Vladimir Putin:
Good afternoon dear colleagues!
In many respects 2005 can be seen as a stage in the development of the Russian Interior Ministry. In practice we have overcome the decline in the work of the main services and divisions. The department's new organizational structure has passed the test.
In the overwhelming majority of Russian regions the number of crimes that are being investigated has increased. There are positive tendencies in improving the quality of the preliminary investigation and inquiry. The number of affairs that prosecutors return to the Interior Ministry for additional investigation is decreasing.
A number of federal laws and programmes designed to increase the effectiveness of our crime prevention activities have been adopted at the initiative and with the participation of the Ministry. And as a whole quite a bit was done last year to strengthen our country's internal security and to improve the protection of the rights and freedoms of our citizens.
But I think that you are well aware that there are still quite a few problems, including systemic ones. I believe that we should pay extremely close attention to these problems during today's session.
The situation concerning criminal justice in the country is still difficult. Last year about a million serious and very serious crimes were registered.
At the same time the practice of preventing crimes from being recorded, a practice that we have already mentioned in past years, is far from being eradicated.
Public opinion surveys show that the police receive one of the lowest trust ratings when evaluated next to other law enforcement agencies, and state and public institutions. This is to our regret.
People who have asked the police for help at times encounter not simply indifference but outright arbitrary treatment. There are frequent cases in which Interior Ministry personnel have directly violated the rights of citizens, including while carrying out investigations.
It is obvious that such a situation is directly linked with a low level of professionalism among some employees of the police and the shortcomings in human resources and training work. I shall add that this problem to some extent concerns the whole law enforcement system. A high level of judicial education, of legal culture, is one of the basic conditions for ensuring the worthy service of those whose task is not just to observe the law but to work to make it stronger.
In addition the policy of ridding the system of bribe-takers, of people who have transformed their service into some version of a profitable business, must be firm and profound.
Therefore I am convinced that we need an effective system of civil supervision for the work of law enforcement agencies. Especially in the sphere of observing citizens' constitutional rights and legal interests. Without support from the people, from the institutes of civil society, we cannot accomplish the extremely important task of preventing extremism and criminality as a whole. I ask that you not forget this.
At the recent meeting of the Prosecutor General we drew attention to the increase in crimes due to xenophobia, ethnic, national or religious intolerance. Moreover the activity of extremist groups is becoming more aggressive and taking on harsher forms.
We must recognize that law enforcement agencies have underestimated the danger of this phenomenon and have not yet managed to react in an appropriate way, or established a productive and systematic way to prevent conflicts that have ethnic or religious motives.
I think that we do not need to be reminded of the great danger that all of these phenomena represent for our multinational and multireligious country. Militant nationalism and calling for interethnic tensions represent a direct threat to the life and constitutional rights of citizens, interfere with the stability of the state and undermine its integrity. And of course Russia's image on the world stage suffers a huge loss.
One more important aspect of your work is counterterrorism. Coordinated action between all law enforcement agencies, including structures within the Interior Ministry and the Interior Troops, has allowed us to neutralize some serious operations, including the attack by criminal gangs in Nalchik.
However law enforcement agencies and special services should work even more actively towards getting ahead. They must purposefully expose and eliminate terrorist underground structures, deprive them of their infrastructure, communications, sources of financing, just as was recently done in Stavropol and now in Dagestan.
As you know we just signed a decree on counterterrorism measures. We formed a National Antiterrorist Committee and it is composed of various federal agencies as well as regional antiterrorist commissions and permanently functioning operative staff headed by the leaders of the regional divisions of the FSB at the level of the subjects of the Russian Federation.
These measures must improve government managing and planning in the field of counterterrorism. I expect from you effective, competent participation in teamwork with other law enforcement agencies.
I shall separately address the roles of the Interior Ministry in counteracting crimes in the sphere of the economy. Here it is necessary to give paramount attention to protecting small and medium businesses, lawful conscientious citizens and entrepreneurs from criminality. I shall especially emphasize that as it resolves such problems the Interior Ministry should not allow itself to become involved in corporate conflicts and in disputes between economic actors, and should not take the side of one of the parties in this conflict.
Finally there is one last important theme. The Russian Interior Ministry has received a great deal of responsibility in connection with the Russian presidency of the G8. It is your Ministry that is responsible for organizing the meeting between interior ministers, justice ministers and prosecutors general of the G8 member states.
It is important to use this meeting to maximum advantage, including for even closer cooperation with foreign colleagues in spheres such as the struggle with international terrorism and counteracting illegal trafficking of weapons and drugs. These contacts should be used for further clarifying Russia's position on key questions of cooperation.
And in conclusion I would like to wish you and your colleagues success in this duty that is extremely important and significant for the state and society.
Thank you for your attention.