Rewind Back to Russia

I’m noticing that there is still a lot of buzz in the media about Secretary Clinton’s trip to Russia and while many in the MSM focused on the Iran-US-Russia angle (regarding sanctions), it’s important to note that Secretary Clinton spoke out very forcefully on the issue of human rights in Russia. I give her a lot of props for doing that because it must have made the government rather nervous- no government likes to be challenged on this issue but the fact is, politics, diplomacy, national security, economics, environmental issues all involve human rights and the ability to actively participate [or not] in government in society. Just look at China to illustrate that point- their paucity of safety/labor/environmental regulations allows them to have an economic advantage (via almost slave labor, lowered cost of doing business) in the world market while also exposing that particular part of the workforce (those they deem to be undesirable) to increased environmental harm and risk. I’ve never believed that human rights can be separated out from all the other aspects of foreign policy or government. In other words, I don’t believe it’s possible to put human rights on the back burner in favor of other, more “pressing” issues, even if one wanted to.

Thus far, it has been Secretary Clinton who has spoken out the most forcefully in this administration about human rights and the important role it plays in U.S. foreign policy.

Hopefully Secretary Clinton’s remarks will put to rest the confusion over comments reportedly made by President Obama’s top adviser on Russia, Michael McFaul to ‘Kommersant’ (McFaul and the administration say that McFaul was misunderstood/misquoted).

This editorial appeared in the October 17th Washington Post and here is an excerpt:

…Mr. Medvedev, who frequently impresses Western politicians with his statements in praise of democracy, hailed the elections as “well organized,” which we suppose is undeniable. Mr. Putin, who is less sentimental about these things, dismissed protesting politicians as whiners: “Those who don’t win are never happy,” he sniffed.

So it was gratifying to hear Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, coincidentally visiting Moscow in the days after the election, speak firmly in defense of true democracy. To a group of civil society leaders, increasingly embattled and in danger in Mr. Putin’s Russia, Ms. Clinton said, “Both President Obama and I want to stress strongly how the United States stands with those who work for freedom, [who] campaign for justice and democracy, and who risk their lives to speak out for human rights.”

She repeated the message at Moscow State University, telling students that the innovation Mr. Medvedev says he wants to foster in society can’t flourish without “core freedoms, free speech, freedom of the press, the freedom to participate in the political process.” She granted an interview to Echo Moskvy Radio, one of the few remaining independent media outlets of any significance, where she expressed “no doubt” that “democracy is in Russia’s best interests, that respecting human rights, an independent judiciary, a free media are in the interests of building a strong, stable political system.” And, at the civil society meeting, she was specific, noting that 18 journalists have been killed in Russia since 2000, with only one of those crimes solved. “When violence like this goes unpunished in any society,” Ms. Clinton said, “it’s undermining the rule of law, chills public discourse, which is, after all, the lifeblood of an open society.”

…

And since I’m rewinding back to Russia even though she is back state-side, here are some photos from the website of Russian radio host Ekho Moskvy, who interviewed Secretary Clinton while she was in Moscow ( EchoMSK : Хиллари Клинтон на “Эхе”) :

You can see the video/photos of her radio interview here.

UPDATE: Newsweek has an excerpt from an interview they did with Secretary Clinton while she was in Russia- check it out here.

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