According to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe, the 2007 Russian Duma elections were not fair and failed to meet many OSCE and Council of Europe standards. As a result, President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party shares the Duma with a small coterie of Communist radical nationalists, who have loyally supported the President in the past, and a so-called opposition party that supports President Putin as well. Based on credible reports from numerous sources, including the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, there can be little doubt that Russian authorities used a full range of so-called administrative resources—intimidation, confiscation of campaign literature and, at times, even physical abuse—to overwhelm the already weak and divided opposition. Helsinki Commissioners and witnesses of the briefing agreed that as a signatory to the Helsinki Final Act, Russia is obliged to bring its electoral policies and practices into conformity with it’s OSCE commitments.
Members
Hon. Alcee L. Hastings
Chairman
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Hon. Mike McIntyre
Commissioner
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Hon. Joseph R. Pitts
Commissioner
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Moderator
John Finerty
Staff Advisor
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Witnesses
Sarah Mendelson
Director of the Human Rights and Security Initiative
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Nikolas K. Gvosdev
Senior Fellow of Strategic Studies
The Nixon Center
Paul Goble
Longtime Specialist on the Former Soviet Union and Post-Soviet States
Various Government Agencies
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