US will not co-sponsor UN
resolution on rights abuses in Chechnya
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has decided not to co-sponsor a resolution
at the UN Human Rights Commission that condemns Russian human rights abuses in
Chechnya , the State Department said.
Spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington has not yet decided how to vote on the
resolution on Chechnya proposed by other nations at the Geneva-based commission,
but stressed that the United States remained concerned about the human rights
situation in the breakaway republic.
He said the United States would prefer to have its concerns about Chechnya raised
in a so-called "chairman's statement" which carries less weight than a resolution
but would still have the backing of the commission's members.
"We have decided at this moment that we're not going to co-sponsor the Chechnya
resolution," Boucher told reporters.
"We have also said that we think it's best to have a chairman's statement on the
subject of Chechnya," he said.
"In either case, whether this goes to a resolution or whether it's a chairman's
statement, I'd say we do remain very concerned about the human rights situation
in Chechnya and we will continue to work for progress there," Boucher added.
The decision came despite the fact that less than two weeks ago, in its annual
global human rights review, the State Department said Russia's record in the area
was "poor," particularly in Chechnya.
"The government's record remained poor in Chechnya, where federal security forces
demonstrated little respect for basic human rights," said the report, released
on March 31.
The department noted "credible reports of serious violations" including the involvement
of government forces in extrajudicial killings as well as politically motivated
disappearances.
Boucher made his comments came less than 24 hours after the deadline to submit
resolutions for consideration by the commission passed and followed an announcement
that the United States would also not sponsor a resolution condemning China for
human rights abuses.
Human rights groups had been concerned that Washington would not press the two
permanent UN Security Council members as a reward or incentive for their support
in the global war on terrorism and the conflict on Iraq (news - web sites).
Boucher denied that the US had based its decisions on anything other than what
the United States felt was best to promote human rights.
"It's just not the case," he said. "Those things don't enter into these discussions."
The US decision on Chechnya came shortly after Amnesty International and the US-based
Human Rights Watch issued a new report saying that Russian soldiers were continuing
to commit human rights abuses in Chechnya.
They said the situation was deteriorating despite a controversial referendum last
month in which Chechens overwhelmingly approved a constitution sealing the republic's
place within the Russian Federation.
The UN Human Rights Commission, which condemned Russia for the bloody war in Chechnya
during its 2000 and 2001 sessions but which failed to do so last year, is due
to discuss the issue during its annual session on Wednesday.
Russian troops have been regularly accused of brutality and rights abuses in Chechnya
since they were sent into the republic in October 1999 to put down a separatist
insurgency.
Comment: This clearly shows once again what kind of nature US' ideals are
in bringing democracy and freedom worldwide. While they are using this ideals
to justify their military interventions like in the Iraq war (were the too mild
expressions as "concern about - " or "little respect for" human rights has never
been used) they strictly align with all those who refrain on condemning
resolutely and definitely Russia's barbarism in Chechnya and China's state terrorism
in Tibet and the Xjing Yang. And by the way this shows also how scarcely credible
the UN are: in its human rights commission sit member states as China, Cuba, Syria
and at its presidency is actually Libya (sic!). M.M.