RUSSIA'S PRESIDENCY OF THE G8 (No. 2)

EDM number 1376 in 2005-06, proposed by Michael Gove on 16/01/2006.

That this House notes that Russia assumed the presidency of the G8 on 1st January; records its hope that the Russian government will meet its presidency objectives to promote education and energy security and continue to maintain the G8's focus on aid and development; further notes the 1975 Declaration of Rambouillet which set out the shared beliefs of its founding members, including an open, democratic society, dedicated to individual liberty and social advancement; recalls that Russia was admitted to the G8 in 2002 in the belief that it shared its commitment to democratic values and that membership would help to consolidate political reform; regrets that since 2002 there has instead been an erosion of democratic standards in Russia, including the centralisation of political power, growing state control of the media, the restriction and harassment of non-governmental organisations, the use of the criminal justice system to target political opponents and a rise in human rights violations; calls on the Russian government to fulfil its obligations as a G8 member by returning to the path of democratic reform; and urges the UK and other G8 governments to remind the Russian government of its responsibilities and hold it to account if it fails to meet them.

This motion has been signed by a total of 80 MPs.