Human Rights in the post-Soviet space: Russia and the Council of Europe 9 hypotheses for reflexions and discussions

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Human Rights in the post-Soviet spaceRussia
and the Council of Europe 9 hypotheses for
reflexions and discussions

• by Andreas Gross (Zurich)
• (Political Scientist, MP, PACE)
• Info_at_andigross.ch www.andigross.ch
• At the Norwegian Institute of International
  Affairs
• Centre for Russian Studies Annual Conference 2006
• The Multilateral Dimension in Russian Foreign
  Policy
• Oslo October 13th 2006

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Europe needs the Russian gas the next months
will show us, how much the defense of basic human
rights in comparison with economic interests
really counts.Film-Maker Eric Bergkraut in the
NZZ from 11th october 2006
The consternation about the assassination of
Anna Politkowskaja does not change anything about
the double morality (Doppelmoral) of the West.
Putins oil is too important J.Voswinkel /J.Ross
in the ZEIT from October 12 th 2006
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I. To end the (first) Chechnya's war was 1996 the
condition for Russias entry in the Council of
Europe

• No general (western) consensus (will) about
• How to build up Human Rights in post
  totalitarian societies
• How to do this in Russia
• How the end of war will be transformed into peace

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Old Europe welcomed and wanted to support the
project of the new Russian elite Modernization
means Europeanization

• Everything else would not have been in the
  interest of the Security of Europe - but how much
  old and new Europe have been ready to invest and
  engage for this ?

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II. Human Rights are never ending collective
learning processes

• There is always a beginning,
• never an end.
• The will to begin and to make progress is
  essential
• This process has to be monitored

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III. You cant ignore the heritage of
totalitarism, and you have to transform it in a
common effort

• What is the political in a political
  solution?
• Elections have to be inclusive, not exclusive if
  you want to integrate a disintegrated society
• What is (democratic) power all about ?
• What are (democratic) politics all about ?
• Peace in Chechnya depends on the success of the
  democracy building process in Russia

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IV. For the (too few) sustainably en-gaged
Russian citizens the Russian CoE-Membership is of
great help

• The European Court of Human Rights ruled until
  now nearly only in the interest of the Russian
  citizens and not of the Russian Courts
• The PACE delivered in its Parliamentarian
  Monitoring Process one of the most complete
  critical analyses of Russias HR deficits
• The PACE is the only official body who brought
  light and public attention to Chechnya since 1996

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V. One of many Russian/CoE paradoxes

• The CoE s power are values only -
• no military or economy
• Russia is still weak concerning CoEs values
• But Russia feels at home in the CoE - more than
  in the OSCE, UN (EU)

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VI. The Russian society and elites are heavily
divided - but there are no open debates about
these divisions, so there is no mutual learning

• Normal state or old/new Empire ?
• Is there an own way to understand Democracy?
• How should the new economic strength and
  richness be used and made useful for all Russians
  ?
• What kind of legitimacy democratic power needs
  ?
• How to overcome old (totalitarian) mentalities ?

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VII. The Russian nation is still a subjectively
humiliated nation

• Humiliated nations are difficult to challenge
• They tend to transform internal problems in to
  external real and rhetoric agressivity

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VIII. You cant impose Human Rights in Russia
against or without Russians

• you have to integrate Human Rights and its main
  interests in an (more) open, clearer and
  controversial dialogue (one of the many
  underestimated potentials of the CoE)

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IX. The leaders and peoples of Europe and the
West cant delegate their responsi-bilities, as
well as the Russian leader cant delegate theirs
to semi criminal structures

• The disregard of our principles
• discredit them most
• Energy- needs and high prices do not legitimize
  the ignorance of Humans Rights
• Human Rights are not sunshine- policies but
  conditions for peace and real stability