http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10990
EU accused of ignoring Chechnya abuses ISN SECURITY WATCH (23/03/05) - A leading human rights group says the widespread disappearance of civilians in Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya has now reached the level of a crime against humanity, and has criticized the EU for inaction on the issue. In a report released on Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that disappearances were continuing on a large scale in Chechnya, and that the practice had now reached the level of a crime against humanity. HRW accused the EU of failing to take action to protect thousands of civilians there. The rights group said the EU, which had in previous years introduced resolutions on Chechnya at the UN Commission on Human Rights, had declined to do so at this year's commission, which is currently in session in Geneva. "It is astounding that the European Union has decided to take no action on Chechnya at the Commission," said Rachel Denber, acting executive director of HRW's Europe and Central Asia Division. "To look the other way while crimes against humanity are being committed is unconscionable," she said. The 57-page report describes 43 disappearances that occurred in 2004, mainly carried out by pro-Moscow Chechen forces, and cites claims that there have been between 3'000 and 5'000 disappearances there since 1999. By contrast, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said last December that just over 2'437 people had been "abducted" since the beginning of the operation in the province in 1999. Of those, 347 had been subsequently released by law enforcement agents, according to Russian authorities. All of those abducted have been either civilians or otherwise unarmed people. Russian authorities deny all responsibility for their fate. The report comes in the wake of a meeting last Friday between President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of France, Germany, and Spain - a meeting that skirted the issue of the conflict in Chechnya. The leaders of the EU's biggest countries - notably France and Germany - are taking pains not to isolate Putin from the West, in contrast with the line taken by US President George Bush, who sharply criticized Moscow's behavior during a visit to Europe last month. On Friday, French observers accused European nations of turning a blind eye to Russian policy towards Chechnya. They said the EU had "forgotten" the systematic human rights abuses in Chechnya. They also criticized the EU leaders for failing to put the issue on the table during the Paris meeting, saying it was "a clear signal that the EU accepts Russia's internal and external politics because EU needs Russia for political and economical reasons". The EU and Russia hold regular meetings focusing on economic partnership, and the EU is helping Russia to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of this year. Earlier, Putin had instructed the government to step up the negotiating process for Russia's integration with the EU in terms of economics, security, culture, education, and scientific research. All of these issues will be further discussed at next EU-Russia summit in May. European officials in Brussels have shrugged off the mounting criticism, saying that EU institutions were still concerned with human rights abuses in Chechnya. "The EU continues to have strong concerns about the respect of human rights in Chechnya, including credible reports of human rights abuses and disturbing numbers of `disappearances' and kidnappings. […] Chechnya was discussed at length in the first round of consultations, which took place on 1 March in Luxembourg," European Commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin told ISN Security Watch on Wednesday. Udwin said the EU's position was "driven by the wish to improve the situation on the ground", and pointed out that the EU actively funded NGOs working on human rights issues in the region. She said the EU was looking at ways to tackle economic and social problems in the north Caucasus, which she said were at the root of the current conflict. "The EU wants to see a political solution in Chechnya that commands the broad support of the population, and which respects Russia's territorial integrity. This must be underpinned by the respect for the rule of law, human rights, and democratic principles. The way forward is to hold early free and fair elections," Udwin said. (By Ekrem Krasniqi in Brussels) ------------------------ Yahoo! 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