On 18th March the EPP and EP party groups (Christian Democrats and European Democrats) of the European Parliament arranged a Hearing on Chechnya in the premises of the Parliamentary buildings in Brussels.
Chairing the event was Mr. Tadeusz Zwiefka, Polish MP and among the speakers were Chechen exile Foreign Minister Mr. Ousman Ferzaouli, Mrs. Rubati Mitsaeva, Professor Vytautas Landsbergis MP, Ms. Hilde Hardeman, Head of Unit DG External Relations, lawyer Michal Missala and myself.
The Russian atrocities in Chechnya were described as the worst war crimes in Europe since World War Two, and an estimated 200,000 civilians, including 40,000 children have perished. There is still no peace in Chechnya, only a state of emergency under a Russian puppet president, where fear and oppression prevail.
The European Parliament and the Council of Europe has a poor record in addressing these brutal crimes, and thus failed to uphold the virtues of the European Convention on Human Rights, signed by Russia upon its entry to the Council of Europe in 1998.
In my speech I focused on the legal international status of Chechnya, claiming the republic should have had its independence along with the other Union republics after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The speech can be read here.
I made three proposals to European Parliament representatives:
- The EP to form a contact group to scrutinize the legal and human rights framework, and its implementation concerning international conventions and Russian commitments.
- The Contact Group to examine and issue conclusions on the legality of Chechnya's international status as a Sovereign republic.
- The Contact Group to propose a motion for new, free and fair elections in Chechnya, monitored by the OSCE, as was also the case at the election in 1997.
The Chechnya Peace Forum will follow up on these proposals with the European Parliament and also discuss them at a meeting with the Council of Europe later in the Spring.
Ivar Amundsen
Director, Chechnya Peace Forum
