IHF Open Letter on Chechnya

Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 18:12:20 +0300 (EET DST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: IHF Open Letter on Chechnya

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: IHF <[email protected]>

IHF Open Letter on Chechnya


Open Letter

HE Boris Yeltsin, President
HE Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister
Russian Federation
Moscow

Vienna, 13 October 1999


Your Excellencies,

I am writing on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights (IHF), which represents 39  independent human rights
organizations throughout the territory of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

We are deeply concerned that the military operation in Chechnya
conducted by your government violates international humanitarian law
and the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-military Aspects of Security,
to which the Russian Federation is a signatory.

The bombardment and military incursion in the region is affecting
mainly civilians.  We believe it likely that, while these civilians
have had no part whatsoever in terrorist attacks in Moscow and central
Russia, their suffering at the hands of the Russian military will in
fact further alienate them from Russia and might even encourage future
acts of terrorism in which more innocent people will die.

Discriminatory practices regarding the freedom of movement of citizens
from the Caucasus violate their rights and erode their confidence in
the government as guarantor of those rights.  And the massive flow of
displaced persons into Ingushetia has created a humanitarian
disaster-again, affecting innocent civilians.

We fully sympathize with the effort to protect Russian citizens from
wanton acts of terrorism. But military measures and police actions
taken against entire categories of your own citizens in retaliation
for crimes perpetrated by extremists is not a solution in accord with
Russian's international obligations, or indeed, consistent with common
sense.

In this regard the International Helsinki Federation fully endorses
the appeal of prominent Russian human rights activists (the "Common
Action-Initiating Group") of 30 September 1999.  We urge you to
demonstrate true leadership in this difficult situation, and to use
the vast political and moral resources of Russian society to find
humane solutions that do not cause more problems--solutions consistent
with human rights principles.

We appreciate your attention to our concerns.

Sincerely,


Aaron Rhodes
Executive Director


cc:  OSCE Delegations, ODIHR; Council of Europe; United Nations;
National Helsinki Committees

-- 
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe

Submissions: [email protected]  
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected] 
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================