International response to the Second Chechen War

Governments

Western countries

There was a strong international condemnation of Russia ’s threat to civilians to get out of the Chechen capital , Grozny , or be considered an enemy target and destroyed. The United States and the European Union denounced the move. There had been speculation about possible economic sanctions . ^[1]

US President Bill Clinton said Russia would „pay a heavy price“ for its current tactics, facing international isolation . The EU also urged Russia to end up what they called disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force in Chechnya. ^[2] The United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook has „wholeheartedly condemned“ the Russian ultimatum to the people of Grozny to flee or die. „We condemn vigorously what Milosevicdid in Kosovo and we condemn vigorously what Russia is doing in Chechnya,“ he said. ^[3]

On November 18, 1999 presidential candidate Then Bush Strongly criticised Russia over ict military campaign in Chechnya, Saying foreign aid to Russia shoulds be suspended if Russian policy Did not change. „I think Russia has stepped over the bounds,“ Bush said. ^[4]

The United States statement in response to Human Rights Commission Resolution on Chechnya in 2000 noted:

„As Secretary Albright noted in his March 24th speech to the Commission ,“ We have not ignored the fact that thousands of civilians have died and more than 200,000 have been driven from their homes. “ the persistent, credible reports of human rights violations in Chechnya, including extrajudicial killings ., There are also reports that Chechen separatists have committed abuses, including the killing of civilians and … The war in Chechnya has greatly damaged Russia’s international standing and isolation from the international community. Russia’s work in the field of repair, damage, and the risk of further isolation, is the most immediate and momentous challenge that Russia faces. “ ^[5]

Other countries

On December 9, 1999, at a meeting with Li Peng , People’s Republic of China ’s legislative chairman and the Communist Government‘ s most hard – line leader, Boris Yeltsin told reporters he wanted to send a message to Clinton, who had criticized Russia for cause civilian casualties in Chechnya. „It seems to be Mr. Clinton has forgotten Russia is a great power that possesses a nuclear arsenal.We are not at all of Clinton’s anti-Russian position.I want to tell President Clinton that he alone can not dictate the world should live, It is us who will dictate, „Yeltsin said. Yeltsin and President of the People ‚ reviewed both criticized US global dominance. „Jiang Zemin completely understands and fully supports Russia’s actions in fighting terrorism and extremism in Chechnya,“ Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said afterwards. Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China „understands and supports the efforts made by Russia in national and territorial integrity .“ ^[6]

On 26 September 2002, after Saddam Hussein’s meeting with the Chechen pro-Moscow President Akhmad Kadyrov , Iraq’s Foreign Minister Naji Sabri stated the country’s position with regard to Chechnya, namely that Chechnya is an integral part of Russia. „Iraq is firmly against any manifestations of separatism in Russia.“ ^[7]

Council of Europe

Council of Europe Resolutions and Recommendations on ‚The human rights situation in the Chechen Republic ‚:

• Resolution 1323 (2003)
• Resolution 1402 (2004)
• Resolution 1403 (2004)
• Recommendation 1678 (2004)
• Recommendation 1679 (2004)

In June 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) reviewed Russia’s progress in honoring the obligations and commitments it undertook to join the Council of Europe in 1996. PACE passed a resolution to the obligation to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations. The resolution called on the authorities to „take effective action to put an end to the ongoing ‚disappearances‘ , torture , arbitrary detention in illegal and secret facilities, and unlawful killings“ reported in Chechnya.

The June 9, 2006 PACE report by Dick Marty said: „It is hardly possible to speak about the secret detention centers in the Council of Europe. also the existence of secret places of detention. “ ^[8] It quoted „Damning recent accounts by witnesses.“

On March 13, 2007 the new Council of Europe reports said „resort to torture and other forms of ill-treatment by law enforcement agencies and security forces continues,“ The Council said it was forced to make public its findings in the light of the Russian authorities “ failure to improve the situation “.

European Court of Human Rights

In October 2004, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Chechen Civilians Against the Russian Government . As of November 2007, 35 boxes were decided. ^[9]

The first trial concluded in February 2005. The Court ruled that the Russian government violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights , including a clause on the protection of property , a guarantee of the right to life, and a ban on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and ordered the Russian government to pay compensation to the six plaintiffs of the case. ^[10] The cases concerned the Russian federal forces‘ indiscriminate aerial bombing of a civilian convoy of refugees fleeing Groznyin October 1999; the „disappearance“ and subsequent extrajudicial execution of five individuals in Grozny in January 2000; and the indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombardment of the village of Katyr-Yurt in February 2000. The compensations were not paid, claiming that they were repressed, including murders and disappearance. ^[11] In the most dramatic period of 2000-2002 five plaintiffs died. ^[12]

In summer 2006 the European Court on Human Rights, the first cases concerning forced disappearances in Chechnya; it was excepted the decisions by the European Court might play an important role in changing Chechnya’s terrible human rights situation, as more than 100 disappearance cases related to Chechnya are pending in the court. ^[13] The cases included one Where the court ordered Russia to pay 35,000 euros to the mother of Khadzhi-Murat Yandiyev for Violating her son’s „right to life“ as well as failing „to conduct effective year investigation“ Into His February 2000 disappearance. Key evidence in the case, selon short documents, Was video footage filmed by a delay for NTVand CNN television showing Colonel-General Alexander Baranov , ordering soldiers to „finish off“ and „shoot“ Yandiyev; Baranov since beens HAS Promoted Awarded and a Hero of Russia medal and made responsible for all Defense Ministry Forces in the North Caucasus. ^[14]

On October 12, 2006, the Court held Russian State Responsible for the Execution of the Estamirov Family February 5, 2000 Novye Aldi massacre by the OMON forces. „Russian and Chechen security forces should take this decision as a precaution and abuse of innocent civilians can not be met by impunity,“ said Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch . ^[15] At least 11 other incidents of summary executions committed on the same day in the Chechnya are pending before the Court.

On November 9, 2006, the Court ruled the Russian government complicit in the murder and abduction of three Chechen civilians, including a case on the disappearance and presumed death of two Chechens from the same family. The Court sided with Marzet Imakayeva, a Chechen woman who fled Russia two years ago to seek asylum in the United States; Imakayeva has also been reported to have been treated with „inhuman treatment.“ The bodies of Imakayeva family members have never been found; in the other ruled case the abductee, Nura Luluyeva , turned up in a serious mass eight months later.

On January 8, 2007, the Court has condemned Russia in the first torture case from Chechnya to be heard by the ECHR. In its judgment , ^[16] the Court held that the applicants Adam and Arbi Chitayev had been held in detention, which they had been subjected to torture, and that the Russian authorities had not properly investigated their allegations.

United Nations

UNHCR

A resolution adopted in April 2000 ^[17] by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) called for Russia, among other things, to establish a „national broad-based and independent commission of inquiry“ into abuse, with a view to bringing perpetrators to justice and preventing impunity . ^[18] It was the first time in the United Nations Security Council . ^[19] However, Russia has not fulfilled the resolution’s requirements.

On April 20, 2001, the UNHCR adopted another resolution ^[20]condemning human rights violations in Chechnya perpetrated by federal forces, citing „forced disappearances, extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, torture, and other inhuman and degrading treatment.“ The resolution called on Russia to „ensure that both civilian and military prosecutor ’s offices would be systematic, credible and exhaustive criminal investigations and prosecutions“ of all violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. It reiterated its requirement, also made in 2000 resolution, for Russia to establish a national commission of inquiry to investigate crimes in Chechnya; despite Russia’s failure to create such a commission or ensure effective prosecutions after the 2000 resolution, the commission declined to call for the creation of an international commission of inquiry.

In April 2004 the Commission rejected another resolution on Chechnya. 23 of 53 countries voted against the resolution, while 12 countries voted for the resolution-mainly European Union countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said „all attempts to depict the situation in Chechnya as a human rights problem have been unrealistic.“ ^[22]

On February 22, 2006, A High Commissioner for Human Rights , Louise Arbor , said she was deeply shocked by accounts of torture and kidnappings in Chechnya. She recommended the creation of an independent body to investigate crimes committed during the war .

On March 30, 2006, Manfred Nowak , the United Nations investigator on torture said that Moscow had agreed to let Russia visit, including the troubled region-the first such trip by a torture sent in more than a decade.

References