Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-10-Speech-3-009"
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"en.20020410.1.3-009"2
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"Mr President, the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party welcomes the fact that this debate is taking place, as we already did before our friend Mr Dupuis went on hunger strike. It is important to devote special time to Chechnya and to discussing the situation there. I have the feeling that the atrocities and the military offensive are taking place under cover of the events of 11 September and the situation in the Middle East.
Just like China, which we shall be discussing later, Russia is using the fight against terrorism as a kind of alibi for oppressing its own political opponents and minorities. The war between Chechnya and Russia is a long, stubborn and apparently irresolvable conflict which has gone on for many years. Obviously, atrocities are being committed on both sides. These must of course be investigated, and the people responsible held to account.
It is true that a number of positive signs can be detected. Lord Judd, for example, has pointed to certain modest improvements. Here too, just like in the Middle East, there is a battle as to what news is to be released to the outside world. We are awash with testimonies from human rights organisations concerning the situation of, in particular, civilians in Chechnya. Death squads, summary executions, torture, rape and disappearances. Terrible, systematic atrocities are quite clearly being committed against the civilian population of Chechnya. The Russian authorities must get to grips with this state of affairs, investigate the events and punish those responsible. Nearly 200 000 people have taken flight within Chechnya, and a quarter of a million have fled the country. Their situation is, of course, incredibly precarious.
The European Parliament has adopted quite a number of resolutions on this conflict but, now, action is required. It was good to hear from the President-in-Office of the Council that the troika is to be sent to Chechnya. It would also be good if the Commissioner could travel to the area in order to discuss the situation and address the issue with the Russian President.
We must be very clear in demanding of Russia that it put an end without delay to the atrocities and massacres directed against civilians. The ELDR Group demands that an independent committee of investigation be sent to Chechnya to ascertain what is really happening. We also want to see President Putin and the Chechen President, Mr Maskhadov, invited to Parliament to discuss the situation, so enabling us to demonstrate our support for peace talks. The tentative negotiations begun in November 2001 resulted in only one meeting, and there was no major progress.
Together with the OSCE and the Council of Europe, the EU can play a role in facilitating talks so that we can bring about a political solution. There is, of course, no military solution. My political group also wants the EU to take action by submitting an initiative concerning Chechnya at the UN Commission on Human Rights’s session in Geneva.
Mr de Miguel spoke of the EU’s support for the UNHCR, and that is important. The truth, however, is that the EU’s contribution to the UNHCR’s budget has declined by a third in recent years.
Yesterday, we discussed the Middle East situation in this House, where there is a strong commitment to resolving the conflict. Our commitment ought not, however, to lead to our closing our eyes to other conflicts and giving the Russians
to commit these atrocities. The situation is drastic, and the conflict is in danger of spreading to the whole region, with devastating consequences for Russian democracy.
The ELDR Group supports the resolution before us, even though we think it is rather faint-hearted. We must send a strong message to the Russian Government and President: We know what you are doing, and we find it unacceptable."@en1
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