1.03.2004
European Parliament recommendation to the Council on EU-Russia
relations
The European Parliament,
I.
whereas the massive persistant human rights
violations in Chechnya and the continuing absence of a credible peace
and reconciliation process are perpetuating the suffering of the inhabitants
of the republic and continue to dissuade those who have fled from
returning; whereas Russia should guarantee that international organisations can
operate in the area; whereas the experts of the Council
of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture who visited
Chechnya in May 2003 were prompted by their findings to take the
unusual step of issuing a public statement which included the warning
that ’a state must avoid the trap of abandoning civilised values,
J.
whereas portraying the conflict as simply one between terrorists and
forces seeking to uphold law and order is misleading, even though
terrorist activities continue and have shown signs of increasing; whereas
actions of the security and military forces could be seen
as counter-productive in that they contribute to the creation
of a climate of terror and hopelessness, inciting a desire for
retaliation among family members of victims and in this way
facilitating the recruitment of would-be assassins and suicide attackers,
K.
whereas over the last decade the war in Chechnya has left over 200,000
people dead out of an original Chechen population of one million
inhabitants, turned hundreds of thousands into refugees, left tens
of thousands injured, tortured, handicapped or traumatised and caused
tens of thousands of deaths among the Russian military,
L.
whereas it is alarmed by instances of applicants to the
European Court of Human Rights and of members of their families
disappearing or being killed,
M.
whereas the ongoing conflict in Chechnya and the massive human rights
violations taking place there are an insurmountable obstacle to the
development of a genuine partnership between the EU and Russia,
N.
whereas Chechnya is not only an ’internal affair’ of Russia’s,
in that violations of human rights are self-evidently threats
to international security, of a kind already felt in some
neighbouring countries,
AB.
whereas uncoordinated statements by leaders of Member States have
rendered negotiations with Russia on the Kaliningrad transit problem
excessively difficult; whereas after the last EU-Russia summit, astonishing
statements on Chechnya directly contradicting well-established and
fully-reasoned EU positions were made; whereas Member States and top
EU representatives gave conflicting signals following the Yukos affair and whereas at the end of the
summit, statements were made on the Yukos affair
reaffirming the need to guarantee equitable, transparent and
non-discriminatory procedures, which have since been belied by events,
3.
Recommends that the Council and the European Council structure the revised
Russian policy around the following objectives:
-
promoting human rights, democracy, independent media, civil society
development, religious freedom, the rule of law and transparency, with
special focus on urgently seeking an improvement in the
situation in Chechnya,
9.
Emphasises that the situation in Chechnya is very much at odds
with the values and principles upon which modern Europe is built;
considers the lack of dialogue on Chechnya to be morally and
politically indefensible, incompatible with the shared wish to deepen
co-operation on internal and external security and incompatible with the
real security interests of both Russia and the EU;
10.
Believes that Mr Kadyrov’s
success in the recent presidential election in
11.
Gravely concerned by the failure until now to bring about
a positive resolution of the case of Arjan
Erkel and deeply regretting the lack of any
progress in resolving this dramatic case, calls for a firm political
commitment on the part of the Russian Federal and local authorities,
the Commission and Council to ensure the safe release of Mr. Erkel;
12.
Recommends that the Council revive and further develop the two-track approach
according to which the EU should actively pursue a change
in Russia’s policy in relation to Chechnya, while at the
same time continuing cooperation with Russia in other areas; stresses that
the launch of an inclusive, genuine peace and reconciliation process
remains an urgent necessity;
13.
Asks the Council to instruct the Commission and the High Representative
for Common Foreign and Security Policy to study the Peace Plan presented
by Iiyas Akhmadov, and
all other peace proposals, and to present their conclusions to the
Council and the Parliament;
14.
Recommends that the Council:
-
increase its capacity to analyse developments in Chechnya, the
repercussions of the conflict on Russian society as a whole and
how this conflict influences the prospects for attaining different Russian
as well as EU policy objectives,
-
prepare detailed proposals for alternative approaches to the conflict,
fully taking into account important aspects of the conflict such
as its deep historic roots, the lack of interest in ending
it on the part of actors who under the current semi-anarchic
conditions in the republic can conduct lucrative unofficial and criminal
economic activities there, the sociological characteristics of Chechen
society, the need for massive reconstruction efforts and the possibility
of the EU contributing thereto if requirements for the aid
to be effective can be met, the terrorism aspect and, indeed,
legitimate Russian security concerns,
-
continuously renew calls on Russia to do its part in stopping
the human rights violations in Chechnya, to investigate
disappearances, reports of torture and other crimes, to prosecute the
perpetrators and ensure that court proceedings comply with all legal
requirements, to allow UN rapporteurs
to visit the republic in accordance with their requests,
to allow international staff of UN agencies, humanitarian aid, human
rights organisations, media and journalists to work in Chechnya and
to immediately stop the use of pressures against the internally
displaced persons in Ingushetia to return to Chechnya against
their will and despite the still very difficult security situation there,
-
vigorously pursue the start of a dialogue between Moscow authorities and
all representatives of the Chechnyan society,
with the aim of rapidly achieving a political solution to the
conflict, promote the active involvement of the OSCE and signal that the
EU is willing to act as a mediator;
-
use, as appropriate, the full range of measures at the EU’s disposal to influence Russian policy on
-
protest in the strongest possible terms wherever applicants to the
European Court of Human Rights or members of their families are
tortured, disappear or are killed; insist on the responsibility
of every signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights
to defend the integrity of the system for human rights protection set
up under this convention;
15.
Believes that the deportation of the entire Chechen people to Central
Asia on 23 February 1944 on the orders of Stalin constitutes
an act of genocide within the meaning of the Fourth Hague
Convention of 1907 and the Convention for the Prevention and Repression
of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the UN General Assembly
on 9 December 1948;
[…]
European Parliament