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Posted on 04/01/2006 5:00:12 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
[a post for study and research]
First salvo in the 'war' for Ukraine
When U.S. Marine reservists disembarked in this former Soviet republic, they expected a quick and simple mission: installing new showers and toilets at a military training facility, then leaving.
The 200 Americans did not anticipate the anti-NATO blockades and protesters shouting "Occupiers go home!" that greeted them upon arrival in Ukraine.
The angry welcome in the Crimean port of Feodosiya - led by a radical pro- Russian party and the Communists - was widely seen as the opening volley in the battle over Ukraine's campaign to join NATO, an issue now forced to the top of the nation's political agenda.
Analysts say that President Viktor Yushchenko's opponents - and Moscow - have sensed the government's weakness after its party's humiliating third- place showing in March parliamentary elections and drawn-out talks to put together a new government. They are seizing the chance to torpedo Kiev's hopes to receive a NATO invitation in 2008.
"The war for Ukraine has started," said Hrihoriy Perepelytsya, of the Foreign Policy Institute of the Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy. "What is happening in Feodosiya is just a piece of a more powerful anti-NATO campaign."
He added: "Clearly, the goal is to discredit Ukraine as a potential NATO candidate."
Yushchenko has made NATO membership a priority since his 2004 presidential election campaign, and has been pushing in the coalition talks for potential partners to commit to that goal.
His supporters argue that if Ukraine does not join NATO, Kiev will inevitably slide back under Moscow's influence or risk being left in an unprotected no man's land between Russia and the West. NATO accession has also been billed as a first step toward the ultimate prize: EU membership, with its considerable economic advantages.
A key test is expected to come Wednesday, when the government tries to win parliamentary permission for foreign troops to be on Ukrainian territory as part of training exercises. A victory would allow the Marines, who are biding their time at a Defense Ministry resort, to go ahead with their three-week project to refurbish the Stary Krym facility, which is scheduled to be used in a mid-July training exercise involving U.S. and other NATO members.
A defeat - or a failure to even get Parliament to consider the measure - could force Ukraine to postpone or cancel its Sea Breeze exercise and five others, and possibly send the Americans it invited home again.
"We cannot speak about common European values without also talking about the concept of a common defense," Yushchenko said Tuesday.
NATO has said its door is open to this nation of 47 million and appears bewildered by the hostility; the military alliance had been warmly embraced by other former Communist countries in Eastern Europe.
Recent opinion polls have found that only about 20 percent of Ukrainians support NATO membership. Many Ukrainians perceive the alliance as a threat and are puzzled over why their country - which, unlike some of its former Soviet neighbors, has not been torn by separatist conflicts - would willingly join a military alliance that could drag its sons off to war.
Fears persist that giving NATO a foothold here would irreversibly sour relations with Russia and turn Ukraine into an American stooge. Critics also say it would be too expensive to maintain NATO military standards.
"We should be spending our money on improving our own military rather than in taking on any new international obligations," an anti-NATO politician, Nestor Shufrych, said on NTN television.
Ukraine, located on the Black Sea and bordering Russia, would certainly be a strategic prize for NATO. NATO members like the Baltic nations and Poland, who fear a resurgent Moscow, have been the strongest supporters of locking this nation into the Western camp.
NATO has set up 27 information stands across Ukraine, and invited lawmakers, religious leaders and cultural figures - even the 2004 Eurovision contest winner, Ruslana - to NATO headquarters in Brussels for get-acquainted sessions.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, has bristled at the prospect of its former Cold War foe arriving at its doorstep. The anti-NATO protests in Crimea have been given prominent coverage on Russian television, which is watched in many Ukrainian homes. Russian lawmakers have flown in to express their solidarity, with some of Russia's more extremist politicians even floating the idea of pressing for Crimea to be returned to Moscow's control.
The entire Crimean Peninsula, which has a large ethnic-Russian population, was declared a NATO-free zone by its Parliament on Tuesday, a move that Yushchenko criticized as meaningless.
"We don't have a single square mile that belongs to NATO," he said.
Crimea is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, about 160 kilometers, or 100 miles, away from where the Americans are waiting.
But NATO supporters note that Yushchenko has room to maneuver, particularly if he reaches out to the opposition Party of Regions, led by the pro-Moscow Viktor Yanukovich, which unlike other pro-Russian parties insists it is not hostile to NATO.
The Associated Press
Publication time: 10 June 2006, 11:04
Permanent address at KAVKAZCENTER.COM: http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/06/10/4769.shtml
© Copyright 2001-2006 KavkazCenter.com
Can you make sense out of this site, I clicked the word Huessin for Saddam and got a whole list of articles I think.
Was thinking the belly dancers as assins might be interesting, on the left is todays news.
http://www.harpers.org/SaddamHussein.html#20030929222938-2572456277
I have so many pages open, that I will be all night with them.
2001
al-qaeda and much more.
http://www.harpers.org/AlQaeda.html#20030930003223-0099123035
LoL, don't click words here or it will find more articles for you to read.
[a post to study and research]
Russia after dark
Confronted with criticism over its increasingly restrictive policies, lack of economic freedom and growing corruption, Russian Economics Minister German Gref boasts that direct foreign investment in Russia grew 100 percent in the first quarter of 2006.
But jubilant investors should beware. A recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations on "Russia's Wrong Direction" warns "that anyone can become vulnerable when the state bureaucracy, either at the president's direction or merely with his support, decides to seize private assets." U.S. doubts regarding Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization reflect those concerns.
To make Russia's opaque markets more palatable, Russia is now paying millions to the New York-based PR firm Ketchum. Considering Russia's level of corruption, the PR firm faces a daunting task.
An October 2005 survey by the Russian think-tank Indem found such a large increase in the volume of business-related bribes that their total exceeded twice Russia's federal budget. Russian corruption is symptomatic of problems, including "a neutered parliament, subservient (and sometimes intimidated) media and a suborned judiciary," says Indem's Georgy Satarov.
Another Russian economic limitation is the government's penchant for appropriation of private assets. First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on June 2 that Russia should retain control over strategic companies, according to Itar-Tass. Mr. Medvedev, a likely contender for the Russian presidency in 2008, admits the government is "not the most efficient proprietor." However, he insists that Russia should control companies "vital for the country," including defense, atomic energy and natural resource giants like Gazprom, whose board he heads.
Companies in other industries, he said, "can and must become private property." But he adds that the government can "enlarge its role in certain companies for a certain period [whenever] necessary to put the companies in order." Clearly, "private" in Russia does not really mean private.
Ironically, the Kremlin threatens retaliation against those nations concerned with Russia's proposed entry into the WTO. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently warned, "If you discriminate against us in the WTO, you can't expect us to welcome you with open arms."
A former senior U.S. Treasury official on Russian affairs, Mark Medish, says, "• verall the private and state sectors both suffer from endemic corruption." He adds: "[T]he institutions needed for the rule of law, enforcement of contracts and protection of property rights are still weak in Russia; furthermore, there is concern that the Putin administration has tended to undermine rather than build up these institutions. The trend is worrisome."
The sagas of VimpelCom and Megafon, Russia's second and third largest mobile telephone operators, exemplify difficulties arising from Russia's corruption and lack of transparency.
VimpelCom, with .2 billion in gross operating revenues and .7 billion in equity capitalization, trades on the New York Stock Exchange. But major internal conflicts prevented VimpelCom's board from officially approving its 2005 annual report, which is not yet filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Indeed, Telenor, Norway's largest telecommunications company, seeks a "market-based separation agreement" from its adversary, a subsidiary of Russia's Alfa Group. The hot stock's unusual volatility on high-volume, above-average price-to-cash flow and price-to-earnings ratios, and decreasing strength in "relative price," may signal market danger.
Similarly, Bermuda-based IPOC International Growth Fund hopes to retrieve from Alfa Group a Megafon stake now worth .7 billion. In August 2003, Alfa purported to buy 25.1 percent of Megafon through several offshore companies for 5 million. Also in 2003, Alfa bought LV Finance, a British Virgin Islands firm with Moscow offices, for 0 million. But in 2001, LV Finance had sold to IPOC options to buy other companies that owned the disputed Megafon stake, which IPOC wants back from Alfa. This, however, is not just another business dispute; the lack of transparency that characterizes Russia's businesses have led to at least five international arbitrations and several lawsuits and countersuits in six countries, without resolving who has rights to the shares.
Another fraudulent Russian business practice is to force false bankruptcies, to affect hostile takeovers. According to Alexander Radygin, from Moscow's Institute for the Economy in Transition, Russia's corrupt legal system supports this practice. For example, companies that buy accounts payable and promissory notes of a targeted business change identity. The "new company" then takes the unpaid bills to bankruptcy court, where it demands and obtains the assets of the targeted business. This is how 23 Moscow department stores were taken over.
Mr. Radygin describes yet another standard Russian method to separate rightful shareholders from their assets, helped by corrupt police. The MDM group hostilely took over Nevinnomysky Azot chemical company. It bought shares, bribed the tax police to have the company's director general arrested, convened an early shareholder meeting and paid the police to block shareholders from the meeting. Large Russian companies also practice such methods. Mr. Radygin says the Alfa Group used similar tactics to take over Rostov's Taganrog metallurgical plant. They too, used police services and private security to control the plant.
While such practices are the standard in Russia, the U.S. should limit Russia's participation in the WTO.
Rachel Ehrenfeld is director of the American Center for Democracy and a member of the Committee on the Present Danger. Alyssa A. Lappen is a senior fellow at the American Center for Democracy.
Washtimes
Publication time: 10 June 2006, 11:15
Permanent address at KAVKAZCENTER.COM: http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/06/10/4770.shtml
© Copyright 2001-2006 KavkazCenter.com
=======
Davey you will enjoy this one:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Considering+Russia%27s+level+of+corruption&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Russia%27s+Wrong+Direction&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=verall+the+private+and+state+sectors+both+suffer+from+endemic+corruption&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Indem+found+such+a+large+increase+in+the+volume+of+business-related+bribes+that+their+total+exceeded+twice+Russia%27s+federal+budget&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Prime+Minister+Dmitry+Medvedev+said+on+June+2+that+Russia+should+retain+control+over+strategic+companies&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Another+fraudulent+Russian+business+practice+is+to+force+false+bankruptcies&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=fraudulent+Russian+business+practice+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Russian+business+practice+is+to+force+false+bankruptcies&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Russia%27s+corrupt+legal+system+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
1812 to date:
http://www.google.com/search?q=This+is+how+23+Moscow+department+stores+were+taken+over.+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=protection+of+property+rights+are+still+weak+in+Russia&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=bribed+the+tax+police+to+have+the+company%27s+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=standard+Russian+method+to+separate+rightful+shareholders+from+their+assets&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=MDM+group+hostilely+took+over+Nevinnomysky+Azot+chemical+company&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
I need to look at this again, and none of the groups or news pages were checked:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Large+Russian+companies+also+practice+such+methods&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=to+take+over+Rostov%27s+Taganrog+metallurgical+plant&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/index0.shtml
More Russian reports.
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report - 2006
Russia Country Reports
Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, March 2006
Drug and Chemical Control
I. Summary
In 2005, the Government of Russia (GOR) intensified its counternarcotics efforts in response to the threat of narcotics trafficking along the "Northern Route" from Afghanistan through Central Asia into Russia. Afghan opiates transported along the Northern Route supply Russia's internal user demand, as well as transit through Russia to the rest of Europe. In addition, heroin use contributes to the significant increase in the number of persons infected with HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C, due to intravenous drug use. Press reports claim that one hundred Russians each day are infected with HIV/AIDS. Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Director General Cherkesov emphasized the need for international cooperation to combat drug traffickers that operate without regard for borders. The FSKN plans to open liaison offices in ten countries, including Afghanistan, in 2006. In November 2005, the FSKN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA) to enhance bilateral cooperation to combat illegal drugs and their precursor chemicals. Trafficking in opiates from Afghanistan (primarily opium and heroin) and their abuse continued to be major problems facing Russian law enforcement and public health agencies, although the FSKN reports the sharp post-Soviet increases in the number of drug users has begun to stabilize.
Russia handed over control of the Afghan/Tajik border to Tajikistan in June 2005. Following withdrawal, FSKN officials report the drug flow into Russia has increased significantly. More than 90 percent of Afghan drugs arrive in Russia via Central Asia. The GOR has recognized the extent of the drug trafficking and is taking steps to address both the law enforcement and public health issues. Health education programs in schools are beginning to incorporate messages concerning the harmful effects of drug use and the links between injecting drugs and HIV/AIDS. Russia is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
II. Status of Country
Russia is both a transshipment point and a market for heroin and opium. Opiates transiting Russia originate almost exclusively in Afghanistan and are typically destined for the rest of Europe. The Russian border with Kazakhstan is roughly twice the length of the U.S.- Mexican border and poorly patrolled. Considering the resource constraints facing local law enforcement agencies, Russian authorities are unlikely to stop a significant proportion of the heroin entering their country.
Synthetic drugs produced in Russia usually take the form of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) and heroin analogues like methadone and mandrax (methaqualone). The FSKN reports that the use of illegal synthetic drugs increased dramatically in 2005. Clandestine amphetamine labs are occasionally reported in Russia, typically located in the northwest region of the country close to St. Petersburg or right across the border in the Baltic States. The St. Petersburg area had long been considered the primary gateway for foreign-produced MDMA (ecstasy) smuggled into Russia. However, the Russian Federal Customs Service (FTS) reported that roughly half of the MDMA it seized in 2005 entered the country from Belarus and is typically manufactured in Poland. Although the MDMA tablets produced in Russia are of poor quality, the low prices (as little as $5.00) are attractive to Russian youth compared to the $20 typically charged for MDMA tablets from the Netherlands. Methamphetamine production is extremely rare in Russia.
Russia is a legitimate producer of acetic anhydride (AA), which is a widely used industrial chemical, but also is a precursor chemical used in the clandestine production of heroin from opium. The FSKN and Russian Customs report that the small number of legitimate production facilities in Russia is subject to strict government regulation. However, they acknowledge that diversion of AA may occur. Other precursors such as ergotamine (for LSD), red phosphorous (for methamphetamine), and acetone (used in several substances) are also produced in Russia. There have been no reports of large-scale diversion of these other chemicals for illicit uses.
Cocaine trafficking is not widespread in Russia. Cocaine prices in Russia remain very high, though the drug is easily obtained. Disposable incomes in Russia have risen steadily for seven years, while cocaine prices have remained static, making the drug more affordable to a growing pool of potential users. Cocaine is frequently brought into Russia through the port of St. Petersburg. Sailors aboard fruit carriers and other vessels operating between Russian and Latin America provide a convenient pool of potential couriers. Cocaine also enters Russia in cargo containers. Couriers traveling on commercial flights bring cocaine into Russia, often traveling through third countries in Europe as well as through the U.S.
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2005
Policy Initiatives. The FSKN was established in 2003 as the State Committee for the Control of Traffic in Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances (GKPN). Russian President Putin issued an edict in July 2004 calling for the restructuring of FSKN. The FSKN has 35,000 employees, with branch offices in every region of Russia. Since the FSKN's creation, Director Cherkesov has stressed the importance of attacking money laundering and other financial aspects of the drug trade. The FSKN has also continued its efforts to implement effective monitoring of the chemical industry. Prior to the creation of FSKN, precursor chemicals and pharmaceuticals were governed by a patchwork of regulations enforced by different agencies. Production, transportation, distribution, and import/export of controlled substances now require licensing from the FSKN.
Accomplishments. Russia now has a legislative and financial monitoring structure that facilitates the tracking, seizure, and forfeiture of all criminal proceeds. Russian legislation provides for investigative techniques such as search, seizure and the compulsion of documents production.
In 2002, Russia's financial intelligence unit, the Financial Monitoring Committee (FMC), became operational (the FMC has since been renamed the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring or FSFM). The FSFM has responsibility for coordinating all of Russia's anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing efforts. Legislation passed in 2001 requires financial institutions to report suspicious transactions to the FSFM.
In 2004, Russia passed new witness protection legislation. Russian law previously provided limited protection for testifying witnesses, but the provisions were weak and ineffective. The new legislation, entitled "On Protection of Victims, Witnesses and Other Participants in Criminal Proceedings" expands protection to all parties involved in a criminal trial. Prosecutors or investigators may recommend that a judge implement witness protection measures if they learn of a threat to the life or property of a participant in a trial. Steps taken to protect a program participant could include personal and property protection, change of appearance, change of identity, relocation, and transfer to a new job. The new legislation requires implementing regulations. The GOR is working on such regulations, but they have not yet been published.
One of the key obstacles in Russia's struggle with drug trafficking is a lack of experience with prosecuting narcotics- related cases. FSKN Director Cherkesov has commented publicly that the courts must give stiffer sentences to drug traffickers. It is rare that criminals who have committed serious drug crimes in Russia are given the maximum 20-year sentence. However, Russia's legislators and politicians continue to address this problem, demanding stiffer sentences for narcotics -related crimes and establishing a legal framework that is beginning to work effectively against drug dealers.
Law Enforcement Efforts. In November 2004, the FSKN announced it would establish a system of drug liaison offices (DLOs). FSKN officers will be stationed in approximately ten foreign countries to facilitate information sharing and joint investigations. The FSKN has already established an office in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and plans to open an office in Kabul in early 2006.
The average price for a gram of heroin (retail) in 2005 was in the $40 range. The range in 2004 was $30 and in 2003, $20. The wholesale price for a gram of heroin in 2005 was between $20-$30. Per gram prices as low as $10 and as high as $50 have been reported.
FSKN officially reported seizing 3.9 metric tons of heroin in 2004 and 1.5 metric tons of heroin in the first half of 2005. At a November 2005 press conference, Cherkesov stated that the year-to-date total was over four metric tons of heroin seized by all law enforcement agencies. The FSKN further reported the seizure of 102.3 metric tons of narcotics and psychotropic and other powerful substances in 2004 and that 129.7 metric tons were seized by all Russian law enforcement agencies in 2004. Final figures for 2005 are not yet available.
Corruption. Controlling corruption has been a stated priority for the Putin administration since its inception. However implementing this policy is a constant challenge. Inadequate budgets, low salaries, and lack of technical resources hamper performance, sap morale, and encourage corruption. Evidence indicates the scope and scale of official corruption have grown markedly in the past several years. Officials from the FSKN report that corruption is a problem within their agency. In an effort to decrease corruption, Cherkesov endorsed a Code of Honor in 2005 for FSKN personnel. The Code is a brief list of rules of conduct that are supposed to guide the activities of every FSKN employee. FSKN officials report that about 100 law enforcement officers were arrested in 2004 for drug trafficking and stated that the figures for 2005 (not yet available) will be even higher. There were no reported cases of high-level narcotics related corruption, but given the scale of drug trafficking in Russia, some probably exists. Russia has signed but has not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption.
Agreements and Treaties. Russia is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. A mutual legal assistance treaty is in force between the United States and Russia. As a result of the provision in the MLAT for designating a central authority and point of contact, a separate office responsible for implementing international assistance requests has been formed within the Russian General Procuracy. To date, Russia has provided MLAT assistance in two narcotics-related cases and has received a third request for assistance from the USG. Russia is a party to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols against migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons.
Cultivation/Production. There are no official statistics on the extent of opium cultivation in Russia, and the USG has no evidence to suggest that more than 1,000 hectares of opium are cultivated. In Russia, there are small, illicit opium poppy fields ranging in size from one to two hectares. Typically, the opium fields are small backyard plots or are located in the countryside concealed by other crops. In Siberia, in the Central Asian border region, and in the Omsk-Novosibirsk -Tomsk region along the border with Kazakhstan, opium poppies are widely cultivated. Cannabis grows wild throughout Russia and is also cultivated in quantities ranging from a few plants to plots of several hectares. Every year Russian authorities carry out the "Operation Poppy" eradication effort, aimed at illicit cannabis and poppy cultivation. In 2005, Operation Poppy identified and destroyed numerous illicit plantations of cannabis, primarily in maritime areas and the Altai region.
Drug Flow/Transit. Opiates (and hashish to a lesser degree) from Afghanistan are carried across the Central Asian states and into Russia. The FSKN estimates that 60 tons of heroin are smuggled annually into Russia from Afghanistan via Central Asian countries on the "Northern Route." Contraband is typically carried in vehicles along the region's highway system that connects it to the populated areas of southwestern Russia and western Siberia. The Russian cities of Yekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, and Novorossisk have emerged as hubs of trafficking activity. Couriers also frequently use the region's passenger trains. Incidents involving internal body carry or "swallowers" are common.
At the wholesale level, the trade in Afghan opiates within Russia is dominated by Central Asians. Tajiks, Uzbeks, and others with family, clan, and business ties to Central Asia transport Afghan heroin across the southern border with Kazakhstan and into European Russia and western Siberia. The FSKN claims that ninety percent of drug kingpins in Russia are from Central Asia. Retail distribution of heroin and other drugs is carried out by a variety of criminal groups. Again, these organizations are typically organized along ethnic lines with Central Asian, Caucasian, Russian/Slavic, and Roma groups all active in drug trafficking.
Cocaine destined both for Russia and in-transit to Western Europe enters the country through the port of St. Petersburg. Synthetic drugs manufactured in Russia and elsewhere in Europe flow in both directions across Russia's western borders. Again, much of this smuggling activity appears to be concentrated in the Northwest region around St. Petersburg.
In 2004, there were multiple seizures of large quantities of ephedrine tablets that had originated in Turkey. In 2005, there was one report of a large seizure of ephedrine in both bulk powder and tablet forms that had originated in China. These seizures were not associated with any evidence of large-scale methamphetamine production. Ephedrine tablets are often sold in Russia in their original form as a low- cost stimulant.
Each year, law enforcement agencies of several CIS countries participate in Operation Kanal. Kanal is an interdiction blitz during which extra personnel are stationed at railroad stations, airports, border crossings, and other checkpoints. In Russia, 881 individuals were detained and 1,396 kilograms of illegal drugs were seized during Kanal 2005.
Russian forces were stationed in Tajikistan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. At that time, their stated goal was to prevent incursions by Islamic extremists. This arrangement was formalized in a 10-year agreement signed in 1993. During that time, narcotics interdiction became one of their primary functions. In May 2003, the agreement governing the presence of Russian forces on the Tajik-Afghan border expired. In June 2005, Russia handed over control of the Afghan/Tajik border to Tajikistan. FSKN officials report that the withdrawal of Russian border guards from the Afghan/Tajik border has led to a significant increase in drug trafficking into Russia.
Demand Reduction. The FSKN reports that there are 1.5 million drug users with 400,000 officially registered drug addicts in Russia's narcological centers. New models of cognitive therapy are being implemented in narcological centers in St. Petersburg, but substitution therapy (i.e., maintenance using some artificial opiate like methadone) has not been fully explored and remains politically sensitive. The Ministry of Health estimates that up to six million Russians take drugs on a regular basis. These figures are significantly higher than FSKN statistics cited in 2004 and suggest a new willingness by the GOR to acknowledge and combat drug use in Russia. In 2004, Cherkesov claimed that there were only 390,000 "officially registered" drug addicts in Russia and four to five million Russians who use drugs regularly.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of October 2005, there were 335,000 officially registered HIV/AIDS cases in Russia. However, unofficial estimates, including those by the United Nations AIDS program, put the figure much higher, with some suggesting that there are over one million HIV-positive Russians. Intravenous drug use continues to be the most common method of transmission of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C in Russia. There are estimates that nearly 70 percent of new HIV cases can be attributed to intravenous drug use, and that 90 percent of injecting drug users are Hepatitis C positive.
Russian authorities are attempting to implement a comprehensive counternarcotics strategy that would combine education, health and law enforcement. FSKN is tasked with demand reduction among its other responsibilities and has recently begun a large-scale public awareness campaign. Russian law enforcement authorities also have come to support the idea that demand reduction should complement law enforcement efforts to reduce supply. With support from the USAID Healthy Russia 2020 project, demand reduction messages are being incorporated into a Ministry of Education sanctioned health education curriculum for high school students and training materials for teachers. This program has been tested in Ivanovo (the eighth poorest oblast in Russia) and plans to expand to Irkutsk and Orenburg, two oblasts on the key drug trafficking routes. The problem of drug use among homeless teens has reportedly reached extraordinary levels in St. Petersburg. The Doctors of the World Program, which works with street children, reported that about 70 percent of children age 11 and younger (on a small sample of 30) were injecting homemade substances and 30 percent of these young people were HIV positive. While the knowledge of HIV risks is high even among drug users, the messages have not yet translated into behavioral changes and injecting practices.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
Policy Objectives/Initiatives. The principal U.S. counternarcotics goal in Russia is to help strengthen Russia's law enforcement capacity, both to meet the challenges of international drug trafficking into and across Russia, and to provide reliable Russian law enforcement partners for U.S. law enforcement.
Bilateral Accomplishments. In 2002, the U.S. Department of State, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) negotiated a Letter of Agreement (LOA) with the GOR allowing direct assistance to the GOR in the area of counternarcotics and law enforcement assistance. In 2005, DEA International Training teams provided instruction to the agency's Russian counterparts in precursor chemicals, highway interdiction, and specialized training for drug enforcement unit commanders. Progress continued on the Southern Border Project, an effort that will lead to the establishment of three mobile drug interdiction task forces based in Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, and Omsk, all near the Russian-Kazakh border. The U.S. and Russia worked together to provide canine training to counternarcotics law enforcement officials from four Central Asian countries, training more than 45 law enforcement officials. The U.S. provided technical assistance in support of institutional change in the areas of criminal justice reform, mutual legal assistance, anticorruption and money laundering. U.S. Customs and Border Protection ( CBP) conducted 2 Border Security Seminars at Russian Customs training academies and Rostov-on-Don and Vladivistok. The training included equipment packages of nonintrusive inspection equipment. In 2005, the U.S provided $ 809,000 worth of equipment to Russian Customs and the FSKN in support of INL counternarcotics projects. In November 2005, the FSKN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to enhance bilateral cooperation to combat illegal drugs and their precursor chemicals.
The Road Ahead. The GOR places high priority on counternarcotics efforts and has indicated a desire to deepen and strengthen its cooperation with the United States and other countries, particularly in light of its upcoming chairmanship of the G-8. The USG will continue to encourage and assist Russia to implement its comprehensive, long-term national strategy against drug trafficking and use with multidisciplinary sustainable law enforcement assistance projects that combine equipment, technical assistance and expert advisors. DEA is scheduled to provide INL-funded counternarcotics training to over 100 trainees in 2006, drawn from the FSKN, the MVD, and the Federal Customs Service.
Money Laundering and Financial Crimes
Russia has enjoyed rapid economic growth in recent years, mainly driven by high world energy prices. However, Russia has been slow to complete structural reforms of the banking sector, and overall public confidence in Russian banks remains low. Russia's financial system does not attract a significant portion of legal or illegal depositors, and therefore Russia is not considered an important regional financial center. Over the past several years, however, Russia has committed significant resources to improve its ability to combat the laundering of criminal financial proceeds domestically and internationally. Through aggressive enactment and implementation of comprehensive money laundering and counterterrorism financing legislation, Russia now has well-established legal and enforcement frameworks to deal with money laundering and terrorism financing.
Despite having the political will to combat financial crime and making noticeable progress in doing so, Russia remains vulnerable to such activity because of its vast natural resource wealth, the pervasiveness of organized crime, and a high level of corruption. Other factors include porous borders, Russia's role as a geographic gateway to Europe and Asia, a weak banking system, and under-funding of regulatory and law enforcement agencies. Criminal elements from Russia and neighboring countries continue to use Russia's financial system to launder money because of familiarity with the language, culture, and economic system. The majority of laundered funds do not appear to be from activities related to narcotics production or trafficking, although these activities likely occur. Experts believe that most of the dirty money flowing through Russia derives from domestic criminal or quasi-criminal activity, including evasion of tax and customs duties and smuggling operations.
Net private capital inflows for 2005 were $0.3 billion, according to the Russian Ministry of Finance, marking a reversal from the $9.3 billion in outflows in 2004. In contrast to the capital flight that occurred during the 1990s, the majority of more recent outflows involve the legitimate movement of money to more secure and profitable investments abroad, which reflects the maturing of the Russian business sector. However, at least a portion of this money undoubtedly involves the proceeds of criminal activity.
Russia has the legislative and regulatory framework in place to pursue and prosecute financial crimes, including money laundering and terrorism finance. The Russian Federation's Federal Law No. 115-FZ "On Combating Legalization (Laundering) of Criminally Gained Income and Financing of Terrorism" became effective on February 1, 2002, with subsequent amendments to the laws on banking, the securities markets, and the criminal code taking effect in October 2002, January 2003, December 2003, and July 2004. Law RF 115-FZ obligates banking and non-banking financial institutions to monitor and report certain types of transactions, keep records, and identify their customers.
According to the original language of RF 115-FZ, those institutions legally required to report included: banks, credit organizations, securities market professionals, insurance and leasing companies, federal postal service, jewelry and precious metals merchants, betting shops, and companies managing investment and non-state pension funds. Amendments to the law that came into force on August 31, 2004, extend the reporting duty to real estate agents, lawyers and notaries, and persons rendering legal or accounting services that involve certain transactions (e.g., managing money, securities, or other property; managing bank accounts or securities accounts; attracting or managing money for organizations; or incorporating, managing, and buying or selling organizations).
Article 8 of Law 115-FZ provides for the establishment of Russia's financial intelligence unit as an independent executive agency administratively subordinated to the Ministry of Finance. In March 2004, President Putin issued a decree to upgrade the unit, formerly called the Financial Monitoring Committee, to a service, now called the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (FSFM). All financial institutions with an obligation to report certain transactions must send this information to the FSFM. The FSFM's mission is to implement a unified state policy to combat money laundering and terrorism finance, yet it has no law enforcement investigative powers. In June 2005, President Putin approved a national strategy for combating money laundering and terrorism finance, part of which called for the creation of a new interagency commission on money laundering. The Ministry of Justice established the commission in November 2005, which is comprised of 12 ministries and government departments. The new commission will be chaired by the head of the FSFM and will be responsible for monitoring and coordinating the government's activity on money laundering and terrorism financing.
Various regulatory bodies ensure compliance with Russia's anti-money laundering and counterterrorism finance laws. The FSFM is specifically responsible for regulating real estate and leasing companies, pawnshops, and gambling services. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) supervises credit institutions; the Federal Insurance Supervision Service oversees insurance companies; the Federal Service for Financial Markets regulates entities managing non-governmental pension and investment funds, as well as professional participants in the securities sector; and the Assay Chamber (under the Ministry of Finance) supervises entities buying and selling precious metals or stones.
The CBR has issued guidelines regarding anti-money laundering practices within credit institutions, including "know your customer" (KYC) and bank due diligence programs. Banks are required to obtain and retain for five years information regarding individuals and legal entities and beneficial owners of corporate entities. Further, banks must adopt internal compliance rules and procedures and appoint compliance officers. Since July 2004, the amendment to Law 115-FZ now requires banks to identify the original source of funds and to report to the FSFM all suspicious transactions. Institutions that fail to meet mandatory reporting requirements face revocation of their licenses to carry out relevant activity, limits on certain banking operations, and possible criminal or administrative penalties. An administrative fine of up to $16,700 can be levied against an institution, with a fine of up to $700 on an officer of an institution. The maximum criminal penalty is 10 years in prison with applicable fines.
Since the CBR issued Order 1317-U in August 2003, Russian financial institutions must now report all transactions with their counterparts in offshore zones. In some cases, offshore banks are also subject to enhanced due diligence and maintenance of additional mandatory reserves to offset potential risks undertaken by the Russian institution for specific transactions. The CBR has also raised the standards for "eligible" offshore financial institutions, thereby reducing their number. Overall wire transfers from Russian banks to offshore financial centers have dropped significantly as a result of such regulatory measures.
Foreign financial entities, including those from known offshore havens, are not permitted to operate directly in Russia; they must do so solely through subsidiaries incorporated in Russia, which are subject to domestic supervisory authorities. During the process of incorporating and licensing these subsidiaries, Russian authorities must identify and investigate each director of the Russian unit; therefore nominee or anonymous directors are, as a practical matter, not permitted under Russian law and regulation. In September 2005, the CBR completed its review of all banks that sought admission to the recently established Deposit Insurance System (DIS). To gain admission to the DIS, a bank had to verifiably demonstrate to the CBR that it complies with Russian identification and transparency requirements. Currently, 927 of Russia's estimated 1200 banks have been admitted to the DIS, effectively weeding out over 200 banks from Russia's banking system.
By law, Russian businesses must obtain government permission before opening operations abroad, including in offshore zones. A department within the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) reviews such requests from Russian firms, and once the MEDT approves, the CBR must then approve the overseas currency transfer. In either case, the regulatory body responsible for the offshore activity is the same as for domestic activity, i.e., the Federal Service for Financial Markets regulates brokerage and securities firms, while the CBR regulates banking activity.
All obligated financial institutions must monitor and report to the government: any transaction that equals or exceeds 600,000 rubles (approximately $20,000) and involves or relates to: cash payments, individuals or legal entities domiciled in states that do not participate in the international fight against money laundering, bank deposits, precious stones and metals, payments under life insurance policies, or gambling; all transactions of "extremist organizations" or individuals included on Russia's domestic list of such entities and individuals; and suspicious transactions.
Each of the FSFM's seven territorial offices corresponds with one of the federal districts that comprise the Russian Federation. The Central Federal District office is headquartered in Moscow; the remaining six are located in the major financial and industrial regions throughout Russia. The primary functions of the territorial offices are to coordinate with regional law enforcement and other authorities to enhance the incoming information flow into the FSFM, and to supervise compliance with anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing legislation by institutions under FSFM supervision. Additionally, the satellite offices must identify and register at the regional level all pawnshops, leasing and real estate firms, and gaming entities under their jurisdiction. The regional offices also are charged with coordinating the efforts of the CBR and other supervisory agencies to implement anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing regulations.
Russia's anti-money laundering law, as amended, provides the FSFM with the appropriate authority to gather information regarding the activities of investment foundations, non-state pension funds, gambling businesses, real estate agents, lawyers and notaries, persons rendering legal/accountancy services, and sales of precious metals and jewelry. Virtually all financial institutions submit reports to the FSFM via encrypted software provided by the FSFM. According to press reports, Russia's national database contains over four million reports involving operations and deals worth over $877 billion. The FSFM estimates that Russian citizens may have laundered as much as $7 billion in 2005. The FSFM receives approximately 10,000 transaction reports daily. Of these daily reports, 75 percent result from mandatory (currency) transaction reports, and the remaining 25 percent relate to suspicious transactions.
During the first ten months of 2005, the FSFM carried out 3,803 financial investigations, referring 2,026 of them to law enforcement agencies for possible criminal investigations. According to the Economic Crimes Unit of the Ministry of Interior (MVD), in 2005 Russian law enforcement investigated 7,269 cases of money laundering, sent 6,186 of the cases to court, and convicted 216 individuals on money laundering charges. Both the FSFM and MVD estimate that the number of suspicious transaction reports in 2005 has grown five-fold over the previous year, an increase which both agencies attribute to a greater focus government-wide on financial crimes and terrorism financing.
On terrorism finance, the FSFM reports that it has compiled a list of 1,300 organizations and individuals suspected of financing terrorism, 400 of which were foreign. To date, the FSFM has uncovered 113 bank accounts related to organizations and individuals included on Russia's terrorism list. Depending on the nature of the activity, the FSFM provides information to the appropriate law enforcement authorities for further investigation, i.e., the MVD for criminal matters, the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) for narcotics-related activity, or the Federal Security Service (FSB) for terrorism-related cases.
As part of administrative reforms enacted in 2004, the FSKN now has a full division committed to money laundering, staffed by agents with experience in counternarcotics and economic crimes. This division cooperates closely with the FSFM in pursuing narcotics-related money laundering cases. In 2005, the FSKN reportedly initiated approximately 1,550 money laundering cases and referred over 400 of these cases to the General Procuracy for prosecution. In July 2005, the FSKN announced that it had uncovered a major money laundering ring that was using an alternative remittance system to conduct illegal transactions involving money gained from drug smuggling. According to the FSKN's press service, the FSKN uncovered monthly transactions of up to $14 million that were linked to this criminal ring. The FSKN arrested four individuals, and opened criminal cases under Article 172 (illegal banking activities) and Article 174.1 (money laundering) of Russia's criminal code. Consistent with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, the criminal code was amended in December 2003 to remove a specific monetary threshold for crimes connected with money laundering, thus paving the way for prosecution of criminal offenses regardless of the sum involved.
With its legislative and enforcement mechanisms in place, Russia has begun to prosecute high-level money laundering cases. In 2005, the CBR revoked the licenses of 37 banks for failing to observe banking regulations. Of these, 14 banks lost their licenses for violating Russia's anti-money laundering laws. In early 2005, the FSFM announced that it suspected ten unnamed banks of involvement in money laundering activities. Subsequently, the CBR announced that it was considering revoking the licenses of two banks for suspicion of money laundering. According to press reports, Russian law enforcement agencies conducted several raids and launched criminal investigations into banks suspected of money laundering. This increased targeting of suspect credit and non-credit institutions demonstrates Russia's broad-based commitment to enforcing its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing legislation and an improvement in compliance levels as a result of its actions.
Russia has a legislative and financial monitoring scheme that permits the tracking, seizure and forfeiture of criminal proceeds. None of this legislation is specifically tied to narcotics proceeds. Russian legislation provides for investigative techniques such as search, seizure, and compelling the production of documents, as well as the identification, freezing, seizing, and confiscation of funds or other assets. Where sufficient grounds exist to suppose that property was obtained as the result of a crime, investigators and prosecutors can apply to the court to have the property frozen or seized. Law enforcement agencies have the power to identify and trace property that is, or may become, subject to confiscation or is suspected of being the proceeds of crime or terrorist financing. Moreover, the law allows the FSFM, in concert with banks, to freeze possible terrorist-related financial transactions up to one week. Banks may freeze transactions for two days, and the FSFM may follow up with freezing for an additional five days.
In accordance with its international agreements, Russia recognizes rulings of foreign courts relating to the confiscation of proceeds from crime within its territory and can fully or partially transfer confiscated proceeds of crime to the foreign state whose court issued the confiscation order. However, Russian law still does not provide for the seizure of instruments of crime. Businesses can be seized only if it can be shown that they were acquired with criminal proceeds. Legitimate businesses cannot be seized solely on the basis that they were used as "instruments" to facilitate the commission of a crime. The Presidential Administration as well as Russian law enforcement agencies have expressed concern about the ineffective implementation of Russia's confiscation laws. The government has proposed amendments that are currently under review by the Duma which would make it easier to identify and seize criminal instrumentalities and proceeds. While Russian law enforcement has adequate police powers to trace assets, and the law permits confiscation of assets, most Russian law enforcement personnel lack experience and expertise in these areas.
The Russian Federation has enacted several pieces of legislation and issued executive orders to strengthen its ability to fight terrorism. On January 11, 2002, President Putin signed a decree entitled "On Measures to Implement the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) No. 1373 of September 28, 2001." Noteworthy among this decree's provisions are the introduction of criminal liability for intentionally providing or collecting assets for terrorist use, and the instructions to relevant agencies to seize assets of terrorist groups. This latter clause, however, conflicted with existing domestic legislation. Accordingly, on September 24, 2002, the Duma approved an amendment to the anti-money laundering law, resolving the conflict and allowing banks to freeze assets immediately, pursuant to UNSCR 1373. This law came into force on January 2, 2003. Further, Article 205.1 of the criminal code, which was enacted in October 2002, criminalizes terrorist financing. On October 31, 2002, the Federation Council, Russia's upper house, approved a supplemental article to the 2003 federal budget, allocating from surplus government revenues an additional 3 billion rubles ($100 million) in support of federal counterterrorism programs and improvement of national security.
In February 2003, at the request of the General Procuracy, the Russian Supreme Court issued an official list of 15 terrorist organizations. According to press reports, the financial assets of these organizations were immediately frozen. In addition, Russia has assisted the United States in investigating high profile cases involving terrorist financing. In 2003, Russia provided vital financial documentation and other evidence that helped establish the criminal activities of the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF). In April 2005, a U.S. Federal Court convicted a British national for attempting to smuggle shoulder-held missiles into the U.S. with the intent to sell the weapons to a presumed terrorist group. The subject was arrested in a sting operation that involved 18 months of collaboration among U.S., Russian, and British authorities. He was found guilty on five counts, including material support to terrorists, unlawful arms sale, smuggling, and two counts of money laundering. However, Russia and the U.S. continue to differ about the purpose of the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee's designation process, and such political differences have hampered bilateral cooperation in this forum.
Russia became a full member of the FATF in June 2003 and was the driving force behind the creation of the Eurasian Group on Combating Legalization of Proceeds from Crime and Terrorist Financing (EAG), which also includes Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as members, and several other nations and multilateral organizations as observers, including the United States. The EAG Secretariat is located in Moscow. Since its inception, the EAG has held three plenary sessions (two in Moscow and one in Shanghai) in addition to several working group and typologies meetings. Russia, in its current role as President of the EAG, continues to play a strong leadership role in bringing the region up to international standards in its capacity to fight money laundering and terrorism financing.
The United States and Russia signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in 1999, which entered into force on January 31, 2002. The FSFM has signed cooperation agreements with the Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of 24 countries, including Belgium, Columbia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Israel, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela. Additionally, the FSFM is an active member of the Egmont Group, having sponsored several candidate countries for membership in 2004. U.S. law enforcement agencies exchange operational information with their Russian counterparts on a regular basis. In 2005, Russian law enforcement agencies cooperated with the U.S. in a high- profile case that led to the conviction of a Russian national in a U.S. District Court on charges that he laundered over $130 million through a Moscow bank. The individual was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $17.4 million in restitution to the Russian government.
In addition to membership in the FATF, Russia holds membership in the Council of Europe's Select Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (MONEYVAL). Russia ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure, and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime in January 2001. Russia is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention and on May 26, 2004, became a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. In November 2002, Russia ratified the UN International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. Russia also became a signatory to, but has not yet ratified, the UN Convention against Corruption.
Russia has developed a solid legislative and regulatory foundation for combating money laundering and terrorism financing. Given its role in spearheading the creation of the EAG, Russia has demonstrated both the political will and a capability to improve the region's capacity for countering money laundering and terrorism financing. President Putin also sent a clear signal of support when he approved a national money laundering strategy in June 2005 and charged an inter-agency commission to implement the strategy in the short term.
Nevertheless, some vulnerabilities remain. To meet President Putin's stated goal of combating money laundering and corruption, Russia needs to follow through on its commitment to improve CBR oversight of shell companies and scrutinize more closely those banks that do not carry out traditional banking activities. To prevent endemic corruption and deficiencies in the business environment from undermining Russia's efforts to establish a well functioning anti-money laundering and counterterrorism finance regime, Russia should strive to stamp out official corruption, particularly at high levels, and to increase transparency in the financial sector and the corporate environment. Russia should also commit adequate resources to its regulatory and law enforcement entities in order to help them fulfill their responsibilities, and enact legislation that would provide for the seizure of instruments, as opposed to merely the proceeds, of criminal activity. Finally, Russia should continue to play a leadership role in the region with regard to anti-money laundering and counterterrorist finance regime implementation.
http://moscow.usembassy.gov/embassy/section.php?record_id=report_narcotics_2005
http://moscow.usembassy.gov/bilateral/print.php?record_id=report_trafficking_2006
Trafficking in Persons Report (2006)
Released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
June 5, 2006
I. Introduction | More About the TIP Report
II. International Best Practices
RUSSIA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST)
Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for various purposes. It remains a significant source of women trafficked to over 50 countries for commercial sexual exploitation. In the Russian Far East, men and women are trafficked to China, Japan, and South Korea for both forced labor and sexual exploitation. Russia is also a transit and destination country for men and women trafficked from Central Asia, Eastern Europe including Ukraine, and North Korea, to Central and Western Europe and the Middle East for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking remains a problem in Russia; women are trafficked from rural areas to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation, while forced labor in the maritime industry remains a concern in the Far East. Men are trafficked internally and from Central Asia for forced labor in the construction and agricultural industries. The ILO estimates that 20 percent of the five million illegal immigrants in Russia are victims of forced labor. Debt bondage is common among trafficking victims. Child sex tourism remains a concern.
The Government of Russia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Russia is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a third consecutive year for its continued failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the area of victim protection and assistance. The government made uneven progress during the reporting period. Although Russia implemented a witness protection program that affords a mechanism to shelter and protect trafficking victims, significantly increased investigations and prosecutions, and improved local government cooperation with NGOs, much more remains to be done. Passage and implementation of comprehensive legislation on victim assistance, which has been anticipated for three years, would greatly improve the status of trafficking victims and would provide much-needed funding for shelters and victim assistance. Today, victim protection and assistance is provided on an ad-hoc basis and is highly dependent upon local and regional authorities. Moreover, the support provided by these local governments is not formalized and dependent upon relationships between NGOs and local government officials. Passage of the proposed legislation would guarantee that victims across Russia receive necessary assistance and would serve to alleviate some of the financial burden currently placed on local authorities. Local governments should work with NGOs to facilitate the establishment of more trafficking shelters in Russia.
Prosecution
Russia demonstrated improved law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. Police significantly increased the number of trafficking investigations from 26 in 2004 to 80 in 2005; 60 of these investigations were sexual exploitation cases and 20 were forced labor cases. Authorities also notably increased criminal prosecutions five-fold, conducting 53 prosecutions in 2005, up from 11 in 2004. Courts convicted at least nine traffickers and sentenced six traffickers to time in prison. Trafficking sentences ranged between three and one-half years and eight years in prison. Russia needs to develop a system to better track convictions and sentences of traffickers.
The government conducted several joint trafficking investigations with other governments. In 2005, Russian authorities assisted in the successful prosecution and conviction of four traffickers in the United States, and provided critical assistance to the U.S. prosecution of an American citizen who allegedly sexually exploited trafficked children in St. Petersburg. The Ministry of Interior (MVD) and anti-trafficking NGOs completed a trafficking manual that has been used by several police units to assist officers in field investigations. The Ministry of Interior and NGOs also conducted three joint training seminars on investigative techniques for police instructors from regional police academies; these instructors then conducted instructional seminars for cadets at their respective MVD academies. Approximately 120 police instructors were trained in 2005 by NGO-sponsored anti-trafficking seminars. Although this progress is notable, the need for additional trainings for law enforcement and judicial officials remains.
While the Russian constitution prohibits the extradition of Russian citizens, Russia does permit the extradition of others. In 2005, Russia cooperated with Israeli authorities and extradited to Israel a man charged with trafficking women from Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Corruption remained a serious problem in Russia; corrupt police officers and border guards reportedly accepted bribes to facilitate or protect trafficking. The extent and thoroughness of investigations into trafficking corruption is unknown; however, over the last year, authorities investigated at least four trafficking cases involving corrupt government officials, including a June 2005 case involving a drug enforcement agent who beat and sold unsuspecting Uzbek migrants to slave traders for $15 each. An NGO reported instances where several prosecutors resigned during the course of trafficking prosecutions because they were either threatened or bribed. Concern remains over the lack of vigorous punishment of trafficking-related corruption.
Protection
The Government of Russia again failed to provide adequate protection to victims of trafficking. The number of trafficking shelters in Russia remained insufficient. Although an internationally funded shelter is expected to open in Moscow in spring 2006, shelter space in the city of approximately 8.3 million people remains greatly needed. At least three Russian trafficking victims were re-trafficked in 2005, due in part to the lack of a trafficking shelter in Moscow; the victims returned to Moscow and, because they had nowhere to go, were identified by their traffickers and quickly re-trafficked.
Furthermore, there are no trafficking-specific shelters east of the Ural Mountains. Although some municipalities run child shelters that assist child trafficking victims, all adult trafficking shelters are managed by NGOs and most do not receive government funding or assistance. Only one NGO-run shelter receives financial support from its local government; another shelter is provided with free office space by the local government. Local governments have expressed their support for the passage and implementation of the comprehensive legislation as it will provide much needed funding for shelters and victim assistance in local municipalities.
Assistance provided to trafficking victims remained inconsistent and inadequate. The government relied on NGOs to provide adult victims with legal, medical, and psychological assistance. Foreign trafficking victims, like all foreigners in Russia, cannot receive medical treatment unless they are able to pay for it, though at least one local government provided medical assistance to foreign trafficking victims while another local government provided psychological counseling. Authorities used the new witness protection law in 2005 to assist four Russian trafficking victims in two cases; the victims were placed in protective housing and their identities were changed. The witness protection program guarantees social, employment, and medical benefits for all qualifying victims. Although there were no reported cases of foreign victims being deported in 2005, there is currently no formal program that grants foreign trafficking victims legal residency in Russia while a trafficking case is investigated and prosecuted. Currently, victims are permitted to stay in Russia during the investigation and prosecution of their respective case; this decision is made at the discretion of the police and prosecutors involved in the victim's case. There is currently no system in place to track the number of foreign victims identified by law enforcement. There is also no system in place to calculate the number of foreign victims that were successfully repatriated.
Authorities increased their level of coordination with NGOs over the last year. In one city, NGOs and police signed a formal victim referral agreement. Several NGOs also reported informal agreements with police for victim referral. There were no reported cases of victims being prosecuted in 2005, but there is no current legal protection to prevent authorities from prosecuting a victim for visa fraud, bribery, or border violations that directly result from their being trafficked.
Prevention
Some local governments increased their cooperation and in-kind support for NGOs working to raise public awareness in several cities; this support was often in the form of office space, utilities, and coverage in the local media. Some NGOs received financial assistance to cover operating costs while at least five received grants to conduct specific outreach and awareness raising projects. Students from a state-funded university in Smolensk worked with local authorities to conduct anti-trafficking awareness training for more than 4,000 students. In 2005, the government provided amnesty to more than 7,300 illegal migrants working in Russia; this preventative measure made those workers less vulnerable to labor exploitation, which is the principal form of trafficking in Russia.
Secretary Spellings And Russian Education And Science Minister Fursenko Sign New Higher Education Memorandum of Understanding
May 31, 2006
Promotes institutional partnerships and student and scholar exchanges
Secretary Margaret Spellings and Russian Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko today signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Department of Education and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on expanding cooperation and exchanges in the field of education. This Memorandum of Understanding is the first of its kind between the U.S. Department of Education and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
"Our countries must work together to ensure all students have critical 21st century skills," said Secretary Spellings. "The Memorandum of Understanding we just signed is a symbol of our shared commitment to improving education and promoting exchanges between our countries."
Education is a value that both countries share, and the two countries face the common challenge of ensuring every child receives a quality education and has the skills to succeed in the global economy. Up to 5,000 Russian and American students and scholars have participated in exchange programs such as Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays over the last four decades, and this commitment will strengthen this cooperation in the 21st century.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Russian Ministry of Education and Science initiated the new Memorandum of Understanding to expand cooperation and develop partnerships among various types of educational institutions in the United States and Russia that reflect the best practices of the educational systems of both countries. This collaboration supplements existing programs, including exchange programs, and promotes the creation of new programs in accordance with the future development of mutual relations.
A focus on math, science, information technology, and foreign language study is a high priority. The Russian Ministry will provide funding for the direct use of the Russian partners and the U.S. Department of Education provides funding for the direct use of the United States partners. The Memorandum of Understanding also forms a working group to improve education in both countries and to foster new partnerships and exchanges in the future. These partnerships are designed to support the role of universities in building the innovation society.
This Memorandum of Understanding follows on the meetings in Bratislava in February 2005 where President Putin of the Russian Federation and President Bush committed to pursue a number of initiatives that will make the two countries and their citizens safer and more prosperous. The Presidents issued joint statements on three matters including affirming their commitment to strengthening contacts between our societies and the citizens of our two countries by increasing the number of students, teachers, scientists, cultural workers, business people, and people from various professions who participate in bilateral exchange programs. This initiative will strengthen long-term institutional ties between academic and exchange organizations, will promote mutual understanding, and will prepare the next generation of leaders on both sides for the challenges of the 21st century.
More information about the U.S. Department of Education, the No Child Left Behind Act, and U.S. Higher Education is available at www.ed.gov.
http://moscow.usembassy.gov/embassy/release.php?record_id=89
The Russian Embassy is a busy place..........
http://moscow.usembassy.gov/home.php
and.......
http://moscow.usembassy.gov/bilateral/news.php
[a post to study and research]
Russian president blasts United States after Asian security summit
Canadian Press
Thursday, June 15, 2006
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of throwing its weight around and defended the growing clout of an Asian security group dominated by Russia and China.
Putin, speaking after a summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization denied the organization is a military-political bloc aimed at countering U.S. interests.
But in a nearly two-hour meeting in his Shanghai hotel suite, he reeled off a list of complaints about what he described as overbearing behaviour by the United States.
Washington, Putin said, had brought upon itself the eviction of a U.S. military base in Uzbekistan by acting "like a bull in a china shop" and seeking to impose its standards on a volatile region plagued by Islamic radicalism.
The United States fell out with Uzbek President Islam Karimov after criticizing the violent suppression of a revolt in May 2005.
Uzbekistan is one of the members of the SCO, which groups China, Russia and four Central Asian countries and counts Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia as observers.
Putin suggested Washington is displeased at the emergence of a newly influential organization such as the SCO.
"They don't like the fact that countries like China and Russia have joined efforts in solving common problems, that India and Pakistan are taking part and that it has attracted Iran," he said.
"Their worry is that they can't influence it."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took part in the summit, urged China, Russia and other Asian countries Thursday to combine their economic and diplomatic clout to bolster the region's resistance to the United States.
Putin also criticized U.S. demands in negotiations of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization, including its insistence on compliance with U.S. legislation in certain sectors such as agriculture. The United States is the last country with which Russia needs to strike a bilateral accord to join the global trade body.
"We're not joining the United States, we're joining the WTO," Putin remarked acidly.
He added, however, the WTO accession deal with the United States still could be finalized before the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries meet in St. Petersburg, Russia, in mid-July.
The Russian leader also spoke out strongly against U.S. efforts to mount a financial blockade of the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian territories.
The radical group has refused to renounce the use of violence and recognize Israel's right to exist and the United States and the European Union cut off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid.
"This only exacerbates the situation," Putin said of the financial crunch, which has caused growing unrest with Palestinian civil servants going unpaid for weeks.
Putin also laid the blame for the current political crisis in Ukraine - where coalition talks on forming a new cabinet have remained stalled since March's parliamentary elections - on western countries that supported Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution protests against election fraud that helped pro-western Viktor Yushchenko win Ukraine's presidency.
The Russian president said he had warned the United States and European states of the likely consequences of the Orange Revolution, which he said had split Ukraine between the largely Russian-speaking east and Ukrainian-speaking west.
"They pushed these people into mass disturbances, it's very dangerous. They pushed Ukraine into a confrontation between different regions, between east and west," he said.
Speaking on other subjects, Putin reaffirmed he wouldn't seek a third term in 2008 - which would require overturning the constitutional bar on a third consecutive term - saying he wouldn't have the moral right to govern if he does.
© The Canadian Press 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=ebfabddd-5807-4e27-90c2-c3ec46fe617a&k=39249
[a post for study and research..Is this now an anti-US, communist group?]
Title : Russia, China close ranks in Central Asia
By :
Date : 31 May 2006 0523 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/211197/1/.html
MOSCOW : Russia and China moved to fortify their growing security cooperation in Central Asia but reassured the United States that their new-found unity of purpose in the prized region was not designed to subvert US interests there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin however acknowledged growing "competition" to a new Central Asian security organisation led by Moscow and Beijing while Chinese President Hu Jintao said the new group had become an "important force" for peace and stability in the world.
In the first meeting of its kind, parliamentary leaders from the six countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met on Tuesday in Moscow to discuss ways to harmonise their laws and begin building a legislative dimension for the grouping.
The SCO parliamentary leaders, including Wu Bangguo, chairman of the standing committee of the Chinese legislature, held a meeting at the Kremlin with Putin, who said involvement of national legislatures in the organisation would "enrich the partnership" of its member states.
Led by China and Russia, the SCO, founded five years ago, also includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Other key countries in the region - India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan - currently have observer status and have also expressed interest in becoming full members.
The United States however is not a member and, according to sources, is growing increasingly uneasy at the direction and purpose of the organisation, which has been described by experts as the foundation of a new Eurasian counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
One source who asked not to named said the US embassy in Beijing earlier this month delivered a message to the SCO secretariat voicing concern that some members may regard the group as a vehicle for countering US influence in the region. This could not immediately be confirmed in Moscow.
In his meeting with the lawmakers, Putin said there was growing international interest in the SCO which he said "has become an important, influential regional organisation" in the five years since its founding.
He also cited efforts to counter this growing influence.
"We see in the international arena there are attempts to create competition to our organisation," Putin said.
"I think it would be right if we did not engage in this and instead continued with the positive, constructive work that we have been doing for the past several years."
Putin did not refer to the United States explicitly but Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the Russian parliament, made clear afterwards that Moscow had Washington foremost in its mind.
"Is it possible to fight terrorism and drug trafficking in the region without the participation of the states of the region? Of course not," Gryzlov said in remarks broadcast on state television.
"But a proposal to create in Central Asia an organisation parallel to the SCO, which the United States has called for, suggest that this can be done. This does not help the fight against threats. It only makes the threats bigger."
Gryzlov did not elaborate, but reports in Russian and Chinese media in recent months have evoked a "big Central Asia" initiative, described as a US plan to set up a new grouping of Central Asian states - excluding Russia and China - to coordinate work in various fields.
A report in the Russian government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta on May 13 speculated that even Iran could be asked to participate in the new US-inspired grouping.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alekseyev however said Tuesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was among the leaders who had confirmed his attendance at an SCO summit scheduled to be held in Shanghai next month, ITAR-TASS news agency said.
Meanwhile, speaking in Beijing, the Chinese president sought to reassure Washington that the SCO was not aimed at subverting US interests in Central Asia.
"Since its founding, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has not been a close, exclusive organisation," Hu said in remarks carried on Chinese state television.
"It is aimed against no country whatsoever," he said, adding that the organisation had become "an important force for promoting peace and stability in the region and throughout the world." - AFP/de
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Title : China reports 19th human case of bird flu
By :
Date : 15 June 2006 2313 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/213897/1/.html
BEIJING - China Thursday confirmed its 19th human case of bird flu, a 31-year-old man from the southern economic boom town of Shenzhen bordering Hong Kong who is critically ill in hospital.
The man, identified only by his surname Jiang, came down with fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on June 3, the Ministry of Health said on its website.
Test results released Thursday confirmed the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the ministry said.
Authorities announced early Wednesday that the truck driver was a suspected human bird flu case.
Investigation found Jiang visited a local market where live poultry was sold several times before he became ill, the ministry said.
Authorities have placed people who were in close contact with Jiang under medical observation but none had so far shown any symptoms, the ministry said.
Twelve of the previous human cases reported by China have been fatal.
China has reported 35 cases of bird flu outbreaks among poultry since October last year, although many of the human cases have been in areas where no outbreaks have been officially recorded.
The latest case triggered alarm bells across the border in Hong Kong, with health secretary York Chow announcing late Thursday a three-week ban on poultry imports from the mainland.
Chow said the import suspension was a preventative measure as the Hong Kong government said it was on full alert against bird flu.
"But at present, we still cannot clearly grasp the detailed information to confirm the source of infection of the patient in question.
"The relevant authorities' preliminary assessment is that the patient has paid a number of visits to wet market which also sells live chickens before his onset," Chow said in a statement.
The Hong Kong government said it was maintaining temperature screening at immigration for all arrivals, with customs stepping up surveillance to combat smuggling of poultry into the territory.
Hong Kong also temporarily banned bird imports from Guangdong in March following the death there of a 32-year-old man from bird flu.
Hong Kong was the scene of the world's first reported major bird flu outbreak among humans in 1997, when six people died and more than two million poultry were culled.
More than 120 people worldwide have died from bird flu since it re-emerged as a threat in 2003, with most of the victims in Asia.
Humans are believed to contract the virus mainly from direct contact with infected animals. Scientists fear a global pandemic if the virus mutates and becomes easily transmissible between humans.
- AFP /ls
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[a post for study and research]
Title : Indonesia confirms 38th bird flu death
By :
Date : 15 June 2006 2020 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/213861/1/.html
JAKARTA : Indonesia has confirmed its 38th death from bird flu after tests by a WHO-accredited laboratory found that a seven-year-old girl who died this month was infected.
The death keeps Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, on track to overtake Vietnam as reporting the world's highest number of deaths from the H5N1 virus since 2003.
"It came back positive," I Nyoman Kandun, director of the health ministry's communicable disease control center, told AFP.
"We have checked everybody who had contact with her and they are negative," he said Thursday.
The girl, who was earlier identified as Yohana, came from the Pamulang area southwest of the capital and died June 1 after treatment in a Jakarta hospital.
Kandun said initial tests carried out by the World Health Organisation in Hong Kong had returned negative but another sample was sent again for re-testing.
The girl's 10-year-old brother, who died two days earlier, was buried before samples could be taken from him for testing.
Indonesia now has the second highest number of victims after Vietnam, which has reported 42 deaths -- none of which occurred this year -- and the highest number this year.
More than 120 people have died of bird flu around the world since late 2003, the vast majority of them in Asia.
Vice President Yusuf Kalla told foreign correspondents separately and before the latest death was announced that bird flu was a global issue.
"Our efforts are based on standard operating procedure. The international community has decided to make universal efforts and we have asked for assistance," he said.
"There are problems, especially in the remote areas, but we are working very hard to solve the problems."
He did not elaborate on Indonesia's strategy, which has been criticised among some health workers here for being too ad hoc and sluggish.
The World Bank too warned this week that it was concerned about an estimated 800-million-dollar funding shortfall for its strategy to prevent a pandemic of the virus.
"It (the strategy) is one area where we are least happy. The problem is implementation and financing," bank economist William Wallace told a press briefing on Monday.
"There should be better planning and better financing," he said, adding that while Jakarta had outlined an effective plan, it had been slow to implement it and it remained unclear just how it would be financed.
Indonesia's economy minister Budiono said Wednesday at the conclusion of talks with the nation's major foreign donors that a special meeting between them and the government on bird flu was slated for the coming weeks.
- AFP/ir
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Title : Inter-Korean talks held amid missile concerns
By :
Date : 15 June 2006 1333 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/213799/1/.html
GWANGJU, South Korea : A North Korean delegation is to hold unscheduled talks here with top South Korean officials amid jitters over a possible North Korean missile test, officials said.
South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jong-Seok will meet Kim Yong-Dai, the head of the North Korean delegation visiting this southern city to mark the sixth anniversary of a landmark inter-Korean summit, unification officials said.
Part of the official programme of the North Koreans has been scrapped to make room for the unscheduled meeting, according to one of the programme organizers.
The meeting was set up after South Korea and the United States confirmed on Wednesday that North Korea was preparing for a possible long-range missile test.
A unification ministry official told AFP that he was doubtful whether Lee would raise the missile threat with Kim, a more junior North Korean official.
"The composition of the North Korean delegation is not suitable for talking about the missile issue. But we don't know whether Minister Lee will raise the issue,' he said.
YTN Television said the meeting would address a late June visit to Pyongyang by former president Kim Dae-Jung for talks with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il.
Kim held the first and only summit with the reclusive North Korean leader in Pyongyang in June 2000.
"I would like to have frank talks with chairman Kim Jong-Il about the future of the Korean nation," Kim said on Wednesday in a speech launching the anniversary celebrations here.
"We want neither German-style unification through absorption nor Vietnam-style unification through military means."
A North Korean delegation of 140 officials and civilians arrived here earlier Wednesday for four-days of cultural and sporting events marking the summit anniversary.
The two Koreas have been divided for more than five decades and are still technically at war because the military armistice ending the 1950-53 Korean War was never replaced by a peace treaty.
But since the 2000 summit, bilateral ties have warmed despite the near three-year-old standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive.
On-off talks on ending the nuclear standoff have failed to reduce tension despite North Korea's agreement in September to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme in return for economic aid and other benefits.
In November Pyongyang said it would boycott further six-party talks bringing together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States after Washington imposed financial sanctions for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.
US Ambassador to Seoul Alexander Vershbow warned Wednesday that Washington and its allies would "respond appropriately" if North Korea test-fired a missile capable of reaching the United States.
He said Washington was monitoring preparations for a long-range missile test that has reportedly been under way for more than a month at a remote launch pad in northeastern North Korea.
He stressed, however, consultations would take place with partners to the six-party talks with North Korea before a decision would be made on a response.
US senator Senator Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday called on the administration of President George W. Bush to focus on ending the nuclear standoff with North Korea instead of pushing the Stalinist state to act on counterfeiting charges.
"The United States must focus its efforts toward North Korea first and foremost on the nuclear issue," said Murkowski, who is from Bush's Republican party and chairwoman of a key Senate panel on Asia-Pacific affairs.
- AFP /ct
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Title : US should stay focused on North Korean nuclear issue: senator
By :
Date : 15 June 2006 0958 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/213761/1/.html
WASHINGTON : A US senator has called on the administration of President George W. Bush to focus on ending a nuclear standoff with North Korea instead of pushing the Stalinist state to act on counterfeiting charges.
"The United States must focus its efforts toward North Korea first and foremost on the nuclear issue," said Senator Lisa Murkowski, who is from Bush's Republican party and chairwoman of a key Senate panel on Asia-Pacific affairs.
"While the issues of currency counterfeiting, weapons proliferation, and human rights are all very important, the reality is that without an agreement on the primary source of irritation, there will be no progress on the other issues either.
"We need to solve the nuclear issue first, and then concentrate on getting North Korea to act on other areas of concern," she said, warning that US moves to sidetrack the nuclear issue had also led to a "a growing split" in the six-nation forum aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
The United States had been involved with China, Russia, Japan and South Korea in talks with North Korea to disband the reclusive state's nuclear arms program in return for security and diplomatic guarantees and energy aid.
Six-party talks climaxed in September 2005, with North Korea agreeing in principle to end its atomic weapons program.
But talks collapsed two months later after the United States imposed financial sanctions on Pyongyang for alleged US dollar counterfeiting and money laundering activities.
North Korea refused to come back to the table unless sanctions were lifted, while the United States did not budge, saying it cannot compromise on issues such as counterfeiting that threaten national sovereignty.
Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley emphasized in an interview with broadcast network CNN on Wednesday that North Korea should return to the six-party talks and disband its nuclear weapons program.
He said it would be a "bad idea" for Pyongyang to launch any long-range missile test, for which preparations have reportedly been under way for more than a month.
Some experts say North Korea, aware that launch preparations are easily monitored by US satellite, wants to use the threat of a test-flight to force Washington to roll back the financial sanctions.
Murkowski, speaking at a forum here of the US-based Asia Society, said that South Korea and China, both of which she visited together with Japan recently, felt that the counterfeit currency issue raised by Washington only gave North Korea an excuse not to return to the table.
"They urge the United States to prioritize its goals and have patience with the talks. I agree," she said.
China is concerned that action by the United States on the counterfeit currency issue was harming its ability to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, Murkowski said.
"Basically, the message was that if the United States would stop making a mess of things, they could get the talks going again and the overall chance of achieving peace, stability, and denuclearization is good," she said.
In addition, she said, if the United States was going to bring up the counterfeit issue in the six-party context, then Tokyo would want North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals decades ago included as well.
"But even as there is recognition of the benefits of the six-party talks, cracks are showing in the alliance and North Korea is trying very hard to widen those gaps," said Murkowski, who is considering plans to travel with several senators to Pyongyang.
"It is just in the initial stage of planning," her spokesman Kevin Sweeney told AFP.
The nuclear standoff with North Korea began in 2002 when Washington accused the hardline communist state of running a secret uranium-enrichment program, resulting in Pyongyang throwing out UN weapons inspectors and abandoning the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
- AFP /ct
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Title : Somali Islamists overrun towns in northward push
By :
Date : 16 June 2006 0704 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/213951/1/.html
MOGADISHU : Islamic militias now controlling swathes of southern Somalia pushed north, as their supporters protested against plans to deploy African peacekeepers in the lawless nation and an international forum began talks in New York.
The African Union for its part called for international support for the transitional government, which has been powerless to stop the new round of fighting which has killed more than 360 people in four months.
Areas under the sway of the Joint Islamic Courts militia now include most of the capital, Mogadishu, the town of Jowhar in Middle Shabelle region as well as Gialalassi town and several posts in Hiraan region, all former strongholds of US-backed warlords who were routed on Wednesday.
Islamic commanders said they had seized the towns without much resistance and were targeting Beledweyne, a key access town to Ethiopia, about 300 kilometres (189 miles) north of the capital.
At the same time the Islamic alliance leadership sought the support of influential clan elders for the imposition of Sharia law in areas the Islamists now control and for the expulsion of the warlords from their last strongholds in the country.
Two people were killed in Gialalassi as rival Hawad and Adde subclans, both allied to warlords, wrangled over whether to accommodate fleeing militia before the Islamists arrived, commanders said.
Hundreds of supporters of the Joint Islamic Courts protested in Mogadishu against plans to deploy African peacekeepers to help the government impose its rule on the lawless nation.
They poured scorn on the transitional parliament, which called for the peacekeepers on Wednesday, fearing an attack on Baidoa, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, where it and the government have their temporary seats.
Protestors said the parliament had been manipulated by other countries in the region, namely Somalia's historic foe Ethiopia, which they accused of wanting to occupy their shattered nation.
The Islamist militias have vowed to kill any foreign peacekeepers.
Around 200 people staged a separate demonstration on Thursday in Baidoa, this time in support of the peacekeeping force, to be drawn from a regional bloc that was key to the formation of the transitional government.
Meanwhile Islamic alliance leader Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed met in Jowhar with influential clan elders, who have a powerful role in resolving conflicts.
"Our first priority is to establish an Islamic administration (and) make sure that the towns under our control are safe before spreading our control to other areas," Islamic militia commander Sheikh Hassan Warsame told AFP.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled from power.
Islamic fighters have already set about bolstering security in Jowhar, which they seized from the warlords just days after routing them from Mogadishu, 90 kilometres (55 miles) to the south.
On Thursday security and a semblance of normal life appeared to be returning to the town, after an overnight curfew. As Islamic militia pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns rumbled through the streets, market stalls reopened, and fuel sellers, money changers and other small-time traders were back in business, albeit sluggishly, an AFP correspondent reported.
Rifle-toting Islamic militiamen patrolling the streets were amiable to passers-by and city dwellers.
Rescue workers continued to scour the outskirts of Jowhar in search of more bodies from Wednesday's fighting. Residents and doctors said the death toll had climbed to 12.
Doctors in the main Jowhar hospital said they had run out of basic medical stocks and facilities but the number of injured coming from the outskirts was mounting.
In New York the first meeting of the Somalia Contact Group, gathering representatives of the United States, Norway, Britain, Sweden, Italy, the European Union and Tanzania, took place at the Norwegian UN mission.
The United Nations and African Union also sent observers to the meeting, which was chaired by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer.
The meeting was proposed last Friday by Washington to "promote concerted action and coordination to support the Somalia transitional federal institutions."
But US Ambassador John Bolton cautioned against expecting major decisions from what he described as a mere "exchange of views".
The African Union's Peace and Security Council for its part "appealed to the international community to extend all the necessary assistance" to Somalia's transitional institutions "to enable them to fully assume their responsibilities, with a view to restoring peace, reconciliation and stability in Somalia."
"The Council appealed to all concerned within Somalia to refrain from any action likely to aggravate the situation, to seek the path of dialogue and to extend the necessary cooperation to the transitional federal government," it added.
It called for swift authorisation for the deployment of the regional peacekeeping force to Somalia, which was mooted in January 2005 but has not yet been formed.
- AFP /ct
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http://www.google.com/search?q=United+States+and+%22leftist%22+Latin+America&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
Border Bribery
Published: 6/10/2006 4:40:35 PM
Two border agents who allegedly took bribes from immigrant and drug smugglers were behind bars Saturday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Richard Elizalda, 55, pleaded not guilty Friday to 11 charges, including bribery by a public official, conspiracy to bring in illegal aliens for financial gain and bringing in illegal aliens for financial gain.
Continued, interesting report.........paid up to $1,500. per illegal and of course dope.
http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3F6F9736-3119-4BEE-B4E4-25A16E37E63B
Gang Injunction
A judge has granted a preliminary injunction regulating the activities of about 50 members of a southeast San Diego street gang.
The order prohibits the Westcoast Crips from congregating publicly, using gang hand signs, trespassing, carrying weapons and engaging in other illegal activities in several "target areas."
continued........
http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=A502AE84-D974-402D-889F-28AB5D25D473
Syringes Found On Beach
Published: 6/11/2006 11:40:26 PM
About 100 syringes containing a drug the military uses to protect troops from nerve gas washed up on the beach in Oceanside Sunday, police said.
One man pricked himself with a syringe and was taken to a hospital, said Oceanside police Sgt. Leonard Mata, but the amount of chemical in the syringes was not thought to be life-threatening.
The individually wrapped syringes containing 2 milligrams of atropine were "full of sand and water" when they were first discovered around 6:30 a.m. on the beach between Oceanside Boulevard and the Oceanside Pier, Mata said.
Continued...
http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9D015363-2F70-494A-8E67-592ED103FD57
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