Brussels/Berlin - Europe's top human rights watchdog Monday
condemned the recent police crackdown on opposition demonstrators in
Russia while the European Commission called on Moscow to respect
fundamental rights.
'We condemn this disproportionate use of force,' said Council of
Europe President Rene Van der Linden.
Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly constituted
fundamental rights in democratic countries, he stressed.
Russia joined the 46-member council in 1996. Last year, it hold
the rotating six-month chairmanship of Europe's top human rights body
which is independent from the European Union.
A spokeswoman for the EU Commission said that 'freedom of
expression and freedom of assembly are very important values' to
which Russia had signed up as a member of international organisations
such as the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Co-
operation in Europe (OSCE).
The commission was 'very concerned' about the violent police
attacks in St Petersburg and Moscow, she told reporters.
The 27-member EU would raise the recent events when holding talks
with Russian officials at the margins of an EU foreign ministers
meeting next week in Luxembourg, the spokeswoman said.
Respect for freedom of expression and freedom of assembly 'are
very important in the pre-election phase in Russia,' she added. The
opposition accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of increasingly
restricting human rights ahead of parliamentary elections in December
2007 and the presidential election next March.
Germany, which is current president of the European Union, had
earlier also condemned Russian police use of 'excessive force'.
German government spokesman Thomas Steg said that the 'excessive
use of force' by Russian security officials had been a cause for
concern.
In particular, Steg said that action against members of the media
had been 'unacceptable' with the German Embassy in Moscow protesting
about the detention of accredited journalists.
The German government expects a 'comprehensive statement' from the
Russian side explaining the circumstances surrounding the protests
and the arrests, Steg said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was expected to raise the Russian
police action with Putin at a Russian-European Union summit set for
May 18 in the Russian city of Samara. Germany currently holds the EU
presidency.
Russian police violently broke up a rally against the policies of
Putin in his native city St Petersburg on Sunday following similar
brutal scenes in the capital Moscow a day before.
A total of 350 demonstrators were briefly arrested at the two
rallies over the weekend.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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