PROTECTING RUSSIAN INTERESTS IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE.

In a mixed message on the subject of Russia’s entry into the Council of Europe, Boris Yeltsin spoke yesterday of Moscow’s commitment to human rights and called upon the parliament to ratify "without delay" the four basic Council conventions: on human rights, on ethnic minorities, on local self-rule, and against torture. He also acknowledged that ordinary Russians would have the right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights and that its decisions would "be completely binding for us." But Yeltsin admitted that certain Council requirements, including the moratorium on capital punishment and the transfer of Russia’s prison system to the Ministry of Justice, would not be implemented in the near future. (9)

Of equal import, Yeltsin also urged those deputies representing Russia in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) "to resist attempts to put pressure on Russia, to interfere in Russia’s internal affairs, or to apply double standards." And he suggested that Moscow’s goals in PACE