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PACE co-rapporteurs present Russia monitoring memo

© Flickr / Francois SchnellPACE co-rapporteurs present Russia monitoring memo
PACE co-rapporteurs present Russia monitoring memo - Sputnik International
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PACE co-rapporteurs on Wednesday submitted an information note on their recent fact-finding visit to Moscow and Kazan, providing a preliminary assessment of Russia's progress in honoring its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe.

PACE co-rapporteurs on Wednesday submitted an information note on their recent fact-finding visit to Moscow and Kazan, providing a preliminary assessment of Russia's progress in honoring its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe.

Gyorgy Frunda and Andreas Gross said they would present a full monitoring report by the end of the year "so as to enable the Assembly to hold a debate on this subject after the legislative elections due in December 2011, but before the presidential election scheduled for mid-2012."

They praised Russia for working "impressively hard to bring its legislation into line with Council of Europe standards" and showing "visible progress" in the execution of European Court judgments, particularly the adoption of the law on compensation for victims of excessive length of procedures.

However, they point out, more attention should be paid to the Law on Defense relating to the sending abroad of Russian troops, which raises questions concerning conformity with international law.

The same also applies to the extent to which the executive's decision-making powers are consistent with the need for democratic control over the armed forces.

They criticized Russia, party to a number of Council of Europe conventions, for its failure to ratify them.

These include Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the European Convention on Nationality and the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism.

"It has not yet signed or ratified the Civil Law Convention on Corruption," the co-rapporteurs said.

The information note also points to the 2010 Law on Security Services, which, "according to the opposition, may be used as an instrument to threaten anyone who is in opposition or simply criticizes the authorities, as well as journalists investigating sensitive stories."

Other problem areas include the Law on Police, which has been criticized for non-compliance with European standards; the Law on Fighting Extremist Activity; and the question of the electoral threshold, which, "in the view of PACE, should not be higher than 5 percent."

The co-rapporteurs also stress that a large part of the Russian opposition is still unrepresented in the Duma and is not participating in political dialogue which gives cause for concern.

"Such a situation cannot be beneficial for the democratic system as a whole," they say.

STRASBOURG, April 13 (RIA Novosti) 

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