Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. P. Martin
President of France, Mr. J. Chirac
Federal Chancellor of Germany Mr. G. Schroeder
Prime Minister of Britain, Mr. T. Blair
Prime Minister of Italy, Mr. S. Berlusconi
Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. J. Koizumi
Resident of the United States of America, Mr. G. W. Bush
Dear Sirs,
On 14 March 2004 Russia held elections for president.
Last October an election was held in Chechnya which was effectively at gunpoint and was not accepted as democratic in any way by the international community. "The election that took place in Chechnya (5 October 2003) and the political process that led up to it fell short of its potential for producing a positive democratic outcome," said the US State Department, adding "it did not meet internation standards for free and fair elections".
In December 2003 the voting for the Russian parliamentary election was considered to be free but not fair. "This election failed to meet a number of OSCE commitments, most notably those pertaining to: unimpeded access to the media on a non-discriminatory basis, a clear seperation between state and political parties and guarentees to enable parties to compete on the basis of equal treatment." (Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Report, issued 27 January 2004, Warsaw).
more coming when i can be bothered to type it