| ACPC
Cautions Council of Europe Round Table `Process' Washington, DC: April 1, 2005, 2:00 p.m. EDT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael J. Bradow, Tel. 202.364.2466 In response to the March 21 round table organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) urges leaders in the United States and Europe to approach the current PACE framework for peace talks with caution. In accordance with the October 2004 PACE resolution on Chechnya, the first official round table discussion was held in Strasbourg under PACE chairmanship with the participation of Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen officials. The rules for participation were outlined within the October resolution, declaring that those who did not respect the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation or had been connected to terrorist activity would not be welcomed. This precondition served as an effective mechanism aimed at marginalizing the participation of representatives deemed "unsavory" by Russian authorities, even those who have consistently advocated a peaceful settlement to the conflict. As a result, the March 21 round table was unsatisfactory as it failed to incorporate a broad representation of Chechen leaders. The resulting agreement to continue the PACE framework in Grozny must also be met with skepticism, as it further precludes those representatives from participating and creates an environment for one-sided discussions. Furthermore, European calls to support the October 2005 parliamentary elections must be met with the same scrutiny given to the August 2004 Presidential election, deemed undemocratic by PACE. ACPC Executive Director Glen Howard commented, "The Strasbourg framework has effectively bought into Russian claims of normalization, an approach to the conflict as farcical as the elections themselves." Howard continued, "The round table served to legitimize a Russia-led `process' aimed at soliciting European economic assistance without extracting any political concessions from the Russian side." Howard added, "The idea of a process rather than peace talks avoids the reality of Russia' involvement in Chechnya. Over the course of this ten year conflict, Russia has lost the lives of more Russian soldiers than during the Soviet Union's disastrous ten year war in Afghanistan." According to a recent Moscow Times article, since 1994 over 20,000 Russian servicemen have been killed in Chechnya while another 80,000 have been wounded. "The statistics speak for themselves," said Howard. The PACE round table occurred on the eve of the Kremlin's announcement that it is increasing its military presence in Chechnya, despite claims that the conflict has abated. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, on March 16th Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that Russian troop levels in Chechnya now total 80,000 soldiers, a statement revealing that the overall quantity of forces in the republic has been increased by 5,000 men since 2003. By comparison to U.S. military presence in Iraq, Russian forces are operating in a space 25 times smaller than Iraq with a force over half the size of U.S. forces. ACPC Co-Chairman Zbigniew Brzezinski commented, "You cannot negotiate the end of a rebellion if you are negotiating with everybody except the rebels themselves." Executive Director Glen Howard concluded that "Western advocates for peace in Chechnya must not forget that there are two warring sides to the conflict, one of which declared a three-week cease-fire earlier this year." ACPC continues to support a political solution to the war in Chechnya and welcomed the March 21 statement of gratitude to European nations made by the new ChRI leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev as a hopeful sign that the new leadership will continue the moderate policies of his predecessor, Aslan Maskhadov. Founded in 1999, the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) is a bipartisan coalition of distinguished Americans dedicated to promoting a peaceful end to the war in Chechnya. |