[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 261 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 261

 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the detention of Andrei 
Babitsky by the Government of the Russian Federation and freedom of the 
                            press in Russia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 24, 2000

 Mr. Helms (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Roth, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Dodd) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the detention of Andrei 
Babitsky by the Government of the Russian Federation and freedom of the 
                            press in Russia.

Whereas Andrei Babitsky, a dedicated and professional journalist for Radio Free 
        Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for the last 10 years, reported on the 
        1994-1996 and the current Russo-Chechen wars;
Whereas on December 27, 1999, the Russian Information Committee (RIC) in 
        Chechnya accused Babitsky of ``conspiracy with Chechen rebels'' after he 
        broadcast a story that shed unfavorable light on Russian military 
        actions in Chechnya;
Whereas on January 8, 2000, Russian security agents raided Babitsky's apartment 
        in Moscow and confiscated several items and later ordered his wife, 
        Ludmila Babitskaya, to report to a local militia station in Moscow after 
        she attempted to pick up photographs taken by her husband in Chechnya;
Whereas on January 18, 2000, Babitsky was reportedly detained by Russian 
        authorities in Moscow but later reports indicated that he was not 
        formally arrested until January 27, 2000;
Whereas on January 26, 2000, Russian presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky 
        said that Babitsky ``left Grozny and then disappeared'' and declared 
        that Russian security services had no idea as to his whereabouts and 
        that ``his security is not guaranteed'';
Whereas on January 28, 2000, Russian media officials told RFE/RL that Babitsky 
        would be released with apologies after having been charged with 
        participating in ``an illegal armed formation'';
Whereas on February 2, 2000, Moscow officials announced that Babitsky would be 
        transferred from Naursky district near Chechnya to Gudermes and then to 
        Moscow where he would then be released on his own recognizance;
Whereas on February 3, 2000, Russian presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky 
        said that Russian officials exchanged Babitsky for 3 Russian prisoners 
        of war and on the same day, Vladimir Ustinov, acting Russian prosecutor 
        general, said Babitsky had been released and had gone over to the 
        Chechens on his own accord;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has repeatedly issued 
        contradictory statements on the detention of Andrei Babitsky and 
        provided neither a credible accounting of its detention of Babitsky nor 
        any credible evidence of his well-being;
Whereas United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson stated 
        on February 16 that Russian behavior in Chechnya and the detention of 
        Andrei Babitsky appears to violate the Geneva conventions to which 
        Russia is a signatory;
Whereas on February 16, 2000, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Oleg Mironov 
        denounced Moscow's handling of Babitsky as a violation of Russian law 
        and international law and stated that the situation surrounding Babitsky 
        signals ``that the same thing may happen to every reporter'';
Whereas the Union of Journalists in Russia declared on February 16 that the case 
        of Andrei Babitsky is ``not an isolated episode, but almost a turning 
        point in the struggle for a press that serves society and not the 
        authorities'' and that ``the threat to freedom of speech in Russia has 
        for the first time in the last several years transformed into its open 
        and regular suppression'';
Whereas freedom of the press is both a central element of democracy as well as a 
        catalyst for democratic reform;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has repeatedly violated the 
        principles of freedom of the press by subjecting journalists who 
        question or oppose its policies to censorship, intimidation, harassment, 
        incarceration, and violence; by restricting beyond internationally 
        accepted limits their access to information; and by issuing misleading 
        and false information; and
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has egregiously restricted the 
        efforts of journalists to report on the indiscriminate brutality of 
        Russia's use of force in Chechnya: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the detention of Andrei Babitsky by the Government of 
        the Russian Federation and the misinformation the Government of 
        the Russian Federation has issued concerning this matter--
                    (A) constitute reprehensible treatment of a 
                civilian in a conflict zone in violation of the Geneva 
                Conventions and applicable protocols; and
                    (B) demonstrate the Government of the Russian 
                Federation's intolerance toward a free and open press;
            (2) the conduct of the Government of the Russian Federation 
        leaves it responsible for the safety of Andrei Babitsky;
            (3) the Government of the Russian Federation should take 
        steps to secure the safe return of RFE/RL reporter Andrei 
        Babitsky to his family;
            (4) the Government of the Russian Federation should provide 
        a full accounting of Mr. Babitsky's detention and the charges 
        he may face; and
            (5) the Russian authorities should immediately halt their 
        harassment of journalists, foreign and domestic, who cover the 
        war in Chechnya and any other event in the Russian Federation 
        and should fully adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human 
        Rights, which declares in article 19 that ``everyone has the 
        right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes 
        the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, 
        receive and impart information and ideas through any media 
        regardless of frontiers''.
                                 <all>