30 March 2005
UN LOOKS THE OTHER WAY AS CHECHNYA CRISIS CONTINUES
As the UN Commission on Human Rights continues its annual session in Geneva, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) are sounding the alarm on Chechnya, where widespread violations make it the single largest human rights crisis in Europe.
Human Rights Watch is urging the Commission to adopt a strong resolution condemning ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by both sides in the Chechnya conflict.
In a new report, the IFEX member says enforced disappearances in Chechnya are so widespread and systematic that they constitute crimes against humanity. Under international law, any state can prosecute the perpetrators of such crimes, including responsible government officials and heads of states.
Human Rights Watch says the Commission should urge the Russian government to immediately adopt measures to stop enforced disappearances and invite UN experts to conduct investigations in Chechnya.
Unlike previous years, the European Union has refused to table a resolution condemning Russia for human rights violations in Chechnya at this year's Commission.
Human Rights Watch says as many as 5,000 people have "disappeared" in Chechnya since 1999, with the full knowledge of Russian authorities. All of these people are either civilians or otherwise unarmed when taken into custody. Russian authorities deny all responsibility for their fate or whereabouts.
Freedom House says the Russian government is failing to end massive human rights violations against the civilian population. "Pro-Moscow Chechen forces and Russia's armed forces continue to commit grave breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law - including forced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions - with almost complete impunity in a climate of lawlessness and chaos," the group says.
Meanwhile, CPJ says Moscow is intensifying its effort to prevent European media from publishing or broadcasting independent news about the Chechnya conflict.
On 23 March 2005, the Russian embassy strongly criticised the Swedish news agency TT for publishing an interview with Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, saying "there is a clear link" between granting an interview with an "international terrorist like Basayev" and the terrorist act itself. The embassy claimed TT's interview was partly responsible for an attack on a Russian diplomat's car on 24 March.
Russian officials have also pressured Swedish authorities to shut down the server for KavkazCenter.com, a pro-rebel Chechen website hosted in Sweden.
On 3 February, the Russian Foreign Ministry asked British authorities to stop the independent television station Channel Four from broadcasting an interview with Basayev. The request was denied.
According to CPJ's 2004 press freedom survey, journalists who try to report on the conflict in Chechnya remain at serious risk despite a public relations campaign by Moscow claiming that life in Chechnya is returning to normal.
Visit these links:
- Human Rights Watch Report "Worse Than a War":
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/chechnya0305/- Human Rights Watch Urges UN Resolution:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/10/russia10298.htm- Freedom House:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/media/pressrel/021805.htm- CPJ:
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Russia25mar05na.html- CPJ Protest Letter:
http://www.cpj.org/protests/05ltrs/Russia04mar05pl.html- Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations:
http://www.cjes.ru/index-e.php(Image courtesy of Human Rights Watch)