Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-16-Speech-4-132"
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"en.20030116.9.4-132"2
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".
Mr President, the conflict in Chechnya was discussed in detail on 11 September at the last European Union Summit with the Russian Federation.
In this context, I would like to point out that Mr Arjan Erkel, an employee of
was kidnapped months ago. We have urged the Russian authorities, and we repeat that request, to do everything in their power to secure his immediate release.
If you will allow me, I would now like to deal with the central issue of the urgent resolution under consideration.
As you are aware, on 31 December, the mandate of the OSCE assistance group for Chechnya expired. The lack of agreement on the content of the mandate for the coming year means that currently the team is being forced to take the decision to leave Chechnya. The Russian Federation has so far maintained the position that the mandate of the assistance group for Chechnya should be reduced in order to exclude any political role. This is a contradiction in terms given the highly political nature of the OSCE as an organisation for security in Europe. The Commission understands that maintaining this group is not only appropriate, but also in the interests of everyone, and especially of Russia. The same applies to the efforts made by the different bodies of the Council of Europe, which are also facing increasing obstacles to their work.
The work of these international organisations seems to be even more necessary at present when the Russian Federation has the firm intention to take a series of steps towards the political normalisation of Chechnya. Therefore, the presence and assistance of the organisations would be the only way of providing that normalisation process with a level of democratic legitimacy.
Intensive negotiations are currently going on in Vienna with the aim of ensuring that the assistance group remains in Chechnya and the issue is being raised today in Athens amongst the political leaders of the Union and of Russia. We hope that these diplomatic proceedings will enable us to achieve our objective.
Unfortunately, the lack of progress towards peace forces us, once again, to focus our attention on the tragic situation that is devastating Chechnya. We are all aware that, from the point of view of security, the situation has worsened since the last Summit in Brussels. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the Union’s strong condemnation of the recent terrorist attacks, which cut short the lives of more than one hundred people and seriously injured many more.
The European Union takes a strong stance against terrorism, regardless of who is responsible and what their motives are. Car bomb attacks, indiscriminate murders, kidnappings and other methods of terrorism can in no way be justified for any cause, however legitimate it may seem.
This is obviously entirely valid for Chechnya, but our conviction that the fight against terrorism cannot take place at the expense of respect for human rights is also valid.
First of all allow me to look specifically at the subject of human rights. Non–governmental organisations of recognised standing continue to report serious violations of human rights committed in Chechnya by the security forces working on behalf of the Russian Federation. The murders, torture, disappearances and other violations of basic human rights should therefore also be clearly and strongly condemned by the European Union.
What is equally serious is the lack of a clear will on the part of the authorities to deal with these violations. The result of the trial against Colonel Budanov is not a positive sign, but quite the opposite. Another negative event was the forced evacuation of the Chechen refugee camp in Akiyurt just before Christmas, which was also described by the European Union as a violation of the international humanitarian principle that displaced persons should be returned to their place of origin solely of their own free will, without the pressure that was applied in that case.
The European Union acted quickly to demand that the same thing should not happen to other similar camps, as it only leads to the suffering of the civil population. People are displaced by the violence of war and terrorism, and until those things stop, they cannot return to their homes without their lives being endangered. They should also have a minimum economic infrastructure, which they do not currently have, in order to continue with their lives. I want to assure you that the European Commission is keeping a close eye on events and that it will take the necessary steps to prevent this from being repeated.
In fact, ECHO is planning a monitoring delegation to Ingushetia at the end of this month. The European Commission is aware of the majority position of Parliament on these issues, and of its efforts to achieve the shared objectives that I have just mentioned. In this sense, it is the Commission’s desire and hope that the planned visit to Chechnya by the Parliament Delegation for relations with the Duma, which has again been delayed, will soon be able to take place, which will undoubtedly help to make the European Union’s voice heard in the conflict in Chechnya.
Another very important matter is the considerable humanitarian aid provided by the European Union. The Russian authorities are continuing to fail to provide the necessary cooperation in order for the non–governmental organisations distributing such aid to be able to deliver it to the recipients under good conditions, despite the repeated observations of the European Union. Our humanitarian workers continue to face countless administrative obstacles preventing them from effectively doing their job. What is even more serious is that the bureaucratic obstacles are endangering their lives and their safety."@en1
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