| Belgian Authorities
Impede Talks Between Chechen Rebel Zakayev, Russian Soldiers’ Mothers Created: 22.11.2004 16:03 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:03 MSK, MosNews The Russian Committee of Soldiers' Mothers has still not received visas to Belgium on the eve of scheduled talks there with exiled Chechen separatist spokesman Akhmed Zakayev. Zakayev, who resides in the UK, is faced with deportation if he shows up on Belgium soil. The committee, which declared itself a political party last week, is a human rights organization that helps conscripts in the Russian Army. "Our group is faced with problems," the Committee's chairwoman, Valentina Melnikova, told the liberal Nezavisimaya Gazeta in an interview. "There are delays [at the Belgian embassy] in issuing our visas. So today we don't know whether we will fly out on Tuesday." She added that an official at the embassy told her they were told to inquire with the Interior Ministry of Belgium. Meanwhile, she said, the Russian side also contacted Belgium regarding Zakayev, who Moscow has labeled a "terrorist" and has repeatedly asked for his extradition. Zakayev would be detained and sent back to Britain if he accepts an invitation to come to Belgium to discuss the human rights situation in Russia, a Belgian minister told Reuters Sunday. "He (Zakayev) has been recognized as a refugee in Great Britain. He is not allowed to enter the Schengen area. Great Britain is not a member of the Schengen (open borders area). If he enters our country then he has to be arrested and sent back to Great Britain," Belgian Interior Minister Patrick Dewael told VRT television. However, while Melnikova has said that Zakayev has still not received his visa and that the Belgian side does not want to grant him one, a spokesman at the Belgian Interior Ministry told the Russian Information Agency Novosti that Zakayev has not even applied for a visa. He told the news agency that he has heard nothing about Zakayev's request for a visa. Melnikova, in her interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, declined to comment on what she will discuss with Zakayev, who is a spokesman for Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov. She only said that they will try to reach a consensus which she plans to present to the Russian people and the Russian government. Nov 23 2004 2:04PM Zakayev will be arrested if he comes to Belgium - ambassador MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Belgian Ambassador to Russia Vincent Mertens said Chechen separatist envoy Akhmed Zakayev will be arrested if he comes into Belgium. Zakayev is on the Interpol list of people who must be arrested and extradited to Russia, he told Interfax. He could not predict what the Belgian authorities would do after Zakayev's arrest. But he will certainly be arrested, Mertens said. Asked if Belgian visas will be extended to representatives of the Soldiers' Mothers Committee, who are planning to fly to Brussels for talks with Zakayev, he said an inquiry has been sent to the Belgian Foreign Ministry, but no reply has been received so far. News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International AI Index: EUR 46/060/2004 24 November 2004 EU-Russia Summit: Amnesty International calls on EU to address growing persecution of human rights defenders in Chechnya (Brussels 24 November 2004) On the eve of its summit in The Hague with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow, Amnesty International is presenting the European Union with detailed testimonies showing that victims of human rights violations in Chechnya who complain to European institutions have been killed or "disappeared". The Amnesty International report submitted to the EU leadership states that human rights defenders in Chechnya have been killed and others have been tortured. Many more have been harassed or intimidated. Amnesty International says there is evidence that human rights activists have been targeted by agents of the state in order to silence them. As recent as 4 November, Ruslan Susaev, head of the organization "Citizens’ Protest", was detained together with his wife and threatened that his family "would suffer" if he did not sign a statement in relation to a bomb explosion in Sernovodsk on 1 November. The couple, parents of six children, were released on 5 November. Armed uniformed men had conducted several searches of their house in August and September 2004. On one occasion, they kicked and hit Mr. Susaev’s mother and some of the children. Another time, they took two children with them, who were later released. In particular, the Amnesty International report details how Chechens who have sought redress in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for violations of their rights have been the subject of reprisals ranging from harassment and threats, to the killing of applicants themselves or their close relatives. "The European Union cannot ignore the worsening situation for those who speak out about human rights abuses in Russia, especially when they relate directly to a sister institution - the Council of Europe's own European Court of Human Rights," Dick Oosting, Director of Amnesty International's EU Office said. "The EU is not only putting its own credibility on the line if it fails, finally, to engage the Russian Federation on human rights, but also the core institution of human rights protection in Europe," he said. The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly recently concluded that the continued death toll and human suffering in the Chechen Republic was of "great concern to the common values" of the organization. The Assembly also addressed EU Member States in its call not to "remain inactive when people are dying every day in Chechnya and neighbouring Republics through terrorist attacks, snipers, land mines, abuse of force by security services and acts of organised crime". "Tomorrow’s EU-Russia Summit is to address the issue of creating a 'common space of freedom, security and justice' between the EU and Russia," said Dick Oosting. "Given the increasing threats to human rights protection in Russia, the EU must adopt a fresh approach. It is not just Russia's sensitivities, but the EU's concerns that should set the tone of the talks." "The ‘common space’ will remain a vacuum unless the EU lays down non-negotiable principles from the start - that 'freedom' means human rights defenders are free to stand up for the rights of others, 'security' means journalists and lawyers can speak their mind without being harassed or attacked, and 'justice' means that victims of human rights violations can freely seek and find redress in courts of law," Dick Oosting said. Throughout the ongoing conflict in Chechnya, the Russian authorities have attempted to restrict information about the human rights situation there. Human rights organizations, activists, lawyers, independent journalists and individuals continue to play a crucial role in documenting human rights abuses. One applicant to the European Court of Human Rights appealing over the "disappearance" of his son during a military raid has had his other son killed after lodging his case. Another man appealing over the "disappearance" of his brother, has himself "disappeared" since lodging his case with the Court. Amnesty International’s report details how the family of human rights activist Luisa Betergiraeva, who was shot dead in 2001, continues to be harassed. The report states: "In early July 2004 in a raid on their house by Russian federal forces, one of Luisa's sons, Zelimkhan Betergiraev, 28, was detained and has since 'disappeared.'" In a second raid on 20 July, when relatives in the house asked why they were being beaten by the soldiers, they were told: "So that you complain less! All of Europe knows already about you!" In addition, harassment of activists has sometimes included threats by police to plant evidence in a person's house to suggest they have been involved in "terrorism". In line with the EU’s Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by EU Foreign Ministers in June 2004 Amnesty International calls on the EU to: · Support the legitimate work of human rights defenders in the North Caucasus as suggested in the EU guidelines; · Raise its concern about attacks on human rights defenders in its dialogue with the Russian Federation, including at tomorrow’s summit with President Putin; · Insist on the initiation without delay of independent and thorough investigations into all allegations of reprisals against any person in relation to applications filed with the European Court of Human Rights and the torture, killings and "disappearances" of human rights defenders and activists. The findings of such investigations should be made public and perpetrators brought to justice. See "Russian Federation: The risk of speaking out. Attacks on human rights defenders in the context of the armed conflict in Chechnya" available on http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacT2Babb0skbeuxZvb/ from 00.01 GMT Wednesday 24 November 2004. Journalists can obtain a copy of the report by contacting the EU Office in Brussels. Photos and TV clips of interviews with human rights activists are available by contacting Lydia Aroyo, Press Officer, at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London Tel: 44-20-74135599 or email: laroyo@amnesty.org For further comment/background and interviews: For interviews with Friederike Behr, Amnesty International researcher/campaigner for the Russian Federation. Contact the International Secretariat Press Office: Tel: 44-20-74135599. For interviews with Dick Oosting: Amnesty International EU Office (Brussels): Tel: 32-2-5021499 Fax: 32-2-5025686 Email: amnesty-eu@aieu.be Web-site: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacT2Babb0skbeuxZvb/ Read the report "Russian Federation: The Risk of Speaking Out: Attacks on Human Rights Defenders in the context of the armed conflict in Chechnya" at http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacT2Babb0slbeuxZvb/ View all documents on the Russian Federation at http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacT2Babb0smbeuxZvb/ ***************************************************************** You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message may be removed. ***************************************************************** Past and current Amnesty news services can be found at <http://www.amnesty.org/news/>. Visit <http://www.amnesty.org> for information about Amnesty International and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. Privacy policy <http://web.amnesty.org/pages/aboutai-privacy-eng> EU-Russia Summit: Focus on Rights Rollback 23 Nov 2004 Source: HRW (Brussels, November 24, 2004)-The Kremlin's dramatic rollback of human rights and the rule of law should top the European Union's agenda during its summit with Russia, Human Rights Watch said today. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the summit, which starts in The Hague on November 25. The summit, which will focus on the European Union's strategic partnership with Russia, is expected to set the agenda for the E.U.- Russia relationship for years to come. It comes two months after President Putin proposed new measures that would eliminate direct elections of parliamentary candidates and empower him to appoint regional governors. The measures follow the government's elimination of Russia's independent broadcast media, marginalization of the political opposition, and Putin's own threats against nongovernmental organizations. "The Kremlin is dismantling Russia's main achievement of the glasnost era: checks and balances on executive power," said Lotte Leicht, Human Rights Watch's Brussels office director. "Now more than ever, E.U. leaders need to tell Mr. Putin that human rights and the rule of law are essential conditions for a strategic partnership with Russia." Human Rights Watch summarized its concerns about developments in Russia in a letter to E.U. foreign ministers. The letter also urged the European Union to make human rights and the rule of law essential elements of any further and enhanced relationship with Moscow. In recent years the Russian government has tried to pressure the E.U. into dropping important human rights issues from its bilateral discussions. "It's time for the E.U. to decide what it stands for and what its relationship with Russia is all about," said Leicht. "Otherwise, Europe's 'common values' will ring absolutely hollow." Human Rights Watch said that with Russia's television media firmly under Kremlin control, the opposition out of the picture, and other political leaders cowed by the expansion of Putin's power, the only leverage on Putin will come from abroad. Regarding Chechnya, where the armed conflict entered its sixth year, Human Rights Watch urged the European Union to focus on Moscow's need to establish a meaningful accountability process for thousands of cases of forced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions. "The E.U. and Russia have a common interest in stability in the Northern Caucasus," said Leicht. "But this can only be achieved if the Russian government works to earn the trust of Chechen civilians. To accomplish this, it has to end abuses and establish accountability for atrocities." |