Default title

04 April 2000


United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson urged the Russian Government to establish an independent national commission of inquiry to deal with 'serious and documented' allegations of abuse in Chechnya.

Speaking in Moscow at the end of a five-day visit to the Russian Federation, the High Commissioner said an inquiry body would go a long way towards providing a credible, sustained response to the large and growing number of documented reports of violations allegedly committed by the country's military personnel in Chechnya during the latest conflict. She added that she was pleased to report that during a constructive meeting this morning, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had indicated that her recommendation would be examined carefully and had invited her to return to Chechnya and the region in a few months to again assess the situation.

Mrs. Robinson said she welcomed steps taken by the Government to address reports of human rights violations, including the appointment of a presidential envoy on human rights in Chechnya, the country's acceptance of Council of Europe personnel to work with the envoy and the stated commitment of the authorities to prosecute violators.

According to Mrs. Robinson, an independent commission of inquiry would provide a very public expression of the Government's willingness to fight impunity and rebuild the trust of the Chechen civilian population. It would constitute a necessary additional response that would acknowledge the scale and nature of the problem and signal the Government's determination to embed a culture of human rights throughout Russian society. Her Office stood ready to provide cooperation to such an initiative, she said.

During her visit, Mrs. Robinson spoke in Ingushetia to Chechens displaced by the fighting and to survivors and witnesses of rights violations. She also travelled to Chechnya and spoke to residents of Grozny.

'I was shocked and appalled by the harrowing accounts of Chechen civilians, many of them women, and by the utter devastation that has been visited on Grozny and other parts of Chechnya', she said.

'I listened to testimony of summary executions, intimidation, looting by military
personnel, disproportionate use of force, attacks on civilian convoys, rape and other violations. These accounts corroborate much of the serious and documented information available so far and they require a serious response'.

The High Commissioner also visited Dagestan to discuss with the authorities of that Russian Federation republic and with individuals the impact of the incursion by Chechen fighters last year. The suffering caused by that invasion to the people of Dagestan was but one example of the abuses Chechen fighters have been responsible for during the conflict.

Mrs. Robinson, who will be speaking tomorrow to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on her visit to Chechnya, said she had also held constructive talks with Russian authorities, including presidential envoy on human rights in Chechnya Vladimir Kalamanov, Military Prosecutor Yuri Demin and Minister of Civil Defence and Emergencies Sergei Shoigu.


*****