(New York City, January 1, 2003) — Russia's announcement today that the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) must end its mission
in Chechnya raises serious human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said
today.
The OSCE mission mandate expired December 31 after Russia and the OSCE failed
to agree to extend it. The six-person mission had been tasked since mid-2001
with promoting respect for human rights, facilitating humanitarian aid, and
promoting peaceful resolution of the crisis in Chechnya. Russian officials
reportedly stated that the mission would cease to exist.
"Closing down the OSCE mission is part of Russia's strategy to cut off scrutiny
of human rights conditions in Chechnya and portray the situation as normalizing,"
said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe
and Central Asia division. "First they announced closure of the camps for
people displaced by the conflict and now they are shutting out the OSCE.
Unfortunately, the situation remains far from normal."
Negotiations over renewing the OSCE mandate collapsed after Russia insisted
that the mission relinquish its human rights and political dimensions. Human
Rights Watch praised the OSCE for insisting that these aspects of the mandate
remain and urged member governments to heighten pressure on Russia to renew
the mandate.
"Russia allowed the OSCE back into Chechnya in June 2001, as a goodwill gesture
prior to President Vladimir Putin's first meeting with President George Bush,
whose administration had been critical of the war in Chechnya," Andersen
explained. "It is very important that the U.S. and other OSCE member states
continue to impress upon Russia the importance they place on this mission."
The OSCE monitors are an important check against abuse that is needed now
more than ever, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch continues to
document extrajudical executions, forced disappearances, and torture of noncombatants
in Chechnya by federal soldiers, and has found no evidence that officials
are seriously investigating or attempting to stop such crimes. In recent
months, Chechen rebel forces have increasingly targeted civilians in their
guerilla war against Russian troops. In October, armed rebels took about
800 people hostage at a theater in Moscow and threatened to kill them all.
Rebels have also pursued a vicious
assassination campaign against Chechen civil servants, policemen and religious
clergymen cooperating with the Russian authorities, killing dozens each year.