[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA IN RUSSIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 3, 2001

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I participated recently in a Congressional 
delegation to Russia, led by my friend Curt Weldon, where we met with 
government officials and others to assess the economic and political 
situation in that country and the state of U.S.-Russian relations. As 
Co-Chairman of the Duma-Congress Study Group on which I serve with Mr. 
Weldon, and as former Chairman and Ranking Member of the Helsinki 
Commission, I have traveled to Russia and the former Soviet Union 
frequently since the early 1980s.
  We are encouraged by Russia's continued progress, however tentative 
it may appear at times, towards becoming a democratic state that 
guarantees the inalienable rights, including religious freedom and 
respect for human rights and the rule of law, of all its citizens. That 
is why it is disturbing to see an important tenet of democracy--freedom 
of the media--being threatened by federal government actions and by 
local officials as well.
  The seriousness of this problem has been addressed by both the 
Clinton and Bush Administrations and has received widespread attention 
in the Western press, including recent editorials in The Wall Street 
Journal and The Washington Post. In Moscow, we were briefed by 
Ambassador Jim Collins, who told us about the threats to the media, 
particularly NTV and its holding company, Media Most, and we also met 
with Evgeny Kiselev, head of NTV--the only independently operated 
television station in Russia--who described incidents of harassment and 
intimidation directed against himself and other NTV personnel.
  Moreover, as we have seen in the past, journalists in Russia are 
under threat of physical attacks, even murder, at the hands of unknown 
assailants if they offend the wrong people with their reporting.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to the attention of my colleagues 
the State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices-2000, 
just sent to the Congress by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and 
Labor, as required by law. It is a valuable document that assesses 
human rights conditions, country by country, around the world and has 
proven a reliable source of information for Members to better 
understand how individual governments treat their own citizens.
  The section on Russia, which covers 45 pages, states that the 
government ``generally respected the human rights of its citizens in 
many areas,'' but that ``serious problems remain, including 
independence and freedom of the media. . . .'' The report goes on to 
state ``Federal, regional, and local governments continued to exert 
pressure on journalists by: initiating investigations by the federal 
tax police, FSB, and MVD of media companies such as independent Media-
Most. . . .''
  The report also provides an account of the government harassment of 
and threats to Mr. Vladimir Goussinsky, founder and chairman of Media-
Most, which owns NTV, and his arrest and detention in a Moscow prison. 
Today, Mr. Goussinsky is confined in Spain, awaiting the disposition of 
a Russian prosecutor's request for extradition, as Kremlin authorities 
have been engaged in a series of actions to shut down the country's 
only privately owned television station, or have it taken over by a 
government-controlled company.
  Sadly, Mr. Speaker, these efforts have come to fruition today. Press 
reports indicate that, in an apparent boardroom coup, the current NTV 
board, including Mr. Goussinsky, was ousted by the Russian gas firm 
Gazprom, which says it owns a controlling stake of the station. Mr. 
Kiselev has been replaced by an associate of the Gazprom directors. 
Russia's only two other nationwide television stations, ORT and RTR, 
are already controlled by the government.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the government of the Russian Federation to 
strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law by guaranteeing 
and supporting media pluralism and independence in Russia. Clearly, the 
foundation of a free and democratic society is a well informed 
citizenry. That foundation crumbles when freedom of speech and freedom 
of the media are suppressed. I also urge my colleagues to review the 
State Department's report on human rights conditions, particularly the 
section on Russia.

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