There has been substantive progress by the Russian Federation in the human rights area in recent years, despite often difficult economic and political circumstances. Political pluralism and free expression of opinion have been achieved. Russian ratification of a number of Council of Europe conventions, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the anti-torture convention, the European Charter for Local Self-Government and the Convention on the Protection of National Minorities represent key steps taken on the road to reform. Nevertheless, in many fields, further efforts are necessary. There are positive indications – the recent transfer of responsibility for the penitentiary system to the Ministry of Justice; the entry into force of new civil and criminal codes; and the respect for the moratorium on the death penalty, indicate Russia's commitment to ensuring that the system of common European democratic values and standards is enshrined in its domestic law and practice.
Russian presidential and parliamentary elections take place regularly, most recently in 1996 and 1995 respectively. Under the constitution of December 1993 the Russian Federation is a democratic, federative, multi-ethnic republic, in which state power is divided between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, which are independent of one another. The President, who is Head of State, is elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years and holds broad executive powers. Supreme legislative power is vested in the bicameral Federal Assembly. The Federal Assembly consists of an upper chamber, the 176 member Federation Council, and the lower chamber, the 450 member state Duma, elected by universal suffrage for a period of four years. The next Duma elections take place on 19 December and the next presidential elections have been fixed for June 2000.
It is my hope that Russia will continue on the path of reform and improvement in respect for human rights, and that the present Chechnya conflict will be resolved by political means through negotiations between the Russian Government and elected leaders of the north Caucasus, including Chechnya.