WASHINGTON – Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission, announced that the Commission will hold a hearing to discuss distrubing trends in Russia that are evidence of diminishing political freedom.
Human Rights, Civil Society, and Democratic Governance in Russia
Current Situation and Prospects for the Future
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
3:00-5:00 PM
Room 226, Dirksen Senate Office Building
For the past few years, a series of events in Russia has given cause for concern about the fate of human rights, civil society, and democratic governance in that country. Of particular concern is the recent promulgation of a law establishing greater governmental control over NGOs and an attempt by the Russian secret services to link prominent Russian NGOs with foreign intelligence services. As Newsweek International wrote in its February 6, 2006 issue: “The Russian secret service is acting more and more like the old KGB.”
At the same time, the Russian Federation accedes this year to the chairmanship of the Group of Eight Industrialized Nations (G-8), and will chair the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers beginning in May 2006.
Testifying before the Commission will be:
Panel One
Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Barry Lowenkron, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State
Panel Two
Allison Gill, Director, Moscow Office, Human Rights Watch
Andrew Kuchins, Russia and Eurasia Program, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Nicolai Petro, Professor of Political Science, University of Rhode Island
Andrei Piontkovsky, Senior Visiting Fellow, Hudson Institute
