State Dept Report Angers Duma Member

Last Thursday, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the US State Dept. released a new report titled Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2006. To give you an idea of how Russia was addressed in this report, the opening to the Europe and Eurasia section quotes Anna Politkovskaya – “How could I live with myself if I didn’t write the truth?”. The full text of the report can be read here.

Some Duma members are furious over the latest State Dept. report, which heavily features Anna Politkovskaya

Today, RIA reported that Konstantin Kosachev has issued a statement in response, accusing Washington of intending to violate Russian sovereignty in the upcoming elections.

“The report contains a direct indication that the United States intends to finance projects within the framework of the forthcoming State Duma and presidential election campaigns,” said Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the International Affairs Committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament. … “Although the State Department report seems to deal with another topic, it nevertheless contains an acknowledgment that such facts have been, still exist and are planned in the future,” Kosachev said. “That is obvious interference in the internal political life and sovereign affairs of another country, which we cannot accept under any circumstances.”