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Resolution 1738 (2010) Final version
Legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus Region
1. The Parliamentary Assembly notes
with relief the end of such acts of war as the bombing and shelling of
inhabited areas which had devastating effects on the civilian population
during the “two Chechen wars”; it commends the impressive efforts
made by the authorities of the Russian Federation and of the Chechen Republic
to rebuild towns often reduced to heaps of rubble, and to restore
and improve the country’s infrastructure; this has indubitably improved
the living conditions of inhabitants after so many years of severe hardship.
2. The Assembly recalls its Resolution 1479 (2006) on human
rights violations in the Chechen Republic: the Committee of Ministers’
responsibility vis-à-vis the Assembly’s concerns, in which it warned
the Russian Federation about the danger of the entire North Caucasus
region flaring up because of the widespread violence prevailing
in the Chechen Republic. Systematic human rights violations and
the climate of complete impunity were bound to foster the rise of
extremist movements and their propagation beyond the borders of
the Chechen Republic. It must be acknowledged today that those fears
were, alas, founded.
3. The Assembly has already firmly condemned terrorist acts on
several occasions. There can be no justification whatsoever for
having recourse to acts of indiscriminate violence against the civil
population; these are dastardly and abhorrent deeds. The Assembly
expresses its compassion and solidarity for the friends and families
of all victims of violence, including those of the recent Moscow
Metro bombings, as well as those of the countless attacks continually
made on the population of the Caucasian republics.
4. The Assembly observes that the situation in the North Caucasus
region, particularly in the Chechen Republic, Ingushetia and Dagestan,
constitutes today the most serious and most delicate situation from
the standpoint of safeguarding human rights and upholding the rule
of law, in the entire geographical area covered by the Council of
Europe:
4.1. In the Chechen Republic,
the current authorities continue to nurture a climate of pervading
fear despite the undeniable successes in the sphere of reconstruction
and the appreciable improvement of infrastructures in this region
torn by two cruel and devastating wars. The human rights situation,
as well as the functioning of justice and the democratic institutions,
nonetheless continue to arouse the keenest anxieties: disappearances
of government opponents and defenders of human rights still remain
widely unpunished and are not elucidated with due diligence, reprisals
are taken against the families of persons suspected of belonging
to illegal armed factions (their homes are set on fire; close relatives
of the suspect or suspects are abducted or receive serious threats,
etc.), a climate of continuous intimidation reigns over the media
and civil society, and the judicial organs plainly do nothing about
the misdeeds of the security forces. All this occurs in an atmosphere
of personalisation of power which, given its disproportion, appears
disgraceful in a democracy.
4.2. In Ingushetia, since the appointment of the new president,
constructive dialogue has grown between the ruling power and civil
society. An alarming upsurge of violence since 2009 is nevertheless to
be observed, notably murders and disappearances of opponents of
the government and journalists which have to this day remained with
no judicial follow-up whatsoever. The president himself has suffered
a brutal assassination attempt in circumstances which have to this
day not been fully elucidated. The Assembly encourages him to continue
his policy towards a more stable situation in the republic through
dialogue with civil society.
4.3. More recently, Dagestan also underwent a fresh outbreak
of terrorist acts which have unfortunately prompted responses from
the security forces which are not always lawful and productive. The
admirable age-old tradition of peaceable cohabitation of the Muslim,
Christian and Jewish communities based on mutual tolerance – the
town of Derbent is a striking example of this – is likely to be
imperilled by the rise of extremism and the inappropriate official
reactions to it.
5. The suffering of the close relatives of thousands of missing
persons in the region and their inability to grieve properly constitute
a major obstacle to true reconciliation and lasting peace. The International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), armed with its recognised experience in
this field, has made concrete and realistic proposals to the Russian
authorities to cast light on the fate of as many missing persons
as possible. The setting-up of a high-level state committee on disappeared
persons appears essential.
6. The Assembly takes note of the very numerous judgments of
the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) – over 150 decisions
to date – finding grave and repeated violations of fundamental rights
in the region, notably in the Chechen Republic. The Court has thus
been compelled to assume a role of last-ditch protection for a very
large number of victims:
6.1. in
many cases before it, the Court has found that the Russian authorities
were directly responsible for the violations of the right to life
(Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”,
ETS No. 5)) and the prohibition of torture (Article 3);
6.2. it has repeatedly noted the absence of a real and effective
investigation, in breach of the Convention, in cases where representatives
of the security forces are suspected of being responsible for abductions
and torture;
6.3. in a large number of cases, it also holds that the treatment
meted out by the representatives of the security forces to the close
relatives of the abducted persons constitute inhuman and degrading treatment
within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention;
6.4. overwhelmed by a ceaseless influx of applications, the
Court gives priority to the cases where its swift intervention can
aid the protection and relief of the victims of the gravest violations,
numerous applicants in the North Caucasus region among them.
7. Concerning the execution of these Court judgments, the Assembly
welcomes the specific efforts made by the Russian authorities not
only to promptly pay financial compensation which the Court awards
victims – whose amount is far more symbolic than substantive – but
also genuinely to actuate investigations in cases where the Court
has ascertained neglect in that respect. It finds, however, that
appreciable results in the matter are still awaited and regrets
that the special departments set up in the investigative committees
have not yet succeeded in solving the problems of collaboration
and co-ordination between the various services.
8. The climate of impunity illustrated by the Court’s judgments,
and the passiveness of the authorities which is condemned therein,
especially in numerous cases of crimes against emblematic figures
of civil society, seriously undermine the population’s trust in
the security forces and the state institutions generally, and thus feed
the nefarious spiral of violence.
9. The Assembly, as it stated in Resolution 1539 (2007) on the United
States of America and international law concerning the human rights
violations committed by the United States and its allies in the
name of combating terrorism, forcefully reaffirms its unequivocal
condemnation of any act of terrorism, and remains convinced that
terrorism can only be fought effectively while respecting fundamental
rights and the tenets of the rule of law:
9.1. in any law-based state, and with stronger reason in all
Council of Europe member states, forced disappearances, torture,
extrajudicial killings and secret detentions committed by representatives
of the state authorities, condoned or not prevented by them, much
less combated by them, are unacceptable acts to be unreservedly
condemned;
9.2. these outrages and omissions erode the very co-existence
at the heart of society, as they destroy the population’s trust
in the institutions, thus dooming to failure any attempt to contend
effectively with the terrorist threat and instead favouring the
rise of extremism;
9.3. human rights violations committed by the authorities end
by conferring a status of martyrdom on the terrorists, whereas in
fact they are no more than criminals who should be treated as such;
9.4. the use of illegal, even downright criminal, methods against
terrorists carries a strong risk of arousing an impulse of sympathy
towards them, which can only strengthen them in their motivation
and give them a sense of legitimacy, of fighting a state that resorts
to unlawful methods;
9.5. the physical elimination of suspects who do not oppose
any armed resistance is not only illegal but is also a counter-productive
tactic. On the other hand, lawful arrests, in accordance with procedural requirements,
and arrangements for encouraging co-operation with the justice system
make it possible to combat and neutralise criminal organisations
and terrorist networks more effectively;
9.6. the criminalisation and victimisation of many innocent
people merely feed the spiral of violence further, all the more
so considering that the North Caucasus region is still marked by
entrenched clan traditions, including the custom of vengeance.
10. The Assembly pays tribute to human rights activists, lawyers
and journalists working in difficult circumstances, and often in
peril of their lives, to help victims obtain justice and to denounce
abuses. It is deeply saddened by the violent death or the disappearance
of personalities such as Anna Politkovskaia, Natalia Estemirova,
Stanislav Markelov, Magomed Yevloyev, Maksharip Aushev, Zarema Gaisanova,
Zarema Sadulayeva, Rashid Ozdoyev and many others, and expresses
its bewilderment and anguish at the fact that to date none of these
cases has been elucidated by the investigating system.
11. The Assembly also expresses its concern over the deterioration
of the situation of women in the Chechen Republic. In contrast with
other Caucasian republics, a rigid interpretation of religious norms
is imposed, sometimes in a humiliating manner, which, moreover,
seems to be at variance with the religious and cultural traditions
in the region.
12. It is also anxious that many Chechen exiles in several European
countries have been pressured by envoys of the Chechen leadership
to return home and submit to its authority. There are strong indications
that the Chechen leaders, or at least circles close to them, were
directly implicated in the murder of Umar Israilov on the streets
of Vienna. In this respect, the Assembly invites the Austrian and
Russian authorities to co-operate in order to fully elucidate this
case.
13. The Assembly therefore calls upon:
13.1. the Russian central and regional executive and judicial
authorities to:
13.1.1. combat terrorism by availing themselves
of the instruments provided by the law-based state and to look for
the causes of the ongoing radicalisation and the growing hold of
religious extremism;
13.1.2. bring to trial in accordance with the law all culprits
of human rights violations, including members of the security forces,
and to clear up the many crimes which have gone unpunished, especially
crimes against the personalities listed above (paragraph 10);
13.1.3. provide the necessary conditions to ensure that victims
of human rights abuses have access to justice and are free to exercise
their rights to an effective remedy before the judicial authorities
and enjoy adequate protection;
13.1.4. intensify co-operation with the Council of Europe in enforcing
the judgments of the Court, especially where they concern reinforcement
of the individual measures to clear up the cases of, in particular,
abduction, murder and torture in which the Court has ascertained
a lack of proper investigation;
13.1.5. be guided by the example of other countries which have
had to contend with terrorism, particularly as regards the implementation
of measures conducive to the suspects’ co-operation with the justice
system in dismantling the terrorist networks and criminal entities
that exist within the security forces, as well as prevent further
acts of violence and take the necessary general measures to effectively
prevent such violations in future;
13.1.6. co-operate more closely with the organisations working
on the ground in defence of human rights and of civil society as
a whole, and protect their staff members effectively against possible
reprisals;
13.1.7. implement the proposals of the ICRC to resolve as far
as possible the serious problem of missing persons, and create conditions
favourable to renewed ICRC visits to detainees arrested and held
in relation with the situation in the North Caucasus region;
13.1.8. persevere in efforts to build up the regional economy
with an equitable balance between the republics, paying close attention
to the creation of steady jobs for young people, who have a very
high unemployment rate, one of several factors causing social unease,
ongoing radicalisation and crime;
13.1.9. give their earliest consent to the publication of the
reports of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) concerning
the North Caucasus region;
13.1.10. promote initiatives at every level to enhance intercultural
and interfaith dialogue in order to increase knowledge about the
Caucasian populations and improve their integration into the Russian
Federation;
13.2. both Chambers of the Russian Parliament to devote their
utmost attention to the situation in the North Caucasus and to demand
exhaustive explanations from the executive and judicial authorities concerning
the malfunctions observed in the region and mentioned in this resolution,
as well as to stipulate that the necessary measures be applied;
13.3. all other Council of Europe member countries to:
13.3.1. co-operate with the Russian authorities in the fight against
terrorism, insisting on compliance with the European Convention
on Human Rights and the Court’s judgments in all circumstances;
13.3.2. guarantee adequate protection to refugees from the North
Caucasus who have been harboured on their territory, and consider
with the greatest care and caution requests concerning their extradition,
in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
14. The Assembly requests its Committee on the Honouring of Obligations
and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring
Committee) to pay particular attention to the evolution of the human rights
situation in the North Caucasus. It pays tribute to the Council
of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the CPT for their action
in the North Caucasus, and invites them to maintain and further
intensify their commitment. It urgently requests that the necessary
resources be made available to them.