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Weekly Review of Developments in Human Rights and Democracy

War on terrorism detainees; Rice links democratization to defeating terror; Ukraine, Belarus elections; Fried on Armenian elections; world press freedom report; human rights defenders in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan

Following are some of the most significant recent U.S. government policy pronouncements, hearings and reports on human rights and democracy concerning Eurasia, as well as some noteworthy materials released by international organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs):

For additional coverage of the topics listed below and related issues, see Europe and Eurasia.

RICE IN EUROPE DEFENDS U.S. POLICIES ON TERROR DETAINEES

While on a trip to Europe March 29-April 2, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the U.S. prosecution of the war on terrorism and especially U.S. treatment of detainees in that war.

Acknowledging concern in Europe and other parts of the world that the United States has emphasized security at the expense of respect for the law and human rights, Rice said in a major foreign policy speech March 31, "No one should ever doubt the U.S. commitment to justice and the rule of law."

The United States does not tolerate torture, she said. "We also have no desire to be the world's jailer," she added at the foreign policy research center Chatham House in Blackburn, a town in northern England represented in the U.K. House of Commons by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "We want the terrorists that we captured to stand trial for their crimes."

Rice also discussed the detainee issue at length in a television interview.

In another interview, she expressed confidence that U.S. support for democracy will lead to success in the war against terrorism.

For more information on enemy combatants held at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, see Detainee Issues.

RICE SAYS ADVANCING LIBERTY, DEMOCRACY LONG-TERM ANSWER TO TERROR

Fostering liberty and democracy is key to defeating terrorism by changing the circumstances that create extremists, Rice said March 28 in testimony before a Senate committee.

DEMOCRATIC ELECTION IN UKRAINE CONTRASTS WITH FRAUD IN BELARUS

The United States praised Ukraine for conducting its March 26 parliamentary elections in a free and fair manner.

U.S. envoy Julie Finley contrasted the recent fraudulent elections in Belarus with the "flourishing democracy" in Ukraine.

Finley also chided Russia for its support for Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko in remarks March 30 in Vienna, Austria, to Europe's largest human rights organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

U.S. EXPECTS UPCOMING ARMENIAN ELECTIONS TO BE FREE, FAIR

The United States expects Armenia's parliamentary and presidential elections in 2007 and 2008 to meet international standards for free and fair elections, the State Department's Daniel Fried said in a speech in Washington March 27.

Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said the Bush administration views the elections as "key tests" of whether Armenia is meeting its commitments under the terms of the Millennium Challenge Compact it signed March 27.

A Millennium Challenge Compact is a bilateral aid agreement with the United States that involves a commitment on the part of the recipient country to encourage economic freedom, rule justly and invest in its people.

INDEPENDENT PRESS FREEDOM GROUP PUBLISHES ITS ANNUAL WORLD REVIEW

The worst place in Europe to practice journalism?

It is Belarus, according to the independent press freedom group International Press Institute, which issued its annual review March 30th of the conditions under which journalists must work.

(Reports on individual countries are available on the IPI Web site.)

GROUP ISSUES REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN RUSSIA, BELARUS, UZBEKISTAN

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) presented a report, The Assault on Human Rights Defenders in the Russian Federation, Belarus and Uzbekistan, to an OSCE conference in Vienna March 30.

"The situation of human rights NGOs has deteriorated dramatically in the Russian Federation, Belarus and Uzbekistan" and is becoming "increasingly reminiscent of the communist era," says IHF, a coalition of more than 40 independent human rights organizations.

Source: U.S. Department of State