Girlfriday pledges support to Russian rights activists

MOSCOW, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice told Russian human rights activists on Saturday
she wanted to help them build institutions to protect people
from the 'arbitrary power of the state'.

The meeting could irk the Kremlin, which is sensitive to
Western accusations it is rolling back democratic freedoms and
suspects foreign governments of trying to influence the outcome
of next year's presidential election.

Rice told eight human rights leaders she wanted to hear
about their efforts to protect freedoms in Russia.

"I am quite confident that your goal is to build
institutions that are indigenous to Russia -- that are Russian
institutions -- but that are also respectful of what we all know
to be universal values," said Rice.

She said these were: "The rights of individuals to liberty
and freedom, the right to worship as you please, and the right
to assembly, the right to not have to deal with the arbitrary
power of the state."

"How is it going and what can we do to help Russia to build
strong institutions that have these universal values?"

The United States and other Western governments are
concerned about democracy, human rights and civil society in
Russia under President Vladimir Putin.

He has centralised power and mounted a huge security
operation in Chechnya. Television, main source of news for most
Russians, has been brought under tight Kremlin control with
Putin's opponents rarely given access to the airwaves.

Opinion polls though show most Russians back Putin's tough
style of rule.



Abu-Ghraib jail

Tatyana Lokshina, head of the Demos civil rights group, said
she and her colleagues had discussed with Rice rights abuses in
Chechnya, and fears the Russian political system discriminates
against the opposition.

But Lokshina said the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay
and allegations of abuse at the U.S.-run Abu-Ghraib prison in
Iraq had dented Washington's authority on human rights.

"The United States has somewhat lost effectiveness from the
point of view of its ability to criticise the Russian
government," she said.

"Today when the United States criticises, the Russian
authorities say: 'Look what is happening on your patch'."

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said
she told Rice the West should be more vocal. "An authoritarian
regime is intentionally being built (in Russia)," she said.

"I told Rice that human rights activists would like Western
leaders visiting Russia ... to raise human rights issues not
only in private conversations but also publicly."

Rice and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday met
Putin and their Russian counterparts for talks that focused on
Washington's plan for a missile defence shield in eastern
Europe. Moscow is opposed to the project.

It was unclear to what extent Rice had raised human rights
with Russian officials. Asked on Friday if she had brought up
the possibility Putin would become prime minister when his final
term as president ends next year, Rice avoided a direct answer.

Rice on Saturday also spoke to a group of of five Russian
professionals and suggested democracy would take time.

"If Russia is to emerge as a democratic country that can
fully protect the rights of its people, it is going to emerge
over years," she told the group.