Letter to Prime
Minister Tony Blair
On the occasion of his meeting with President Vladimir Putin
Rt. Hon. Tony Blair MP
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
June 19, 2003
Dear Prime Minister,
Your forthcoming meeting with President Vladimir Putin is an essential opportunity
to clarify British policy on human rights abuses in the ongoing conflict in
Chechnya, and to deliver a strong message that the United Kingdom will press
for an end to the abuses and accountability for those implicated in violations.
The Russian government points to the March referendum, the opening of schools,
and the gradual return of certain infrastructure services as indicators that
Chechnya is returning to normal. These factors do not mask the dire human rights
situation in the republic, where people face a daily risk of forced disappearance,
torture, and extrajudicial killings, mostly at the hands of Russia"s federal
forces.
Recent Human Rights Watch research and government statistics confirm that the
human rights situation is worsening, not improving. Government statistics indicate
that at least two people disappear in Chechnya every day, and showed no decrease
in the number of disappearances for the first three months of 2003. Human Rights
Watch research in March documented twenty-six disappearances between late December
and late February. This was the highest rate of disappearances Human Rights
Watch has documented since the beginning of the conflict. Officials have also
recently admitted the existence of forty-nine mass graves containing remains
of almost 3,000 people on the territory of Chechnya.
Since the Russian government had persistently refused to acknowledge the impact
of these abuses, the absence of an effective accountability process is unsurprising.
According to the Russian procuracy, since the beginning of the operation, only
fifty-eight cases against federal servicemen have reached the trial stage, of
those only twelve were on murder charges. Not a single forced disappearance
case has reached the courts. It is this impunity that allows abuses to continue
and undermines efforts for peace in the region.
Human Rights Watch values the strong position the United Kingdom has taken at
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in favor of a resolution on Chechnya
pressing for accountability for abuse and access for key U.N. monitors. We are
pleased that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office takes pride in the work done
in Geneva. But, as in previous years, the British position taken in Geneva does
not register in its bilateral relations in Russia. This contradiction was manifest
earlier this month in St Petersburg, when your favourable comment on the March
referendum, delivered amid a wave of unmerited praise by European and American
officials, belied the atrocious circumstances in which the referendum was held
and in which ordinary Chechens continue to live.
When you meet President Putin, it is critical that you send an unequivocal message,
consistent with the position the United Kingdom took in Geneva. It is important
that you tell him that cases of forced disappearances, torture, and unlawful
killings must be investigated and prosecuted, and that they are undermining,
not contributing to, a peaceful solution to the Chechen conflict. It is important
that you urge him to issue invitations to the U.N. Special Rapporteurs on torture
and extrajudicial executions, and to ensure that a reconstituted Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe presence in the region include a strong
human rights monitoring component. We hope you will also encourage him to reach
out to the International Commission for Missing Persons, which could help to
identify the remains of both unidentified Russian soldiers and Chechen civilians
and fighters found in mass graves, and help bring closure to the thousands of
people currently searching desperately for their relatives.
Russian practices in Chechnya will not improve so long as it receives inconsistent
messages from its partners. The United Kingdom ranks among Russia's most important
partners, in part due to your long-standing personal relationship with President
Putin. Your voice on this matter could make an important difference in the lives
of thousands of Chechens.
Thank you for your attention to the concerns raised in this letter.
Yours Sincerely,
Elizabeth Andersen
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia division
Steve Crawshaw
London Director