Open Letter to the President of the E.U.Mr. Guy Verhofstadt
Prime Minister
Rue de la Loi 16
1000 Brussels
Brussels, October 1, 2001
Dear Prime Minister and E.U. President,
We are writing in advance of Tuesday's Summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge a strong European Union message that Russia's partnership in the global campaign against terrorism does not mean that the E.U. will countenance violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Chechnya.
Human Rights Watch has condemned the September 11 attacks as a crime against humanity and welcomed E.U. efforts to prevent the recurrence of such atrocities and to bring those responsible to justice. We remain concerned, however, that some countries might cynically exploit the fight against terrorism to justify ongoing or increased repression of their political opponents. We believe the E.U. must emphasize that it will not abide by opportunistic crackdowns, and considers respect for human rights and international humanitarian law a critically important element of any genuine anti-terrorism strategy.
Now more than ever, this message must be delivered to the Russian government. President Putin was among the first to seek to exploit the September 11 tragedy by comparing the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism to its own actions in Chechnya. The Russian government, however, is responsible for systematic abuses of the most fundamental human rights in Chechnya in the course of what it has repeatedly called its struggle against terrorism. Russian federal forces there have failed to differentiate between combatants and civilians, and have failed to comply with basic standards of international human rights and humanitarian law.
In the past the E.U. has taken a principled stand against the indiscriminate bombing, massacres, torture, and forced disappearances committed by Russian forces against civilians in Chechnya, and made clear that Russia's fight against terrorism could never be used to condone these atrocities. The E.U. has sponsored two resolutions at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights that condemn abuses related to the conflict in Chechnya and violations of humanitarian law perpetrated by Russian federal forces as well as Chechen rebel forces in Chechnya, and urged that those responsible be brought to justice.
We were encouraged by the remarks the Belgian ambassador to Russia made on September 27, when he reportedly reaffirmed the E.U.'s stance on the conflict in Chechnya and in particular its unwillingness to justify abuses by Russian soldiers in Chechnya. However, German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder's statements last week that in the new global struggle against terrorism there must be "a more differentiated evaluation in world opinion" about the conflict in Chechnya suggested that not all E.U. countries share the Belgian E.U. Presidency's resolve.
Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that should the E.U. relent on its principled and critical engagement on behalf of abuses in Chechnya, it would risk sacrificing the modest, hard-earned results achieved over the past two years. The intense scrutiny by the E.U. and other international organizations has encouraged a certain measure of restraint among Russian troops in Chechnya and Russia's political leadership. It has also brought the Russian government to observe a greater deal of openness and has led to an increased responsiveness by the authorities to complaints of human rights abuses. The Russian government would no doubt interpret any departure from previous E.U. positions as an admission that it had wrongly criticized Russia. This would bring to naught the painstaking efforts by the E.U. and other European and international institutions toward accountability for abusive forces and access to the conflict zone for the media and human rights observers.
Last week, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel eloquently stated, "Combating terrorism is both about protecting the lives of our citizens from terrorist attacks and about safeguarding the fundamental values of our open democratic and multicultural societies." These fundamental values are enshrined in international conventions such as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols, to all of which Russia is a party and which provide a clearly defined framework within which any campaign against terrorism should be conducted.
Human Rights Watch believes that the E.U. should continue to use the unique mechanisms provided for in international and regional conventions as the standard by which it measures and criticizes Russia's actions in Chechnya.
A determined and critical E.U. approach toward Chechnya is justified also by the abuses Russian federal forces continue to commit there. Recent field research conducted by Human Rights Watch found evidence of extrajudicial executions, torture, forced disappearances, and arbitrary detention, all hallmarks of the two-year long conflict. In July, Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of eyewitnesses from Alkhan-Kala, Sernovodsk, Assinovskaia, and several other towns and villages where Russian forces had conducted sweep operations in June and the first days of July. We found that in Alkhan-Kala, Russian troops summarily executed at least six men and tortured many more. In Sernovodsk and Assinovskaia, soldiers detained more than one thousand men, mostly arbitrarily, and subject many of them to torture and ill-treatment, including electroshock. Two men who were detained in Sernovodsk continue to be missing and are feared to have "disappeared." We are attaching a brief research update that details some of these abuses.
We respectfully urge you to impress upon President Putin that there will be no shift in the E.U.'s policy and engagement on Chechnya. We hope you will send a clear public message that the E.U.'s struggle against terrorism will remain within the framework of international law and that it expects no less of Russia.
We thank you for your attention to the concerns expressed in this letter
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Andersen
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia division
Lotte Leicht
Brussels Director
Human Rights Watch
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