IHF Open Letter to OSCE Ministerial Council

Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 08:58:31 +0200 (EET)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: IHF Open Letter to OSCE Ministerial Council

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: International Helsinki Federation <[email protected]>

IHF Open Letter to OSCE Ministerial Council


Vienna, 22 November 2000
 
OPEN LETTER
 
TO: Ministers of Foreign Affairs
OSCE Ministerial Council
Vienna, 27-28 November 2000
 
Dear Ministers,
 
On the occasion of the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of the
OSCE last month, the International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights (IHF) detailed violations of the Helsinki "human dimension"
standards by at least three quarters of the 55 members of the
organization.
 
We would invite OSCE Ministers of Foreign Affairs to take the
opportunity of their meeting in Vienna to address some of the most
acute and persistent problems of non-implementation of Helsinki
commitments, which continue to cause much suffering in the OSCE
territory:
 
Specific Country and Regional Issues
 
- A political settlement of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is
urgent, and the OSCE should do all in its power to contribute to
finding an acceptable solution. The work of the Minsk Group has not
given satisfactory results so far. Still, until an agreement is
reached, hundreds of thousands refugees and displaced persons are kept
captive of the lack of capacity of the parties involved to bring about
a settlement of the issue. In Azerbaijan, more than 600 000 people
live in deplorable conditions, in tents or compounds, having been
waiting for up to nine years now to leave their "temporary" camps and
get back to their homes.
 
- The population of Trans-Dniestra is abandoned to a self-proclaimed
state, which neither recognizes nor applies international human rights
standards. In spite of the commitment made by the Russian Federation
at the Istanbul Summit Meeting in 1999 to gradually withdraw the
troops of the Russian army stationed in the region (in view of a total
withdrawal by the end of 2002), no progress has been made to date.
This is a part of the OSCE territory where the organization exerts too
little influence, while authorities of the Trans-Dniestrian region
violate human rights in total impunity.
 
- There is still no accountability for war crimes committed in
Chechnya. An International Commission of Inquiry is what the IHF has
been insisting on both in the UN and the OSCE, but without success.
Unless the OSCE presses for the Special Representative for Human
Rights in Chechnya to engage in this work in an independent and
impartial manner, or unless a high representative from an
international organization is invited to join in these efforts, there
will be no justice for victims of the Chechnya war. We appeal to you
to condemn on the highest level continuing military actions in the
region and reiterate the need for a political solution to the
conflict.
 
- Progress on regional issues such as the return of refugees, the
status and stability of Kosovo and accountability for war crimes in
the Balkans are dependent upon key changes in the region, notably the
present political developments in Serbia. In this context, the
obligation to recognize and cooperate with the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague should be stressed and
imposed as a condition for further integration into European
structures and international assistance. A commitment by the new
leadership of FRY should be made to free all political prisoners from
Kosovo, held in Serbian cells.
 
- The region of Central Asia shows common problems related to the
deterioration in democracy and the rule of law, as well as concerns
about political, religious and media freedoms, which demand attention
from the OSCE. It is well-known that Islamists in Central Asia face
serious repression, through mass arrests, and heavy sentences. The
fight against terrorism should not be an excuse for arbitrary arrests
and brutal oppression. The OSCE should press the Uzbek authorities to
reconsider the cases of thousands of political prisoners. In the whole
region, the organization should show a strong support for civil
society, with a view of protecting individuals and groups threatened
for their work as human rights defenders.
 
- The OSCE should address the threat to democracy and the rule-of-law
posed in numerous countries of the former Soviet Union, after flawed
referenda and elections marred by intimidation of opposition parties,
lack of press freedom and attempts to control voting took place, for
example, in Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Ukraine, Belarus, Turkmenistan
and, most recently, Azerbaijan.
 
Specific Human Rights issues:
 
- Torture and inhumane treatment of detainees and prisoners by law
enforcers exist in virtually all countries of the OSCE. Long
proceedings and heavy sentences contribute to extreme overcrowding in
prisons in virtually all transition states. There is widespread
evidence of deliberate ill-treatment of prisoners, keeping them in
inhumane conditions, in most former socialist states. The spread of
tuberculosis is becoming a real threat to the lives of prisoners in
each of these states. Other contagious diseases due to the poor
conditions of living and of the low quality of food contribute to
creating situations of epidemics. In Russia alone, according to
official figures, the total number of inmates with tuberculosis is
about 100,000. It is estimated that 14 000 inmates die every year in
Russia, including inmates held in pre-trial detention, which virtually
constitutes a de facto form of capital punishment even before trial.
 
- The existence of a minority is "a matter of fact, not a matter of
law" (International Court of Justice). Still, some states continue to
claim that minorities exist only when laws say so. Respect for the
identity of any minority is the prerequisite for a country to be
considered that it respects minority rights. We would urge the
authorities of Albania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Macedonia, Slovenia,
and Turkey to respect the right of every individual claiming today
minority identity, irrespective of historical traditions and
geographical distribution, and grant all individuals belonging to
these minorities at least all the rights provided by the related
international norms. The OSCE, and especially the HCNM, is there to
provide all necessary counseling and mediation.

- The OSCE should continue to give full attention to the issue of
Roma, who face severe problems of discrimination, racism and
xenophobia. Hostility towards Roma is increasing (e.g. skinhead
attacks on Roma in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, intolerance in
Greece, Hungary, Macedonia and Ukraine). Roma in Kosovo suffer
assumptions of their collective guilt for collaboration with Serb
forces and participation in war crimes during the conflict there.
 
We hope that you will find an opportunity to give these human rights
concerns the importance they deserve.
 
Wishing you a fruitful meeting,
 
Sincerely,
 
Ludmilla Alexeyeva                 Aaron Rhodes
President                          Executive Director

-- 
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe

Submissions: [email protected]  
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected] 
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================