Chechen human rights defenders seek meeting with European counterpartsTimur Aliyev, North Caucasus - Chechen human rights activists have proposed a conference be organized on the situation in Chechnya in which European human rights organizations would take part. They presented this idea at the roundtable discussion, “Legal Protection of Individual Rights within the Russian Federation”, held on May 8 in Nazran.
These proponents believe the conference would allow Chechen human rights defenders to share data with their European counterparts about human rights violations in Chechnya.
According to them, this exchange of information would greatly help in lobbying the Council of Europe to establish a tribunal for war crimes committed in Chechnya as proposed by Rudolf Bindig, Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of PACE.
"On the whole, European countries supported Chechnya‘s draft resolution," said Usam Baysayev of the Ingush branch of Memorial, a Russian human rights group. "Unless human rights violations in Chechnya are stopped, [PACE] deputies are likely to again think about establishing a Caucasus tribunal, which was presented at the January session of PACE."
Chechen activists believe if that happens, European human rights defenders might exert additional pressure on their individual governments.
On April 16, the UN Commission for Human Rights rejected a resolution on the situation in Chechnya as proposed by EU countries and supported by several EU candidates and the USA. The fifteen that voted for it included Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Poland, and Sweden.
(O,T/E) |
