Tchetchenie

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About tchetchenie. Best regards from France. Bernard Blanc.

 

Subject:

[tchetchenie] Fwd: Letter to President Chirac: French - English

Date:

Fri, 27 Oct 2000 16:21:18 GMT

" pierre vanrie " <pvanrie

To:

tchetchenie

 

 

 

 

 

> " jean paul marthoz " <jp.marthoz

> " Marthoz " <jp.marthoz

>Letter to President Chirac: French - English

>Fri, 27 Oct 2000 15:06:55 -0400

>

>Please find below the letter sent to President Chirac at the occasion of

>the visit of President Putin to Paris.

>

>Best regards,

>

>Human Rights Watch

>

>Brussels Office

>

>

>

>Monsieur Jacques Chirac

>

>Président de la Republique

>

>Palais de l'Elysée

>

>Faubourg St. Honoré

>

>F-75008 Paris

>

>Brussels, October 26, 2000

>

>

>

> Excellency,

>

>We are writing in advance of the upcoming European Union Summit meeting

>with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris to urge a strong E.U.

>position on accountability for war crimes in Chechnya and on related

>problems of rule of law in Russia.

>

>Human Rights Watch maintained a continuous research presence in Ingushetia

>from November 1999 through May 2000 and we have monitored the conflict from

>our Moscow office since then. We have exhaustively documented war crimes

>and other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law

>committed by both parties to the conflict, overwhelmingly by Russian

>forces. These include the mass, summary execution of civilians, arbitrary

>detention and subsequent beating and torture of detainees, the

>indiscriminate bombardment of densely populated areas, systematic looting,

>and rape. Chechen forces have violated humanitarian law by summarily

>executing servicemen they have captured, physically abusing civilians, and

>violating civilian immunity.

>

>In advance of the E.U.-Russia Summit we are releasing a report detailing

>the cycle of torture and extortion faced by thousands of Chechens whom

>Russian forces have detained in Chechnya. We enclose a copy of the report,

>entitled " Welcome to Hell, " which describes how Russian troops have

>detained thousands of Chechens on suspicion of collaboration with rebel

>fighters. Many of them were detained arbitrarily, with no evidence of

>wrongdoing. Guards at detention centers systematically beat Chechen

>detainees, some of whom have also been raped or subjected to other forms of

>torture. Most were released only after their families managed to pay large

>bribes to Russian officials. Russian authorities have launched no credible

>and transparent effort to investigate these abuses and bring the

>perpetrators to justice. " Welcome to hell " is how guards at the

>Chernokozovo detention facility would greet detainees, before forcing them

>to undergo a hail of blows by baton-wielding guards. These are not only

>abuses of the past. Chechen civilians still are at risk of arbitrary

>detention and severe physical abuse at the hands of Russian troops.

>Chechens who do not have proper identity papers, who share a surname with a

>Chechen commander, who are thought to have relatives who are fighters, or

>who simply " look " like fighters, continue to be detained and abused on a

>daily basis in their communities or at Chechnya's hundreds of checkpoints.

>Many " disappear " for months as Russian officials keep them in incommunicado

>detention. Some are eventually released when relatives pay a bribe. Others

>never come back. Fear of detention has prevented tens of thousands of

>internally displaced persons from returning to their homes in Chechnya. It

>has also confined those who have remained inside Chechnya, particularly

>young men, to their homes or communities.

>

>In April the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted an E.U.

>sponsored resolution deploring abuses in Chechnya and calling on Russia to

>investigate them. The resolution called on Russia to invite five U.N.

>thematic mechanisms to visit Chechnya and instructed these mechanisms to

>report to the Commission and to the General Assembly. The resolution called

>on Russia to take specific action to investigate violations of human rights

>and international humanitarian law and to cooperate with intergovernmental

>and nongovernmental agencies seeking to conduct their own inquiries. The

>centerpiece was a requirement that Russia establish a national commission

>of inquiry to investigate abuses, in order to hold accountable their

>perpetrators. This signified that henceforth Russia's commitment to

>accountability would be assessed by the way in which it mounted a credible

>and impartial inquiry. The resolution also urged Russian cooperation with

>the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of

>Europe, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and other

>international and regional organizations.

>

>Resolution 2000/58 represented perhaps the broadest consensus among

>international actors that impunity would not be countenanced in Chechnya;

>it also marked the first time the Commission had singled out a permanent

>member of the Security Council in this manner. The E.U. obviously viewed

>implementation of the resolution as the best hope for accountability and

>accordingly set aside alternative measures, such as an interstate complaint

>before the European Court of Human Rights, in favor of the process set out

>in the resolution.

>

>However, the Russian government has rejected the resolution and refused to

>implement its chief requirements in a transparent manner. Six months after

>the resolution's adoption, Russia has made no meaningful progress toward

>establishing accountability for abuse. It has invited only two thematic

>mechanisms to visit Chechnya and neighboring regions (the Special

>Rapporteur on violence against women and Special Representative of the

>Secretary General for children and armed conflict). These thematic

>mechanisms have been informed that their visits can only take place " in

>general exercise " of their mandates and not in connection with the

>resolution. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary

>executions, Special Rapporteur on torture and Special Representative of the

>Secretary-General on internally displaced persons are still waiting for an

>invitation. To its credit, Russia has permitted limited access to Chechnya

>to Council of Europe representatives. In the attached memorandum we discuss

>the inadequacy of the Russian response to each of the key requirements

>specified by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in this resolution.

>

>The E.U. has sharply criticized Russia's actions in Chechnya and it has

>repeatedly called for justice for violations of human rights and

>international humanitarian law. However, the E.U. has blatantly failed to

>press Russia to implement key recommendations outlined in the UNCHR

>resolution.

>

>We therefor strongly urge the E.U. to express its profound dismay with the

>failure of Russian authorities to date to engage in good faith

>investigations. We urge you to reinforce with President Putin that the E.U.

>will assess the credibility of the Russian effort to implement the UNCHR

>recommendation according to a set of actions which the E.U. expects the

>Russian President to undertake without any further delay. These actions

>should include:

>

>-- invitations to all the UN mechanisms mentioned in the UNCHR resolution;

>

>-- invitation to Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human

>Rights, enabling her to undertake the follow-up that the resolution charges

>her with;

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>-- the adoption of a statute of a genuine independent commission of inquiry

>in accordance with international standards: These standards include:

>

>A clear mandate to investigate massacres, abuse in custody, and other

>violations of international humanitarian law;

>

>A staff chosen according to principles of impartiality and specially

>trained to carry out human rights investigations;

>

>Unimpeded access to evidence, witnesses, and classified documents;

>

>The legal authority to subpoena evidence and witnesses;

>

>The formal ability to submit evidence to prosecutorial authorities;

>

>Full cooperation on the part of the military procuracy and other military

>agencies, particularly toward obtaining records and other information vital

>for establishing responsibility for abuse and toward interviewing suspected

>perpetrators of abuse;

>

>Full and unfettered access to any area of the conflict zone, and conditions

>that would allow an investigative team to interview persons freely and in

>private;

>

>Full and unfettered access to any detention facility, wherever it may be in

>Russia, where people have been detained in relation to the conflict

>(including unannounced visits), and the ability to meet with individuals in

>private;

>

>Active monitoring of criminal investigations and trials of those accused of

>crimes in relation to the conflict; this requires full cooperation on the

>part of the procuracy and other investigative and criminal justice

>agencies;

>

>Cooperation and coordination with Russian and international organizations

>active in documenting human rights and international humanitarian law

>violations in the conflict. This would be best served by regular

>consultation and information-sharing; and

>

>Full transparency, achieved by making public the results of investigations

>and other work, instances when authorities attempt in any way to hinder the

>work of the commission, or when they fail to take appropriate action in

>response to evidence of serious abuse that the commission may present

>during the course of its work;

>

>-- present a list of those individuals who will serve on such a commission

>of inquiry;

>

>We also urge the E.U. to initiate an effort to obtain comprehensive

>information about the current status of Russia investigations into human

>rights and humanitarian law crimes committed in the context of the Chechen

>conflict. Such information should include:

>

>-- the number and nature investigations that have been initiated by the

>Military and the Civilian

>

>Procuracy respectively;

>

>-- which incidents are under investigations e.g. Aldi, Staropromyslovski,

>Alkan Yurt;

>

>-- which crimes are being investigated;

>

>-- to what extent the investigations involve crimes committed against

>civilians;

>

>

>

>-- information on the number and nature of prosecutions so far.

>

>

>

>The Russian government should be put on notice that continued failure to

>make significant progress on implementing the UNCHR resolution, will

>trigger the launching by E.U. member states of an inter-state complaint

>against Russia before the European Court of Human Rights, alleging breaches

>of the European Human Rights Conventions to which Russia is a state party.

>The E.U. should establish a deadline by which time it expects this progress

>to have been made.

>

>

>

>All the above mentioned concerns and suggested benchmarks and

>recommendations are significant indicators of Russia's credibility

>vis-a-vis its commitment to rule of law and international human rights

>principles. The Russian government's complete disregard for the E.U.

>sponsored UNCHR resolution and thus with the primary international human

>rights body, together with its systematic violation of international

>humanitarian and human rights law, should seriously call into question its

>commitment to abide by international agreements in other fields as well.

>

>

>

>We thank you for your attention to these concerns and wish the E.U . a

>successful summit.

>

>Sincerely yours,

>

>

>

>Lotte Leicht Rachel Denber

>

>Brussels Director Acting Director

>

>Human Rights Watch Europe & Central Asia Division

>

>

>

>cc: Mr. Thierry Dana, Conseiller Technique

>

>Mr. Pierre Vimont, Permanent Representative to the EU

>

>Mr. V. Likhachev, Mission of the Russian Federation to the EU