Catherine Cosman, Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, will take part in an expert discussion on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m. on efforts to monitor intolerance, xenophobia and violent hate crimes in Russia and on the role of religious freedom in Russia’s human rights struggle.  She will be joined on the panel discussion, jointly sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Human Rights First, by Alexander Verkhovsky, Director of the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis in Moscow, and Tad Stahnke, Director of the Fighting Discrimination Program of Human Rights First.  The discussion will be moderated by Sarah Mendelson, Director of the Human Rights and Security Initiative and a senior fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies,

What:  Panel Discussion on Intolerance and Discrimination in Today’s Russia
When: Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Where:  CSIS, 1800 K St., N.W.
RSVP:  Lucy Moore, lmoore@csis.org