Russia castigates EU's draft Chechnya resolution

["F A B I O C C H I::" <eco_fabiocchi@tin.it>]

Friday, Apr. 9, 2004

Russia castigates EU's draft Chechnya resolution
Associated Press


Moscow - Russia complained bitterly Friday over a draft UN human-rights
resolution on Chechnya that was proposed by the European Union.
The EU draft, submitted Thursday, condemns human-rights violations Chechnya,
including abductions, killings and torture and expresses concern over
civilian difficulties in getting authorities to investigate rights abuses.
"The given draft is politicized and we hope it does not pass," Deputy
Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news
agency.
"The fact that the EU countries have resorted to submitting a resolution
shows that they are putting the political process in the North Caucasus
region in doubt. Moreover, it is a kind of encouragement to terrorists and
runs counter to the uncompromising struggle against international
 terrorism."
The draft also calls on Russia to provide better access to Chechnya for
humanitarian aid groups and to co-operate with the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe, including helping to
publishing a UN report on torture in the war-scarred region.
Mr. Fedotov said the draft should not be accorded too much significance,
since positive developments in Chechnya "are gathering force," Interfax
reported. But he complained that the European Union had not accepted
Russia's explanations about what it considers the real situation in
Chechnya.
Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of the Kremlin-backed Chechen government, said the
draft resolution amounted to "moral support for the fighters," Interfax
reported. His security council chief, Rudnik Dudayev, said that the EU was
using "two or three-year-old arguments," Interfax reported. No foreign help
is needed to solve Chechnya's problems - either from the EU or human-rights
organizations - "from which there have been only words and no action," Mr.
Dudayev was quoted as saying.
On Thursday, four rights organizations - Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture and
Russia's Memorial group - issued a joint statement saying that both Russian
forces and Chechen fighters continue to abuse and terrorize Chechens.
Along with abuses by rebels and Russian soldiers, a security force led by
Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, is blamed for
an increasing number of disappearances, the groups' statement said.