Chechen human rights defenders
seek meeting with European counterparts
May 10th 2003 · Prague Watchdog
Timur Aliyev, North Caucasus -
Chechen human rights activists have proposed a conference be organized on the
situation in Chechnya in which European human rights organizations would take
part. They presented this idea at the roundtable discussion, “Legal Protection
of Individual Rights within the Russian Federation”, held on May 8 in Nazran.
These proponents believe the conference would allow Chechen human rights defenders
to share data with their European counterparts about human rights violations in
Chechnya.
According to them, this exchange of information would greatly help them in lobbying
the Council of Europe to establish a tribunal for war crimes committed in Chechnya
as proposed by Rudolf Bindig, Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights of PACE.
"On the whole, European countries supported Chechnya‘s draft resolution,"
said Usam Baysayev of the Ingush branch of Memorial, a Russian human rights group.
"Unless human rights violations in Chechnya are stopped, [PACE] deputies are likely
to again think about establishing a Caucasus tribunal, which was presented at
the January session of PACE."
Chechen activists believe if that happens, European human rights defenders might
exert additional pressure on their individual governments.
On April 16, the UN Commission for Human Rights rejected a resolution on the situation
in Chechnya as proposed by EU countries and supported by several EU candidates
and the USA. The fifteen that voted for it included Austria, Belgium, Croatia,
France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Poland, and Sweden.