Russian delegation votes for PACE resolution on human rights in Northern Caucasus

Leonid Slutskiy, deputy head of the Russian delegation to the PACE and the first deputy chair of State Duma committee for international matters, has noted a great importance of the discussion by European MPs of the resolution on situation with human rights in Northern Caucasus. The head of the Russian delegation to the PACE Konstantin Kosachov finds the adopted resolution to be objective and well-balanced.

Let us remind you that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) at today's session in Strasbourg approved the draft resolution "Legal Remedies against Human Rights Violations in Northern Caucasus", which was prepared by the Swiss Dick Marti, Special Rapporteur of the PACE, on results of his visit to Northern Caucasus in March 2010 and long process of collection and generalization of information on the situation with human rights in the region.

Russian Federation: Dick Marti's report is objective and well-balanced

"First of all, I'd like to thank Mr Rapporteur for his very deep and well-balanced report. This is a sample of objectivity, which sets a vector for further Russia-CE cooperation on the issue," said Mr Slutskiy.

According to his story, the Russian delegation was ready - for the first time in the last 14 years - to vote for the report prepared by the PACE on human rights in Northern Caucasus.

"It's very correct that the situation is compared with what was in the republics several years ago, instead of imposing viewpoints and standards of safe Europe," Mr Slutskiy has noted. He reminded that quite recently Northern Caucasus was a zone of "human rights violations," and Grozny was a phantom city. "Today, the Chechen Republic is trying to become one of the most prospering territories of Russia, and the criminality rate there is close to zero," the ITAR-TASS quotes Mr Slutskiy as saying.

Konstantin Kosachov, head of the Russian delegation to the PACE, noted, in his turn, that Moscow welcomes the work of the PACE in Northern Caucasus.

He said, in particular, that "in recent years 300,000 Chechen residents returned to the republic; while the crime detection level went up by 40 percent," the "Interfax" reports. Mr Kosachov assured his PACE colleagues that now the republics of Northern Caucasus have much better situation with human rights and much improved struggle against the crime.

Mr Slutskiy also noted that the report has "some shagginess, for example, where it deals with personification of power in the Chechen Republic."

At the same time, a number of PACE Deputies, who took part in discussing the report and draft resolution, addressed a significant portion of their criticism to the authorities of the Chechen Republic. In the opinion of many of them, here today "there's no war indeed, but the society moves in the reverse direction due to the policy pursued by President Ramzan Kadyrov."

PACE notes anxiety in situation in Northern Caucasus

The situation with human rights in the republics of Northern Caucasus remains most disturbing within the whole geographical area of the Council of Europe, runs the document adopted by the PACE.

The document notes that in Chechnya "the authorities continue maintaining the climate of total fear, in spite of indisputable achievements in restoration and noticeable improvement of the regional infrastructure."

In Ingushetia, after advent to power of President Yunus-Bek Evkurov "a constructive dialogue was launched between the authorities and civil society," runs the resolution. At the same time, it emphasizes that starting last year the republic saw "a growth of violence, in particular, embodied in murders and disappearances of oppositionists and journalists, and in an attempt on President of Ingushetia."

In the opinion of the PACE, Dagestan has also seen "a recent splash of terrorist activity."

The resolution also reminds that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has passed more than 150 decisions, "stating serious and regular violations of fundamental human rights in the North-Caucasian region and, in particular, in the Chechen Republic."

The document "welcomes special efforts of Russian authorities directed not only at timely paying compensations to victims of human rights violations under decisions of the ECtHR, but also draws attention to the necessity of holding efficient investigation into those cases, where the court has established certain violations."

The PACE has also expresses anxiety in connection with "worsening of the situation with observance of women's rights in the Chechen Republic." "Unlike other Caucasian republics, the Chechen Republic is strictly interpreting religious norms, which, meanwhile, contradict the religious and cultural traditions of the region," runs the document.

The resolution also draws attention to the fact that the authorities of Chechnya put pressure on many Chechens who live in the countries of Europe urging them to return to the republic and "obey to its authorities."

"It is necessary to agree in the nearest future to publication of reports of the European Committee for Prevention of Torture (CPT) on the North-Caucasian region," runs the resolution.