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An Open Letter to the G7 Leaders “The Other Russia” 12:48, 18/07/2006  “The Other Russia” will bring together distinguished diplomats and politicians, academicians and civil society leaders from Russia, Europe and the United States to examine the deplorable state of human rights and the rule of law in Russia. Experts will document Russia’s alarming number of political prisoners, the Kremlin’s control over the media, the dangerous increase in government corruption, the continued violence in Chechnya and the return of a one-party state. “The Other Russia” Summit will examine these economic and political trends, hoping to provide the Russian people with a clearer picture of what the further loss of human and political rights will mean to them. The gathering is also meant to impress upon the G7 leaders, who will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this coming weekend in St. Petersburg, that there is another Russia¾a Russia at odds with the corrupt, authoritarian regime which President Putin and those around him appear resolved to impose. We urge our leaders - Prime Minister Tony Blair, President George W. Bush, President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Romano Prodi - not to equivocate when they meet the Russian President this weekend. He must be put on notice that Russia’s current domestic and foreign policies are unacceptable to its neighbors, to the international community and to many of its own citizens. President Putin must be made to understand that fairness towards his political opponents and critics, the release of political prisoners and Russia’s constructive engagement with its neighbors in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, are the standards by which his Government will be judged. Russia must meet these standards of justice, freedom and of internationally acceptable diplomacy if it wishes to remain a member of the G8 and of the community of democratic nations. Today, Russia is moving in the wrong direction. With the re-imposition of state control of the media, the nationalization of the YUKOS Oil Company, the abolition of elected governors, overt and covert meddling in the affairs of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Lithuania and outright support for the dictatorship in Belarus, the new NGO law restricting the work of human rights groups and other non-government organizations in Russia, and the imprisonment of political opponents like Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Mikhail Trepashkin, the Government of Russia is deliberately turning back the clock. We appeal to the G7 leaders to raise these issues directly with President Putin this weekend in St. Petersburg. And we salute those who are in Moscow today, meeting in a hostile and dangerous environment to prove that a democratic Russia, “The Other Russia,” does indeed exist. Signatories: (Institutions are listed for purposes of identification only.) Dimitar Abadjiev – European Parliament Observer, Bulgaria Dr. Patrick Aeberhard – President, Medecins du Monde Vo Van Ai – President, Forum Asia Democracy Doron Arazi – Historian Timothy Garton Ash – Oxford University, UK Brian Atwood – Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, US; Former US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Paul Berman – Writer, US Carl Bildt – Former Prime Minister of Sweden Roberta Bonazzi – Director, European Foundation for Democracy Elena Bonner – Honorary Chair, The Andrei Sakharov Foundation Michael Bourdeaux – Founder / President, Keston Institute, Oxford University, UK Pascal Bruckner – Philosopher, France Ian J. Brzezinski – Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy Hans Christoph Buch – Writer, Germany Vladimir Bukovsky – Cambridge University, UK Leos Carax – Film director, France Patrice Chéreau – Film and theater director, France Daniel Cohn-Bendit – Member, European Parliament, Germany Pierre Daix – Writer, France Prof. Nicholas Daniloff – Northeastern University, US Ruth Daniloff – Writer, US Fertilio Dario – Comitatus libertates Franco Debennedetti – Senator, Italy Martin Dewhirst – University of Glasgow, Scotland Freimut Duve – Former member of the German Bundestag; Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Representative Dr. Marek Edelman – Former dissident, Leader of the Warsaw ghetto uprising Humphry Crum Ewing – Chairman, The Standish Group Edourad Fillias – President, Alternative Liberale, France Paolo Florés de Arcaïs – Director, Micromega, France Carl Gershman – President, National Endowment for Democracy André Glucksmann – Philosopher, France Alex Goldfarb – Foundation for Civil Liberties, US Adam Gopnik – Writer, US Veronique Nahoum Grappe – Anthropologist, France Andrew P. Grigorenko – President, General Petro Grigorenko Foundation, Inc Robert Halfon – Political Director, Conservative Friends of Israel Daniel Hamilton – Johns Hopkins University, US Arthur Hartman – Former US Ambassador to the Soviet Union and France Satu Hassi – Member, European Parliament, Finland Roger Helmer – Member, European Parliament, UK Mary Holland – New York University, US Marie Holzmann – President, Droits de l’homme in China, France Robert Hunter – Former US ambassador to NATO Toomas Hendrik Ilves – Member, European Parliament, Estonia Bruce P. Jackson – President, Project on Transitional Democracies Kjell Olaf Jense – President, Pen Club, Norway Alan Johnson – Director, Democratya, UK Tunne Kelam – Member, European Parliament, Estonia Bogdan Klich – Member, European Parliament, Poland Bernard Kouchner – Former UN ambassador to Kosovo; Founder, Medecins sans Frontières, Medecins du Monde, France Irina Krasovskaya – President, We Remember Foundation, Belarus Guntars Krasts – Member, European Parliament; Former Prime Minister of Latvia William Kristol – The Weekly Standard, US Girts Valdis Kristovskis – Member, European Parliament, Former President of the Lithuanian Parliament Vytautas Landsbergis – Member, European Parliament, Former President of the Lithuanian Parliament Bernard Henri Levy – Philosopher, France Ekkehard Maass – German-Caucasian society, Germany Giwi Margwelschwili – Schriftsteller, Germany Cliff May – President, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies Michael McFaul – Stanford University, US Alan Mendoza – Executive Director, Henry Jackson Society, UK Marianne Mikko – Member, European Parliament, Estonia Tim Montgomerie – Editor, ConservativeHome.com Martin Palouš – Permanent Czech Republic Representative to the United Nations; former Czech Ambassador to the US Carlo di Pamparato – Children of Chechnya Action Relief Mission (CCHARM), UK Richard Pipes – Harvard University, US Daniel Pipes – Writer, US Daniel Pletka – American Enterprise Institute (AEI), US Oksana Ragazzi – UK Josep Ramoneda – Philosopher, Center of Contemporain Culture, Spain Vanessa Redgrave – Actress James Rogers – Executive Secretary, Henry Jackson Society, UK Jacques Rupnik – Professor of political sciences, CERI, France Prof. Aloyzas Sakalas – Member, European Parliament, Lithuania Randy Scheunemann – President, Committee for the Liberation of Iraq Gary Schmitt – American Enterprise Institute (AEI), US Jorge Semprún – Former Minister of Culture of Spain, André Senik – Philosopher, France Andrew M. Sessler – Emeritus Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Andrzei Seweryn – Theater director, Comédie Française, France Dr. Brendan Simms – Co-President, Henry Jackson Society, UK Robert Singh – Birkbeck College, University of London, UK Aleksander Smolar – Historian, France/Poland Bart Staes – Member, European Parliament, Belgium Konrad Szymanski – Member, European Parliament, Poland Andres Tarand – Member, European Parliament, former Prime Minister of Estonia David Trimble – 1998 Nobel Peace Laureate Prof. Inese Vaidere – Member, European Parliament, Latvia Ari Vatanen – Member, European Parliament, France Mark von Hagen – Columbia University, US Stuart Wheeler – UK Richard Wilson – Harvard University, US Henryk Wozniakowski – Director, ZNAK, Poland Tatiana Yankelevich – Director, Sakharov Program on Human Rights, Harvard University, US Ilyos Yannakakis – Professor, France
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