APPEAL OF THE ALL-RUSSIAN EXTRAORDINARY HUMAN RIGHTS CONGRESS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

The All-Russian extraordinary human rights Congress that took place in Moscow on January 20-21, 2001, with the participation of representatives of 250 non-governmental organizations from 64 regions of Russia calls the Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe not to move from their principled position towards our state in respect to the events that take place in the Chechen Republic, not to reduce their critical attention to these events.

This appeal is aroused by our deep concern for life, safety, health, human dignity of hundreds of thousands people in the zone of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic and adjacent regions, for the future of all the region of the Northern Caucasus, for the future of democracy in Russia.

Russian government continues the war in the Chechen Republic. A cruel and lawless one. First and foremost peaceful civilians, especially children suffer from armed hostilities. All happening there must be qualified as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The situation in Chechnya is on the verge of genocide of a whole people.

For the first time in the last half a century in Europe, a city with a half a million population is razed to the ground - the city of Grozny.

Gross violations of human rights and norms of international law are being committed by both parties of the conflict. Nevertheless, the scales of victims among civilians and of material damage caused by actions of federal troops are incommensurably greater. Besides that, actions of federal forces are actions of the military and the police which are under command of the internationally recognized authorities of the Russian Federation, the state that having signed a series of international law documents, undertook to observe human rights. Therefore human rights violations committed by Russian federal forces are particularly grave and particularly cynical.

All happening in Chechnya adversely affects all the aspects of life in our country, endangers the movement of Russia towards the state of rule of law. By displaying law nihilism in Chechnya the power accustoms itself and schools the society that it can go on violating Russian Constitution and law, norms of international law, justifying it by "highest state interests".

Officers of law-enforcement bodies sent to the Chechen Republic from many regions of Russia, commit there numerous crimes including grave crimes against personality. These people who gained in Chechnya experience of uncontrolled violence against peaceful civilians, coming back to the service in law-enforcement bodies in the cities and villages of Russia, represent a serious danger for the safety of citizens living there.

Tens of thousands of young people who performed the military service in Chechnya return to the peace life morally and psychologically mutilated.

All this brings us to the cnclusion that the continuing Chechen war has assumed a character of the all-national Russian disaster.

In 1996 most of us welcomed the entry of our country into the Council of Europe - for the sake of future of both Russia and Europe. We hoped that this would give to our country an additional chance to become a state of rule of law, would give us additional opportunity to influence Russia's authorities in order to improve the situation with human rights. One of the main tasks of the Council of Europe is to use in case of need different international instruments in order to influence on its members in the interests of citizens of these states.

Now Russia is full and equal member of the Council of Europe and bears all the responsibility for performing its obligations to respect rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Statute of the Council and by the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Therefore we are grateful to the Parliamentary Assembly for its principled stand it took in respect of the tragic events on Northern Caucasus having adopted in last April a strong resolution on the situation in the Chechen Republic.

However we are obliged to state with regret that the majority of appeals, recommendations and demands contained in these resolutions are not implemented. For the present there isn't any marked improvement of the human rights situation in the Chechen Republic.

We regret that many political figures in European states don't want to see a real picture of what is happening in the Chechen Republic and are ready to satisfy themselves with declarations and symbolical steps on the part of Russian authorities.

We regret that the recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to the States-Members of the Council of Europe to pass to the European Court on Human Rights the question on the violation by Russia of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms wasn't implemented.

In default of attempts to lodge such interstate complaint, giving the right of vote to the Russian delegation at the on-coming PACE session would signify that the Council of Europe recognizes its full impotence and reduces human right standards in Europe to their current level in Russia.