| U.S. Government Assistance to and Cooperative Activities with Eurasia -FY 2004 Released by the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs January 2005 II. Country Assessments and Performance Measures - Russia U.S. STRATEGIC INTERESTS In FY 2004, the USG provided an estimated $950.82 million in assistance to Russia (including $1.07 million in FY 2003 FREEDOM Support Act funds): In FY 2004, over 2,800 Russians traveled to the United States on U.S. Government (USG)-funded training and exchange programs implemented by the Open World Leadership Center, USAID and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice and State, bringing the cumulative number of Russian participants in such programs to date to over 61,000. U.S. ASSISTANCE PRIORITIES Democratic Reform Programs: USG-funded assistance and exchange programs are helping Russia in its still troubled transition from a Soviet-era authoritarian form of government to a democratic system that guarantees the fundamental rights of its citizens. USG democratic reform programs give highest priority to civil society, independent media, rule of law, and human rights. FREEDOM Support Act (FSA)-funded technical experts have advised Russian politicians about the development of modern political parties and the strengthening of democratic electoral institutions. FSA-funded programs have nurtured the emergence of a strong and diverse nongovernmental organization (NGO) sector in Russia, providing multiple opportunities for Russians to participate in civic life. FSA-funded programs support the development of independent media, giving Russian journalists an opportunity to develop their professional skills through training and exchange programs. Similarly, Russian academic, government officials and politicians have benefited from exposure to Western approaches to issues of state and local governance. Economic and Social-Sector Reform Programs: USG assistance programs support the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector by training entrepreneurs and supporting non-bank credit institutions to respond to SMEs' need for credit to expand their businesses and create jobs. Other USG-funded programs are helping the Russian banking system see opportunities as a more broad-based and effective intermediary of funds. The USG provides technical assistance in the effective use of budget resources. The USG-supported enterprise funds, which have turned handsome profits in recent years, have helped promising Russian companies grow. USG-supported independent Russian think tanks have strengthened their analytic capacity as a means of enhancing their role as opinion shapers within civil society and vis-a-vis government policy-makers. Specialized USG assistance programs help develop and reform Russia’s large, inefficient agriculture sector. USG-funded technical experts have reviewed the complexities of the World Trade Organization (WTO) accession process with Russian officials and business representatives and helped draft WTO-compliant legislation. Economic growth reform programs will be phased out as of FY 2006. In the health sector, USG assistance has been instrumental in the introduction of international approaches to improving the quality of health care, including helping Russia cope with the current tuberculosis epidemic and prodding Russian officials to act against one of the world’s fastest rates of increase in new HIV/AIDS cases. Security, Regional Stability and Law Enforcement Programs: The USG provides a variety of assistance to promote security, stability and law enforcement in Russia, including efforts to safeguard and/or destroy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – the leading Mission Performance Plan goal; programs to secure and safeguard nuclear reactors and materials; and assistance designed to combat terrorism and terrorist financing, trafficking in persons, narcotics, intellectual property crimes, money-laundering, and cyber-crime. USG-funded technical assistance supports trial advocacy programs and defense bar development, in support of the implementation of the Criminal Procedure Code, which fundamentally changes Russia’s criminal justice system by supporting the establishment of the adversarial system, better judicial independence, stronger defense rights, and provides a right to jury trial in serious criminal cases. USG-funded rule of law programs encourage the Russian judiciary to strengthen its ethics codes and achieve independence from the executive branch. SECTORAL ASSESSMENTS Democratic Reform During 2004, the development of civil society and democratic culture in Russia was marked by events that again called into question the depth of Russia’s commitment to genuinely democratic institutions. These include the central government's continued interference with the editorial independence of the media, broadcast media in particular; manipulation of the electoral process, most prominently during the 2004 presidential elections; continuing violence, human rights abuses and political pressure in Chechnya; selective criminal prosecutions which appeared to be driven by political motivations; and the Kremlin’s ever-growing control over local and regional governments. In some cases, foreign assistance efforts may have been caught in the political crossfire: the still unresolved November 2003 raid of the Moscow office of the Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute - Russia, the tax investigation of the Yukos Oil Company’s Otkrytaya Rossiya (Open Russia) Foundation and hostile tax laws that apply to all NGOs have affected their ability to attract donors, fulfill grant requirements and work productively to promote civil society development. Perhaps as a consequence of these actions, public opinion surveys reported less enthusiasm for participating in civic action or in the electoral process than they did in 2003. This negative trend is also likely a reflection of the fact that President Putin is focusing on fighting terrorism and on the need for a strong, unified, central government. In spite of these challenges, Russia has accomplished much on the road to democracy over the past 12 years, and FSA-funded technical assistance has helped facilitate many of these accomplishments. The beginnings of an independent judiciary; hundreds of successful local, regional and national elections; several thousand independent local and regional television and radio stations; and tens of thousands of civic, industry, philanthropic and advocacy associations and foundations are just four notable features of Russia’s evolving political system in which FSA-funded assistance programs have played a key supporting role. Over 61,000 Russians have visited or studied in the United States on professional and educational exchanges since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Through these short- and long-term programs, the USG continues to broaden the horizons of the next generation of Russian leaders by giving them a first-hand introduction to democratic ideals. In addition, U.S. and Russian social, human rights and business groups have formed dozens of lasting partnerships with the help of USG-funded small grants. Russian counterparts have been key players in supporting democratization in Russia, whether by establishing jury trials on a nationwide basis, passing legislation to stop trafficking in persons, creating and supporting a nationwide network of financially strong and relatively independent local and regional media outlets, or working with local governments and Russian research policy institutes to put in place an updated division of responsibilities between the local and central governments. Exchange programs will continue to support the range of USG priorities, though changes in the FY 2004 funding structure and level have decreased opportunities for both short- and long-term exchanges. The next steps in the democratic reform process are more difficult than those taken thus far. They are essential, however, because without common principles informing Russian and American institutions at various levels, U.S. citizens and businesses will be reluctant to make the kinds of investments in and commitments to Russia that occur every day between the United States and fully established market-based democracies. In 2005 and beyond, FSA-funded democratic reform assistance will focus on strengthening Russian institutions by supporting NGOs, independent media, and think tanks that foster the further development of civil society, with a special emphasis on activities that promote religious and ethnic tolerance, and knowledge of and respect for human rights; and by improving the legal and social climate for philanthropic support of civil society development. One such example is the on-going think-tank project that supports the sustainability of indigenous institutions that can continue to press for reform and build civil society support for their efforts. Economic and Social-Sector Reform The Russian economy has dramatically recovered from the 1998 financial crisis. GDP growth has averaged over six percent since 2000, the ruble is stable, and Russia maintains a foreign trade surplus. GDP was expected to grow by seven percent in 2004, but this projection was cut in half by the end of the year. Per capita income was expected to grow 6.9 percent in 2004, and real incomes to grow by eight to nine percent a year between 2004 and 2007. At least two areas cloud this picture: lack of economic diversification and weakness in the banking sector. Russia’s natural resource wealth has been the engine of growth in recent years. However, closing the income gap with Western and Central Europe will increasingly depend on more effective use of its excellent human capital base, developing the SME sector in the regions, restructuring efforts and reforming economic systems. One of these is the underdeveloped financial system. Given the remaining weakness of, and continued low level of confidence in, this system, financial intermediation remains fundamentally constrained. The development of a sound financial system is key to the diversification of the economy and ownership and development of the SME sector, which in turn would foster the growth of the middle class. Economic growth is extremely uneven across the country. On a region-by-region basis, per capita incomes range from levels equivalent to those in Western Europe to other levels on par with Sub-Saharan Africa. Away from the major urban centers of Western Russia, particularly Moscow, it is more difficult to detect the benefits to the population of Russia’s political and economic transition over the last twelve years. Additionally, the Russian economy is overly dependent on just a few extractive industries, particularly oil, and any significant decline in prices of these commodities could have a devastating impact on seemingly favorable macroeconomic statistics. To further complicate the picture, Russia has recently redefined its poverty threshold and it now reports less poverty, although actual poverty has not decreased. The USG has worked with the Russian Government and more intensely with Russia’s private sector to help transform the country’s previously centrally planned socialist economy into a diversified, sustainable and growing market-based economy. SME development is key, as this will increase the private-sector share of the economy, while also strengthening the middle class and spreading the benefits of economic growth throughout the population and all the regions of the country. SMEs account for only twelve percent of the national GDP compared to fifty to seventy percent in other European countries. USG-funded assistance has focused on policy changes that make SME growth possible, training and exchanges to provide the basic tools for running a successful business, access to finance to allow businesses to start and/or expand their operations, and business associations that can provide a voice for SMEs in the continued struggle for administrative and policy reform. In FY 2004 the USG’s main assistance goals in the social services sector were to stimulate a sustained improvement in public health, the protection and effective management of environmental resources, and the efficient delivery by local and municipal governments of a broad range of social services. There is a long history of American-Russian partnerships in the social sector. For nearly a decade, the USG has worked collaboratively with Russian federal-level counterparts to strengthen primary health care systems, focusing on maternal/child health and family planning services through public-sector and non-governmental facilities, and on biomedical research, disease surveillance, and diagnosis and treatment of infectious and chronic diseases. The USG has also worked with local governments to streamline social service administration, improve the targeting of benefits, and shift more service provision into the NGO community through competitive grants and contracting mechanisms. In addition, USG collaboration with ecological and health authorities in the regions has concentrated on improving the environment, and work with civilian scientists has advanced nonproliferation and social-sector goals by channeling their research toward key public health issues. Thanks in part to USG-funded assistance programs, targeted areas in Russia have seen a falling rate of abortion, improved rates of effectiveness in treating tuberculosis, improved primary care standards, greater municipal funding for health care in some areas, decreases in the number of abandoned and vulnerable children, and greater Russian Government attention to environmental issues. USG-funded programs have also helped Russian scientists pursue civilian research in important areas such as HIV/AIDS, measles, smallpox, tuberculosis and West Nile virus, while simultaneously exposing them to commercial business practices. Russia accounts for twenty-two percent of the world’s forestry reserves. In FY 2004, with the help of USG assistance, Russian and American forestry experts addressed significant cross-border risks such as pest control and global climate change. These efforts focused on forest fire prevention, pest monitoring and more effective use of forest resources. USG-funded experts also provided technical assistance and training to businesses, NGOs and other counterparts to help reduce energy consumption, comply with international environmental standards, and to substitute renewable energy technologies, which contribute to U.S. Presidential initiatives related to clean energy and global climate change. NGOs that have benefited from USG-funded NGO development programs are beginning to mobilize Russian citizens to lobby for safe drinking water and cleaner air – two issues that in and of themselves account for a huge share of Russia’s current disease burden and are undermining the country’s labor productivity. A strong community of environmental NGOs is particularly important in Russia, given growing concerns about weak environmental governance due to the previously ministry-level environmental regulatory entity being subsumed under the Ministry of Natural Resources. USG assistance in the economic sector will decrease significantly in FY 2005 and phase out in FY 2006, and will fall into three broad areas: policy, financing and civic institution building. The policy area will consist of think-tank projects, policy development and advocacy, and monitoring. Financial sector activities will include support for the nascent indigenous lending industry, with an added emphasis on policy. USG assistance activities in the social sector will reflect a phase-down of USG-funded environmental programs and an emphasis on the fight against HIV/AIDS, including prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Convincing high-level Russian officials of the threat HIV/AIDS poses to Russia (with Europe’s second highest rate of infection) will continue to be a USG priority. Security, Regional Stability, and Law Enforcement USG programs that consolidate, secure, or destroy/dismantle weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – the leading Mission Performance Plan goal – accounted for the lion’s share of USG assistance to Russia in 2004. The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program is the largest USG-funded effort of cooperative activities in Russia. In cooperation with Russian civilian and military agencies, the USG assisted with the destruction of nuclear missiles, launchers and related equipment and infrastructure; the construction of a facility for the safe destruction of chemical weapons; the safeguarding of nuclear reactors and material; and the disposal of nuclear materials. Over 120 sites in Russia were upgraded, work continued toward shutting down the three remaining weapons-grade plutonium production reactors in Russia, and nearly 100 kilograms of highly enriched uranium were returned to Russia from other countries. The USG-supported cooperative biological research, enhanced safety and security at biological facilities, and helped fund productive civilian research and development opportunities for former weapons scientists and engineers. This not only addressed nonproliferation concerns but also assisted in the establishment of a market economy by promoting and identifying commercially viable joint research, development, and demonstration activities between American businesses and Russian scientists. The USG also facilitated customs- and tax-free transfers of funding and equipment for cooperative science programs between Russian scientists and American public and private academic organizations. In Russia, the USG and other donors have a unique partner that has the ability and potential to contribute to global solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental and health problems. To improve interoperability with coalition or NATO forces and demonstrate how a military functions in a democracy, other USG efforts provided International Military Exchanges and Training (IMET) English language instruction, professional military education, and military legal and peacekeeping training for Russian military and civilian officials of the Ministry of Defense. USG-funded law enforcement assistance programs supported a wide range of activities in FY 2004. Among these were the implementation of the July 2002 Criminal Procedure Code through support of trial advocacy training, defense bar development, and additional criminal law and procedure legislation; as well as the adoption of modern anti-crime techniques in combating terrorism and terrorist financing, narcotics smuggling, money laundering, intellectual property rights violations, cyber-crime, trafficking in persons, and child pornography. Other USG efforts focused on the development of American-Russian legal cooperation under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, the adoption of community-based policing in the Russian Far East, and support for research into crime and corruption issues in Russia. The USG worked with the Russian government to implement the new anti-trafficking amendments to the criminal code made in December 2003 and the new witness protection legislation passed in 2004. The USG also helped train law enforcement officers in trafficking investigation and prosecution, and encouraged closer cooperation between police and non-governmental organizations on identification and protection of trafficking victims. In addition, USG efforts went toward training a Russian financial intelligence unit, police and prosecutors on money laundering and terrorism financing issues. The USG also established, in conjunction with private industry, a series of regional training programs in intellectual property rights violations that are aimed at Russian judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials. USG-funded programs in the security, regional stability and law enforcement sector will continue at roughly current levels in 2005 and beyond. The USG will need to continue to cooperate with Russian civilian and military agencies as well as with former weapons scientists and engineers as long as non-proliferation of WMD and nuclear safety remain key concerns. Other issues such as the fight against terrorism and terrorist financing, narcotics smuggling, money laundering, intellectual property rights violations, cyber-crime, trafficking in persons and child pornography will all continue to be USG priorities. Humanitarian Assistance In FY 2004, with $500,000 in FSA funding, the USG transported $6.1 million worth of humanitarian commodities to needy and vulnerable populations in Russia working through U.S.-based Private Volunteer Organizations. The program also supported U. S. Private Volunteer Organizations administering critical humanitarian programs in the Northern Caucasus, in addition to $5.12 million in food aid. In rapid response to the school tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia the State Department provided nearly $1 million in non-FSA assistance commodities. COUNTRY PERFORMANCE MEASURES Economic & Democratic Reforms, 1991-2004 Data are drawn from EBRD, Transition Report (November 2004) & Freedom House, Nations in Transit 2004 & Freedom in the World 2004. Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 representing the most advanced. Economic Structure and Human Development, 1990-2004 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2004 (2004); UNICEF, Social Monitor 2004 (2004); EBRD, Transition Report (November 2004); and UNDP, Human Development Report (2004). SECTORAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES DEMOCRATIC REFORM Performance Indicator: USAID NGO Sustainability Index (1 = lowest, 5 = highest) FY 2002 Baseline FY 2003 Actual FY 2004 Target FY 2004 Actual 2.83 2.67 4.0 (on previous scale of 1 to 7) Data not yet available FY 2004 Results: 2004 was a challenging year for Russia’s NGOs. Any apparent gains in the civil society sector were eroded as the government continued to centralize authority and assert control over all sectors, including civil society. The government’s previous indifference toward civil society appeared at times to turn toward hostility. The third Civic Forum (this year called Social Forum) of civil society organizations was much more narrowly defined and government-directed than in previous years and was heavily dominated by a new breed of "government-sponsored NGOs." Earlier in the year, President Putin’s annual message to the Federal Assembly accused NGOs of serving dubious commercial and foreign interests. Many NGOs – especially those receiving funding from abroad – have encountered suspicion from official sources, and some said that they had been the targets of harassment. The central government's moves against the most promising sources of indigenous funding for the NGO sector had a serious and concrete negative impact. USG-funded programs continue to work toward improving the legal climate for NGOs, including changes in the tax code that would provide incentives for charitable giving. The USG also continues to help NGOs identify self-sustaining activities and other sources of funding, as well as encouraging them to work together to promote issues of common concern. Performance Indicator: Independent Media rating, Drawing from Freedom House, Nations in Transit 2004 as modified by, "Monitoring Country Progress in Eastern Europe and Eurasia" USAID/E&E/PO, #9 January 6, 2005. (1-lowest, 5-highest; data based on previous calendar year) FY 2002 Baseline FY 2003 Actual FY 2004 Target FY 2004 Actual 2.0 2.0 3.0 1.83 FY 2004 Results: 2004 was a difficult year for the independent media in Russia. Despite the good news that many outlets (among 1,000 regional TV stations, hundreds of radio broadcasters, and tens of thousands of newspapers) had begun to see sustained commercial growth, there has been a serious backsliding in media freedom, particularly the editorial independence of national electronic media. The Russian media has come under increasingly intense pressure from central authorities and those at other levels. Electronic media, in particular, has largely responded with acquiescence and self-censorship. In the face of this situation, USG-funded programs have had success working at the regional level and in the print media. Through a leading Russian media NGO, the USG supports developing professionalism and independence of regional media as well as accessible sources of non-state information to the public. This NGO plays the role of broker between Russian regional media and the NGO community by organizing public awareness campaigns on socially important issues. Over 200 smaller TV stations sent more than 1,600 professionals to regionally based seminars, the first professional training for most of them. By 2004, a total of 502 regional TV stations had taken part in at least one campaign (with 70 having participated in all campaigns). A recently created USG-supported association of independent publishers attracted 35 publishing houses representing 22 regions to their first annual meeting. The group established a relationship with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association that was instrumental in developing its management structure. The USG also launched a targeted 3-year $1.2 million program in support of the independent regional radio industry. This program will focus on assisting approximately 100 regional radio stations to improve the quality of their news and public affairs programming and to become commercially successful. The USG’s broadcast media partnership has been one of the primary success stories for leveraging private sector Western and Russian donor funding. By 2004, one of the Russian media NGOs had raised over $4 million in cost-share, equal to half of USG funding for independent TV. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REFORM Performance Indicator: Employment in SMEs as a percentage of total employment (Source: World Bank, August 2003)
FY 2004 Results: The Russian Government has been generally supportive of SME development, but the Russian economy's overwhelming dependence on natural resource extraction creates a natural bias against SMEs. While the regulatory environment for SMEs may have improved somewhat under recent legislation, the poor business environment remains a serious constraint to further development. The size and performance of Russia’s SME sector continues to lag far behind those in Western Europe and formerly communist Eastern and Central Europe. USG efforts to improve the business environment for SMEs concentrated on facilitating business between potential American and Russian partners, as well developing and implementing policy reforms at the federal and regional level, and improving communication between the private sector and government authorities. USG business facilitation services engendered more than $400 million in U.S.-Russia trade and investment in 2004 – three-quarters with SMEs. Regarding policy reforms, the success of one such effort in the Tomsk region of Siberia led to requests from the governors of Rostov-on-Don in south Russia and Irkutsk in the east to duplicate the program in their areas. Limited access to finance continues to be one of the greatest obstacles to further development of the SME sector. USG supported non-bank finance institutions (NFI) provided SMEs with over 51,100 loans worth more than $83 million. On Sakhalin in the Far East, as an example, the regional micro credit program expanded to five more branches to provide financial services to local entrepreneurs, becoming a model for replication. The data indicate that loans issued through these programs created or sustained 82,700 jobs and allowed SMEs to grow their businesses by two- to three hundred percent on average. Over seventy percent of all loan recipients were women. Six USG-supported NFI networks are operational, and most are either self-sustaining or nearly self-sustaining. The USG also supports micro financing efforts through training, consulting, dissemination of standards and best practices, and legal support to over 400 indigenous NFIs. Cooperation with banking associations has led to increased attention by the Ministry of Economics and Trade in facilitating SME access to capital. Furthermore, association-building and advocacy efforts are an important addition to USG efforts to support civic activism and policy dialogue that are the foundation of democracy. Performance Indicator: World Trade Organization (WTO) accession (Source: EBRD)
FY 2004 Results: Russian progress toward WTO accession has been slow. The USG has funded some consultancy work to help the Russian Government understand what must be done in terms of legislative and administrative changes. Russia continues to seek special deals and conditions, but progress has nevertheless been made, particularly in the area of legislative reform. Almost all legislation necessary to bring Russian law into conformity with WTO requirements has been submitted to the Duma, with several key laws coming into effect in 2003 and 2004. Nonetheless, much more work is necessary to ensure implementation of new legislation as it is passed. Russia concluded goods and services market access negotiations in 2004 with the European Union and China, as well as several smaller trading partners. Russia has concluded negotiations on goods market access with several WTO members; however, significant differences remain with several major trading partners, including the United States, Japan and Canada. Progress in the services-market-access negotiations has been slower. Performance Indicator: Reported HIV infections per one million population (Source: European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS)
FY 2004 Results: While infection rates continue to be extremely high in Russia, USG assistance programs enjoyed significant success in 2004, particularly in promoting public awareness and attracting high-level attention to the issue. The USG has provided substantial assistance to several leading Russian CSOs in this field, which combat the stigma associated with being HIV-positive. To reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, the USG played a significant role in helping the government to leverage global fund resources of $210 million -- $120 million for HIV/AIDS and $90 million for TB. The fight against TB is integral to the fight against HIV/AIDS as these co-epidemics are fueling each other. These funds will supplement government resources available for its HIV/AIDS effort, especially in treatment, care, and support. Four new U.S.-Russia partnerships were launched by the USG to address the issue of HIV/AIDS treatment and care, including one partnership that was extended to address HIV/AIDS prevention and risk reduction in selected regions of the Russian Far East. The majority of beneficiaries were HIV core transmitters including injecting drug users. A continuum of services provided to these persons contributed to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. This was the USG’s first initiative to create replicable and integrated models of care and treatment for those living with HIV or AIDS, including HIV-infected pregnant women. This program improved and expanded collaboration among various groups: the health care system, the social welfare system, and non-governmental organizations providing non-medical services to high risk groups, peer groups, families of people living with HIV/AIDS, and self-support groups. The partnerships with American cities and universities are still in the start-up phase, with baseline data collection underway. In an HIV/AIDS epidemic such as Russia’s, a portion of prevention activities must be focused on high-risk populations, emphasizing behavior change. During the past year, in selected districts where USG programs work, there was a decrease in the number of youth becoming sexually active by the age of 17 (forty-eight percent to thirty-seven percent), as well as in the number of injecting drug users sharing syringes and needles at last injection (thirty-five percent to twenty-four percent). SECURITY, REGIONAL STABILITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT Performance Indicator: Rule of Law, Drawing from Freedom House, Nations in Transit 2004 as modified by, "Monitoring Country Progress in Eastern Europe and Eurasia" USAID/E&E/PO, #9 January 6, 2005. (1-lowest, 5-highest; data based on previous calendar year)
FY 2004 Results: Russia has made significant progress in the area of rule of law and legal reform. This was tempered by the strengthening of state power by federal authorities, which at times conflicted with judicial independence and tolerance for activism by civil society and human rights groups. The primary vehicle for legal reform is the criminal procedure code, enacted and implemented with USG assistance. In its first two years, the code has received over 100 amendments, leading to further reform of the criminal justice system. Highlights include the re-introduction, after a 70-year hiatus, of jury trials for serious crimes, authorization by the courts (not prosecutors) of search and arrest warrants, judicial review of detention decisions within 48 hours, inadmissibility of statements made by defendants without the presence of their attorney, and exclusion from trial proceedings of illegally obtained evidence. USG support was instrumental in the successful use of the legal system by civil society organizations, with over 1,600 cases since 2002 on behalf of constituencies such as workers, forced migrants, and the disabled -- the majority of whom won their cases. Russian cases decided by the European Court of Human Rights (at least 17 since 2002) are binding on the court system and are beginning to influence judges’ decisions in areas such as pretrial detention and length of proceedings. Government funding of the judiciary is at an all-time high, reaching $1 billion for 2004, building and renovation of courthouses is widespread, and automation is being upgraded throughout the system. Judicial salaries are now high enough to make the job more appealing, and more than half of district judges now have judicial assistants. The judiciary has used ideas showcased by the USG, such as the introduction of specialized court employees to professionalize its operations. The Supreme Court for inclusion is considering innovations in two pilot courts that have improved transparency, efficiency, and customer service in its national instructions. In addition, judges themselves have been willing to speak out publicly against proposed changes to convert key positions currently appointed by the judiciary into executive branch appointments. Although judicial independence is weak in highly politicized cases, citizens are filing more cases with the courts in a broader range of areas than ever before, and in ordinary cases, taxpayers and individuals are winning a majority (as much as seventy-five percent) of the lawsuits against government entities. The direct beneficiaries of these activities are the judiciary, attorneys, and civil society organizations; indirect beneficiaries include local and international business as well as citizens and foreigners who come in contact with the legal system. The judiciary is addressing the knowledge that citizens still largely distrust the courts and perceive them as corrupt. The number of complaints against judges grew from 5,600 in 2001, to over 6,500 in 2002, 7,100 in 2003, and 3,900 for the first half of 2004. Each year, hundreds of judges are warned and dozens removed from office. Russian-American law partnerships worked with the judiciaries and legal communities of nine Russian regions on subjects such as the publication of court decisions, jury trial procedure, and handling of domestic violence cases. The increased adversarial nature of the legal system is upgrading its overall quality, and demand for better-trained lawyers continues to grow. In 2004, progress continued to be made in enhancing lawyers’ skills in representing clients concerning human rights and advocacy, and in strengthening clinical legal education, particularly in regard to the rights of women and juveniles. The issue of tolerance was addressed through support for the creation of five regional tolerance councils, bringing together representatives of the public, civil society organizations, law enforcement, and local authorities. In St. Petersburg and Ryazan, tolerance courses were introduced in curriculum for Interior Ministry employees, and in Kazan, Tatarstan, a tolerance course is being introduced in schools. Performance Indicator: State Department Global Trafficking in Persons Report rankings
FY 2004 Results: In 2004, the Russian government passed a witness protection law which creates a statutory basis for the protection of trafficking victims and their families. This followed on successes in 2003, in which the criminal code was changed to criminalize human trafficking and use of forced labor and expand criminal liability for the organization and management of prostitution businesses and for the distribution of child pornography. Additional legislation is being considered to provide for protection of trafficking victims and mandate public awareness campaigns to prevent potential victims from falling prey to traffickers. Russian law enforcement is employing this new anti-trafficking legislation as well as traditional criminal statutes to prosecute trafficking cases, both nationally and internationally, and the Russian police are developing anti-trafficking manuals and courses to train a cadre of law enforcement officers capable of investigating such cases. USG-funded technical assistance played a key support role, providing experts in legislative drafting, trafficking in persons, public awareness campaigns, and criminal procedure to work with Russian counterparts. FY 2004 assistance activities also facilitated the development of working-level joint investigations and other forms of cooperation among law enforcement officials from Russia, and neighboring countries. Assistance also continues to help expand cooperation between law enforcement and anti-trafficking CSOs and raised awareness of the extent and dangers of human trafficking, both among government officials and the general public. RUSSIA
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Area: approx.17,075,200 sq. miles, approx. 1.8 times the size of the U.S. 
