James Barbour

Russia: The Price of Truth

Posted at 12:57 20 January 2009 by James Barbour  |  Comments[3]

Human Rights in Russia: 60 years young

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is 60 today.  The world has changed immeasurably in those 60 years, and Russia is no exception.

Late 1948 was a particularly grim period for relations between the West and Stalin’s USSR.  The ramifications of Yalta and Potsdam were only beginning to make themselves apparent.  The Czech coup earlier in the year had shocked Western leaders, the Berlin blockade was in full swing, the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact was just around the corner, and war-by-proxy in Korea was barely a year or so away.

The Cold War arms race, which would continue for decades and ultimately bankrupt the Soviet Union, was just beginning, with both blocs frantically developing bigger bombs and faster fighter jets.

Against this backdrop it’s nothing short of miraculous that the UN found itself able to reach agreement on a text which, despite eight abstentions including the USSR, no one country felt able to vote against.

Fast-forward to the 21^st Century, where the human rights enjoyed by today’s Russians could not even have been imagined by their forebears sixty years ago.  But, as the UK’s own Annual Human Rights Report tells us, there is considerable progress still to be made before Russia can genuinely be said to have espoused the UDHR.  And we’re doing a lot to try to help.

Every year , a group of senior officials from the UK and Russia meet to talk about human rights issues, and how to make progress.  They will meet again in Moscow early next year.  We also participate in regular EU/Russia human rights talks; the last session, held in October this year, discussed a range of issues including equality and minorities, NGOs and civil society, freedom of expression and the rule of law.

As an Embassy we support a range of projects in priority areas, including human rights.  This year we’re spending around £1.5 million working with civil society in the sphere of human rights and good governance.  These projects help to address such key issues as penal reform, media freedom, inter-ethnic conflict, discrimination, and the strengthening of human rights institutions and civil society.

There are some real, tangible outcomes, too – for example a book we produced last year at the end of a successful series of seminars on tolerance is now used as a textbook in Russian schools.  Another project helped to draft new legislation on public oversight of the penitentiary system, which President Medvedev signed into law in June 2008.  As a result, regional supervisory commissions will be able to observe human rights in prisons and, where necessary, provide assistance to prisoners.

Why do we care?  For the answer to that I’ll turn to Hansard, and the evidence the FCO submitted to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee last year

We want to see democracy in Russia deliver political pluralism and all its associated freedoms. We believe that an open and democratic Russia will provide better opportunities for the Russian people and consolidate Russia as a stable and reliable international partner for the global community. 

It’s a no-brainer, really. When you’re looking at global issues such as climate change, nuclear proliferation and, most recently, the stability of the global economy, you can’t hope to make a difference without Russia.  So we want – need – Russia to be a stable, reliable partner in the international community, and we want to improve the lives of Russian people into the bargain.

It’s better for us, it’s better for Russia, and it’s better for everyone.

Posted at 13:51 10 December 2008 by James Barbour  |  Comments[1]