Canada's Harper sparred with Putin on human rights

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany, June 7 (Reuters) Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sparred with Vladimir Putin over human rights today after urging the Russian President to ensure he did not deviate from democratic reforms.

Ottawa has already expressed worries about what it sees as the reversal of reforms in Russia, where opposition groups say they are being harassed and complain that media outlets critical of Putin have been silenced.

''We are concerned about developments in Russia, we are concerned about what we see, some of the sliding back from democratic norms that we have witnessed,'' Harper told Canadian reporters after meeting Putin on the sidelines of a Group of Eight summit in northern Germany.

Harper said he had told Putin that ''the membership of the G8 club implies very high degrees of democratic norm, or democratic debate'' -- a message the Russian did not take lying down.

''I'll just say that President Putin didn't hesitate to point out to me that there are various reports ... that Canada is sometimes criticized on some human rights and democratic issues from time to time,'' Harper said.

Human rights groups complain regularly about the miserable living conditions endured by many of Canada's aboriginal Indians.

''My reply ... is that that's fine, as long as we all accept the legitimacy of that criticism, we're prepared to listen to it and be open to it and allow that kind of debate to occur in our societies,'' said Harper.

''That's the real test - not whether we're perfect but whether criticism can happen and is tolerated and is part of the political process.'' US President George W Bush on Monday said reforms designed to boost democracy in Russia had derailed.

REUTERS JK PM0106