Watchdog

Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat has appeared before the Helsinki Commission, a U.S. agency that monitors human rights worldwide, during his first visit to Washington as premier.

In his speech, Filat discussed the challenge of establishing what he called "a state of law" in his country after a decade of Communist Party rule.

Comments from the chairman of the commission, Senator Benjamin Cardin (Democrat-Maryland) and its co-chairman, Representative Alcee Hastings (Democrat-Florida), made it clear that they believe Filat and his government have a long way to go to establish a strong legal system.

Read the full story by RFE/RL's Andrew F. Tully here.

ALMATY (Reuters) -- The United States urged Kazakhstan today to use its chairmanship of Europe's main security and human rights watchdog to lead by example and improve its own record.

Rights groups have criticized the West for allowing Kazakhstan to assume the rotating chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) this month, saying the nation is unfit to lead a group devoted to promoting democracy.

The first ex-Soviet republic to assume the role, Kazakhstan has never held an election judged free and fair. Public criticism of President Nursultan Nazarbaev, in power for 20 years, remains taboo.

"The United States is eager to collaborate with Kazakhstan as it leads the OSCE by example and reflects in practice the principles of the organization in all three dimensions - security, economic, and human," U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan Richard Hoagland said in a statement.

"The OSCE's work in the human dimension is a key priority and one where implementation of commitments must be taken most seriously. Kazakhstan has a critical and important opportunity to lead both by word and by deed."

Kazakhstan has said the OSCE was too focused on the so-called "human dimension" -- human rights and democracy -- and paid insufficient attention to other issues.

The United States is one of the biggest investors in Kazakhstan, Central Asia's top oil producer, and U.S. support was instrumental in Kazakh efforts to get the OSCE role.

Often a critic of political restrictions in many other transition economies, Washington has traditionally used softer diplomatic language toward Kazakhstan, where U.S. and other foreign oil companies control most energy deposits.

Not referring to Kazakhstan in particular, Hoagland said journalists in the OSCE region still faced dangers and media pluralism was lacking.

"Elections that fail to achieve transparency and reflect the will of the people have also been a source of concern," Hoagland said. "Judiciaries too often serve as a tool of the few rather than a safeguard for the rule of law for all citizens."

The OSCE has never recognized elections in Kazakhstan as free and fair.

Hoagland mentioned the conflict between Russia, Kazakhstan's close partner, and Georgia -- a tough issue for Kazakhstan which cautiously sided with Moscow in the wake of a brief 2008 war.

"We believe the OSCE has a meaningful role to play in stability within and along Georgia's internationally recognized borders," he said. "To that end, we, along with many other participating states, remain committed to the re-establishment of an OSCE presence there that respects Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty."