Russia Must Not Slip into Autocracy

When George W. Bush meets Vladimir Putin on Friday at Camp David, they will focus on terrorism, economic development and trade. Central to their discussions will be Russia's bid for membership of the World Trade Organisation and its interest in increased US investment. What is likely to be absent from the talks is Russia's domestic political situation, which, with each passing day, more closely resembles an autocracy.

Stable relations with the US depend on a reversal of Moscow's authoritarian drift. With parliamentary and presidential elections looming, Mr Bush should make clear that Russia's growing democracy deficit is against Russia's best interests.

First, freedom of the press. Under Mr Putin, Russia is a country where journalists are subject to criminal libel suits, state inspections, restrictive legislation on campaign reporting and numerous other forms of pressure. The offence? Engaging in legitimate reporting on issues such as corruption and human rights violations in Chechnya. Some journalists have paid with their lives for independent reporting.

As elections draw near, concern is rising about apparent efforts by the Kremlin to control and impede campaign coverage. In June, the press ministry closed TVS, Russia's last independent television station, citing the broadcaster's financial problems despite a new investor's interest in funding the station. And Mr Putin's government continues to harass political opponents who have left the country, including Vladimir Gusinsky, a former media magnate recently detained in Greece on a Russian warrant.

Second, the rule of law. After Mr Putin became president he promised to tackle corruption. Yet recent efforts by prosecutors to expose corruption appear to be political persecution and score-settling, not legitimate efforts to sort out fraudulent privatisation schemes from the Yeltsin years.

Despite official denials of Mr Putin's involvement in the ongoing probe into Yukos, prosecutors launched a criminal investigation within months of a tense exchange between the president and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil company's head. Mr Putin's unwillingness to disavow prosecutorial tactics, including the detention without bail of a Yukos shareholder, has increased concern about property rights within the international financial community.

Third, civil society. Under Mr Putin, independent civic groups are marginalised. The government recently threatened the independence of the All- Russia Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) by purging its leadership and in effect gaining control over which polls it can and cannot carry out.

Yury Levada, the sociologist who led VTsIOM, suggested the reorganisation was driven by displeasure about VTsIOM's polling on Chechnya. This month, Mr Levada and most of his staff quit to establish a new, independent organisation.

This leads us to Chechnya itself. For the past four years Mr Putin has waged a relentless war against the breakaway republic. Although there have been increased Chechen rebel attacks and despicable acts of terrorism by fanatics in recent months, the war is marked by the Russian military's equally appalling attacks on Chechen civilians and by Mr Putin's unwillingness to negotiate seriously to end hostilities.

Earlier this year, Mr Putin declared an end to the war in Chechnya after sponsoring a referendum on a Chechen constitution that recognises the region as part of Russia. But the fighting continues and the Chechens' near 100 per cent approval for the new constitution invites suspicion. With Chechen presidential elections now scheduled for October, Mr Putin must show his commitment to a peaceful, democratic Chechnya by ensuring that the voting is free, fair and open to international scrutiny.

After Mr Putin was elected president in March 2000, he acknowledged that the establishment of a democratic Russia was "far from complete" and vowed to build a nation that was "free, prosperous, rich, strong and civilised". US leaders applauded this pledge. Now, with Russia's progress toward democracy dangerously adrift, Mr Bush should press Mr Putin to honour his original promise, making clear that failure to consolidate democracy will have consequences for Russia's freedom, strength, prosperity and integration into the global community.

The writer is chairman of Freedom House. He has also served as director of the CIA and delegate-at-large to the US-Soviet strategic arms reduction talks