IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 128

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the continued participation of

the Russian Federation in the Group of Eight must be conditioned

on the Russian Federation’s voluntary acceptance of and adherence to

the norms and standards of democracy.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 8, 2001

Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the continued

participation of the Russian Federation in the Group

of Eight must be conditioned on the Russian Federation’s voluntary acceptance of and adherence to the

norms and standards of democracy.

Whereas in 1991 and subsequent years the leaders of the

Group of Seven (‘‘G–7’’), the forum of the heads of state

or heads of government of the major democracies of the

world which meet annually in a summit meeting, invited

the Russian Federation to a post-summit dialog, and in

1998 the leaders of the Group of Seven formally invited

the Russian Federation to participate in an annual gathering that thereafter became known as the Group of
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Eight (‘‘G–8’’), although the Group of Seven have continued to hold informal summit meetings and ministerial

meetings that do not include the Russian Federation;

Whereas the invitation to President Yeltsin of the Russian

Federation to participate in these annual summits was in

recognition of his commitment to democratization and

economic liberalization, despite the fact that the Russian

Federation’s economy has been weak and its commitment

to democratic principles has been uncertain;

Whereas those countries which are members of the Group of

Seven are pluralistic democratic societies with democratic

political institutions and practices and they have committed themselves to the observance of universally recognized standards of human rights, respect for individual

liberties, and democratic political practices;

Whereas free news media are fundamental to the functioning

of a democratic society and essential for the protection of

individual liberties and such freedoms can exist only in

an environment that is free of state control of the news

media, that is free of any form of state censorship or official coercion of any kind, and that is protected and guaranteed by the rule of law;

Whereas the Russian Federation has engaged in a series of

government actions that are hostile and destructive of

privately owned independently operated media enterprises, particularly those news outlets that have been critical of government policies and government actions;

Whereas on Saturday, April 14, 2001, the Russian Federation gas monopoly Gazprom, which is partially stateowned, staged a forceful pre-dawn takeover of the Russian Federation’s only independently operated television
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station NTV, replacing its Board of Directors and installing government management of television operations;

Whereas on Tuesday, April 17, 2001, the daily newspaper

Sevodnya, one of Moscow’s independent newspapers, was

abruptly closed and the news magazine Itogi, which is

published in partnership with Newsweek, may also be

forced to close in the near future;

Whereas the tax authorities of the Russian Federation, have

begun to harass TNT, a small cable station that has been

allowing the journalists ousted from the NTV station to

air their newscasts on its channel since the takeover by

Gazprom; and

Whereas the continued participation of the Russian Federation in the Group of Eight must be conditioned on the

Russian Federation’s acceptance of and adherence to the

norms and standards of democracy: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—

3 (1) the participation of the Russian Federation

4 in the Group of Eight must be suspended until the

5 Russian Federation demonstrates its commitment to

6 the existence of a free, unfettered, and independent

7 media and the free exchange of ideas and views, in8 cluding opportunities for private ownership of media

9 enterprises, the right of people to receive news with10 out government interference and harassment, and

11 the freedom of journalists to publish opinions and
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1 news reports without fear of censorship or punish2 ment;

3 (2) such participation should also be condi4 tioned on the Russian Federation’s adherence to

5 other norms and standards of democracy,

6 including—

7 (A) the freedom of all religious groups

8 freely to practice their faith in the Russian

9 Federation, without government interference on

10 the rights and the peaceful activities of such re11 ligious organizations;

12 (B) equal treatment and respect for the

13 human rights and the right to own private

14 property of all citizens of the Russian Federa15 tion;

16 (C) initiation of genuine negotiations for a

17 just and peaceful resolution of the conflict in

18 Chechnya, including a full investigation of the

19 conflict and bringing to justice those individ20 uals, civilian or military, who in a court of law

21 are found to be guilty of criminal violations of

22 human rights;

23 (D) respect for the rule of law and im24 provement of civil and legal institutions to im25 plement and defend these rights; and
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1 (E) reform of the judicial system to pre2 vent the arbitrary detention of citizens and pro3 vide for a speedy trial and equal access to the

4 judicial system; and

5 (3) the President and the Secretary of State

6 should take all necessary steps to suspend the par7 ticipation of the Russian Federation in the G–8 until

8 the Government of the Russian Federation dem9 onstrates that it adheres to the norms and standards

10 described in paragraphs (1) and (2), in particular

11 the existence of a free and unfettered press, and are

12 requested to convey to appropriate officials of the

13 Government of the Russian Federation, including

14 the President, the Prime Minister, and the Minister

15 of Foreign Affairs, this expression of the views of

16 the Congress.

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