[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 18 (Thursday, February 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S833-S834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DETENTION OF ANDREI BABITSKY BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN
FEDERATION AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN RUSSIA
Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
now proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 261, submitted
earlier by Senators Helms, Biden, Roth, Lott, and Dodd.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (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.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, during the past 5 months the Government of
Russia has waged a brutal war against Chechnya. The Kremlin's
indiscriminate use of force has left countless thousands of innocents
dead and hundreds of thousands homeless on the icy plains and in the
snow-covered mountains of the Caucasus.
We all have seen the photos of Grozny, a city subjected to a travesty
not witnessed in Europe since the siege of Stalingrad and the leveling
of Warsaw in World War II. Indeed, what has been done to Grozny
surpasses even the havoc Milosevic wrought upon the towns and cities of
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. It is difficult to believe, but it is
true.
In a time when Western Governments have turned a blind eye to this
conflict, the ability of journalists to report objectively on the
horrors of this war becomes all the more important to the effort to
bring an end to this violence and establish a just peace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to recognize this only too
well. As a consequence, freedom of the press, a cornerstone of
democracy, has become another victim of his government and his war
against Chechnya.
Mr. President, the Russian government is today systematically
censoring the press and attempting to use it to disseminate
misinformation about public events. Journalists in Russia who report on
the war and other matters in a manner contradicting the Putin
Government do so at great risk. They are subject to intimidation,
harassment, detention, and even violence by Russian authorities.
In one recent case, Russian police attempted to arrest a journalist
and send him off to a psychiatric hospital, a ghoulish effort
reminiscent of Putin's not to distant career in the Soviet KGB.
Nowhere has this suppression of the free press become more blatant
and cruel than in the case of Andrei Babitsky, a ten year veteran
journalist of our own Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe.
Babitsky courageously and objectively covered the 1994-1996 Russo-
Chechen war as well as the current conflict. For his accounts of the
atrocities committed by Russian military and the resilience of the
Chechen resistance, he has paid an extremely high price.
In mid-January, he was seized in Chechnya by Russian forces and
detained. That is the last heard from him directly.
The Russian Government's response to inquiries about Babitsky's
health and whereabouts have been contradictory and dismissive.
After nearly three weeks of asserting that Babitsky had not been
detained, that he was about to be freed--and, indeed, that he had been
freed, a Kremlin spokesman summarily announced on February 3 that his
government exchanged Babitsky for three Russian prisoners of war held
by the Chechen resistance.
Chechen authorities deny that such an exchange ever took place. And,
the Kremlin has not provided one iota of credible evidence backing its
version of events. Today, the fate of Andrei Babitsky remains unknown.
He is a father with a loving and courageous wife and two children. We
must pray that Babitsky will return safely to his family.
Mr. President, it is with Andrei Babitsky in mind, I, along with
Senator Biden, the Majority Leader, and Senator Roth, send to the desk
a resolution concerning the state of freedom of press in Russia. This
resolution recounts the facts as we know them in the case of Andrei
Babitsky, and it underscores that his detention and disappearance are
not isolated incidents but part of the Russian government's broader and
systematic repression of the press.
It expresses our belief that--and at that this point I shall read the
concluding elements of the pending resolution:
(1) The detention of Andrei Babitsky by the Government of
Russia and the misinformation it has issued concerning this
matter constitute reprehensible treatment of a civilian in a
conflict zone, in violation of the principles set forth in
Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, and demonstrate the
[Russian] Government's intolerance toward a free and open
press;
(2) The conduct by the Government of Russia leaves it
responsible for the safety of Andrei Babitsky;
(3) The Government of Russia should take steps to secure
the safe return of RFE/RL reporter Andrei Babitsky to his
family;
(4) The Government of Russia should provide a full
accounting of Mr. Babitsky's detention and the charges he
faced; and
(5) The Russian authorities should immediately halt its
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 and regardless of
frontiers.''
No principle lies deeper in the heart of democracy than the right to
free speech. And the embodiment of that principle is a free press. Not
only is freedom of the press a cornerstone of democracy, it is a key
catalyst of democratic reform. Russia will not become a democracy if
the Kremlin continues to repress, intimidate, harass, and brutalize
those journalists who do not share its point view. Our ability to help
Russia evolve into a democracy cannot be effective if we ignore such
systematic repression of the press.
I call upon my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.
Allow me to close on one point related to the disappearance of Andrei
Babitsky, freedom of the press in Russia and the relationship between
Washington and Moscow.
It has become public knowledge that some in these two capitals
contemplate a summit meeting in the near future between President
Clinton and President Vladimir Putin. If our government is serious
about determining the facts surrounding Andrei Babitsky's fate, if our
government is serious about protecting other journalists from such
abuse, and if our government is serious about promoting democratic
reform in Russia, the administration will promptly dismiss such
proposed summits until Putin has provided a full and credible
accounting of Babitsky's detention and his current whereabouts.
It is premature to consider summit meetings at a time when the
Russian government remains contemptuously dismissive of Babitsky and
our concerns about his safety, not to mention the international
community's call for a just peace in Chechnya.
The administration has repeatedly stated that the Kremlin will
isolate itself through its barbaric conduct in Chechnya. Now is the
time for the administration to live up to its own words.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the chairman of the
Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Helms, in supporting a resolution
regarding Andrei Babitsky, a reporter for Radio Liberty, who has been
missing in Russia since January.
Mr. Babitsky is a veteran reporter for Radio Liberty, the U.S.-funded
radio broadcasting organization based in Prague. He has reported on
Russia for over a decade, and reported on the Russo-Chechen war from
1994 to 1996 and over the past several months.
In mid-January, Mr. Babitsky disappeared in Chechnya. Since then,
Russian officials have issued contradictory statements about Mr.
Babitsky's whereabouts and well-being. On January 26, a Russian
presidential spokesman stated that Babitsky ``left Grozny and then
disappeared,'' and that Russian officials had no knowledge of his
[[Page S834]]
whereabouts. Two days later, Russian authorities acknowledged to
officials from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Mr. Babitsky had
been detained, but that he would soon be released. Just a few days
after that, Russian officials stated that, instead of being released,
Mr. Babitsky had been handed to Chechen rebels in exchange for three
Russian prisoners of war.
It is now late February. Mr. Babitsky still has not been heard from,
and the Russian government has yet to provide a credible accounting of
his whereabouts.
The actions and statements of the Government of the Russian
Federation are deeply troubling, not only because of what they may mean
for Mr. Babitsky's well-being, but for what they may portend about the
freedom of the press in Russia today. Mr. Babitsky is a journalist,
working for an American-supported news organization. His detention by
the Russian authorities, and his reported exchange with the Chechens,
violates fundamental norms embodied in the Geneva Conventions and
applicable protocols. Equally troubling, the detention and mistreatment
of a working journalist is a chilling indication that the Government of
the Russian Federation is not committed to a fundamental human right:
freedom of the press. These are not just the words of one United States
Senator. In Russia itself, a leading journalists' union has stated that
the Babitsky case is ``not an isolated episode, but almost a turning
point in the struggle for a press that serves society and not the
authorities.''
Several weeks ago, the chairman and I wrote to Acting President Putin
and urged Mr. Babitsky's release. Several other senators and members of
the other body have expressed similar views. Additionally, the
Secretary of State has raised this matter with senior Russian
officials. In Russia, Europe and the United States, there has been
universal condemnation of the Russian Government for its actions in
this matter.
Today we have decided to call additional attention to Mr. Babitsky's
plight by introducing this sense of the Senate resolution, which
criticizes the Government of the Russian Federation for its actions in
the Babitsky matter and calls on Moscow to provide a full accounting of
his detention.
I hope it will get the attention of the Russian Government. I hope it
will help lead to the truth about the whereabouts of Mr. Babitsky. I
urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to
reconsider be laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 261) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 261
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''.
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