Russia's human rights record was unimproved in 1996 despite a raft of promises from the government, accession to the Council of Europe and the end of the war in Chechnya, according to a report from Human Rights Watch/Helsinki released Tuesday. In an annual report timed for release on the 48th anniversary of adoption of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch lambasted the national and city leadership in Moscow for human rights abuses and for stirring xenophobia. ""The Russian Federation's human rights practices did not improve in 1996 despite heightened expectations stemming from its admission into the Council of Europe and from President Boris Yeltsin's re-election campaign promises,"" the report stated. Added together, said Alexander Petrov, Moscow representative of the U.S.-based rights monitor Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, not even the end of the war in Chechnya with all the death and destruction it involved could brighten the state's general record.