IHF Press Release on Russia
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Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 18:47:30 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: IHF Press Release on Russia
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: "IHF" <[email protected]>
IHF Press Release on Russia
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Should Bar Russian Delegation
Pending Cessation of Attacks upon Civilians and Allowing Humanitarian
Organizations Access to Victims
“A humanitarian catastrophe is looming...”
Vienna and Moscow, 16 November 1999. The International Helsinki
Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and the Moscow Helsinki Group are
calling upon members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
to exclude delegates from the Russian State Duma until the Russian
government stops attacks upon civilians in Chechnya and allows
humanitarian organizations access to displaced persons and other
victims of the violence; such exclusion would be consistent with Order
No. 508 (1995), para. 9 concerning "persistent failure to honor
commitments" and lack of cooperation in the Council of Europe`s
monitoring process.
“A humanitarian catastrophe is looming in several weeks if Russia
continues to hinder assistance to the civilian victims of the violence
in Chechnya,” said Ludmilla Alexeyeva, President of the International
Helsinki Federation and chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group. “These
innocent persons face illness and death from exposure if something is
not done. But more civilian casualties and displaced persons are
being created by the indiscriminate actions of the military.”
Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director of the IHF, said that Russia’s
attacks upon civilians in Chechnya “violate Article III of the Statute
of the Council of Europe and Russia's promises upon admission. The
Parliamentary Assembly must stand up for the principles of the
organization—for its own integrity as well as to convince the Russian
authorities that their brutal policy is damaging European-Russian
relations.”
The IHF is asking the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to
review Russia's compliance with the obligations it undertook as a
condition for admission to the organization (Opinion 193, 1996), in
particular "to settle international as well as internal disputes by
peaceful means" (para.10, viii) and “respect international
humanitarian law, including in cases of armed conflict on its
territory.” (para. 10, xxiv) Russia also promised to bring those
responsible for human rights violations in connection with the earlier
Chechen events to justice (para. 7, vii), but none have been thus
charged despite evidence of many summary executions and other crimes
committed by the Russian forces. Despite repeated appeals by the
President of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe's
appeals to help find a peaceful solution to the Chechen conflict,
Russia's insistence that it is an "internal affair" has prevented such
co-operation.
The IHF and the Moscow Helsinki Group also expressed their deep
concern about the apparent influence of the Russian military over the
government, “which is a violation of the principles of the rule of
law, and thus OSCE and Council of Europe standards.”
For more information:
Ludmilla Alexeyeva: +7-095-207 6069
Aaron Rhodes: +43-1-408-8822; +43-676-339-0506 (mobile)
__________________________________________________
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Rummelhardtgasse 2/18
1090 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Tel. +43-1-408 88 22
Fax +43-1-408 88 22-50
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.ihf-hr.org
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