REPORT SLAMS RUSSIAN ARMY.

Amnesty International’s report criticizing Russia for human rights abuses (see Perspective section below) includes a section on the army. The report says that torture and ill-treatment of soldiers through starvation, rape, and beatings are widespread, and quotes observers who describe Russia’s army as a "Gulag-style institution." The report also points to a Russian Defense Ministry study which concluded that nearly 3,000 Russian soldiers died in 1994 from suicide or as a result of "criminal incidents." (AP, April 3)

Pro-Independence Demonstrators Sentenced in Belarus.