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IHF Publications IHF Yearly Campaign Priority Regions and Countries 2006 - 2007 IHF Activities
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APPENDICES
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appendix vi
IHF press release on Chechnya
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Chechnya: impunity, disappearances, torture, and the denial of political rights.
Can the OSCE be effective in addressing the worst human rights problem in the region?
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Maastricht, December 1, 2003.
The credibility of the OSCE as a regional human rights and security organization is seriously undermined by its inability to ensure peace and compliance with human rights and humanitarian law standards in Chechnya, the most grave human rights and security crisis in the region, according to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF). The IHF and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee are organizing a civil society conference parallel to the Ministerial Meeting in Maastricht to emphasize human rights issues in the region, in particular the problem of impunity in Chechnya.
“Where is the political will to protect our citizens from state brutality, to bring perpetrators of gross violations of international human rights law to justice, to ensure our common security by insisting on international engagement in a peaceful solution?” asked Ludmilla Alexeyeva, President of the IHF and head of the Moscow Helsinki Group. She expressed particular concern about Russian opposition to a renewal of the OSCE mission in Chechnya.
“With no strong consensus that Russian policies are unacceptable, we in civil society are left alone with our moral principles as crimes in Chechnya are absolved as part of a war against terrorism,” she said.
Despite a proclaimed political “normalization” in Chechnya, some 50 to 80 persons disappear every month. The IHF found that official results in both the March 2003 Constitutional Referendum and the October Presidential Election lacked credibility. Russian prosecutors and courts have taken up only a handful of the thousands of applications for justice by abused persons in Chechnya.
“The message could be that participating countries in the OSCE can approach their problems with no regard for the processes and standards they have pledged to uphold,” stated Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director.
The IHF is deeply concerned about the practice of brutal intimidation as opposed to political dialogue. We denounce the corruption of electoral processes, the manipulation of the Russian and international media, and all efforts to keep international organizations like OSCE and the United Nations out of Chechnya. The IHF is further worried about the impunity prevailing for perpetrators and the spread of repressive methods from Chechnya to other parts of the Russian Federation.
Aaron Rhodes (IHF Executive Director)
Brigitte Dufour (IHF Deputy Executive Director)
Henriette Schroeder (IHF Press Officer)
Aage Borchgrevink (Norwegian Helsinki Committee)
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