a picture of the situation in China, where unfulfilled commitments, backsliding on key human rights issues and the Government s poor record on Tibet have inspired our movement toward a resolution at this year s UN Commission on Human Rights. The introduction also reflects the totalitarian repression in North Korea, the darkening picture for democracy in Burma with the May attack on Aung San Suu Kyi s convoy, and the dramatic worsening of human rights abuses in Cuba, where 75 peaceful dissidents were sentenced to prison terms a year ago. It describes the campaign of violence, repression, and intimidation in Zimbabwe. And it describes the manipulation of elections in Russia and the continued violence and human rights abuses in Chechnya. ... [Read More]