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2 February 1995
Doc. 7231
OPINION
on Russia's request for membership
in the light of the situation in Chechnya 1
(Rapporteur: Mr BINDIG,
Germany, Socialist Group)
1. Introduction
a. Historical background
The Chechens are an indigenous Caucasian people closely related to the Ingush. Chechnya was only fully brought under the control of Tsarist Russia in 1876, after a series of bloody wars and uprisings lasting for nearly a century. The Chechens were renowned as a very military people and good fighters at the time: Purportedly, one Tsarist officer, when asked what he needed to win a battle in the Caucasus, answered "One Chechen".
After the Russian revolution, in 1918 a federation of North Caucasian Muslims, including the Chechens, made a bid for independence. Resistance to Soviet rule continued until 1921, when the mountain ("gorskaya") Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) was created. The Chechen part of the mountain ASSR received autonomous status a year later. In 1934, the autonomous Chechen region was united with the Ingush one, and became the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) in 1936. However, in 1944 Stalin abolished the republic and deported all Chechens and Ingush as alleged collaborators (with the German invaders) to Central Asia, which caused great suffering and considerable loss of human life.
Only in 1957 were both peoples rehabilitated and allowed to return, and the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was reestablished, albeit with a smaller territory. The area became an important oil-producing region and was heavily industrialised under Soviet rule.
b. The events leading up to the current situation
In October 1991, the Chechen part of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR declared its independence from the Russian Federation, under the leadership of former Air Force General Dzhokar Dudayev. The Russian government refused to recognise Chechen independence. Dudayev went on to win Chechnya's first presidential election, which the Russian government condemned. An attempt of Russian Interior Ministry troops to "restore order" in Chechnya failed in November 1991. In the summer of 1992, President Dudayev closed the Chechen parliament.
In the spring of 1994, Russian and Chechen officials reportedly agreed to negotiations to work out Chechen-Russian differences. However, by the summer of 1994, after a series of bloody hijackings involving the Chechen mafia, the Russian government denounced Dudayev and started supporting the Chechen anti-Dudayev opposition. Dudayev prevailed in the autumn's heavy fighting between the opposition and the government in Chechnya. Russia openly intervened on 11 December 1994, commencing air attacks against the capital Grozny and moving in ground forces three weeks later.
2. Treatment of the civilian population
One month later, the fighting still rages on and it is unclear as to who is on the winning side (according to news reports, the Russians have conquered the northern districts of the capital, but the Chechens hold the southern ones). What has become clear though, is who is on the losing side: the civilian population of Chechnya. Although at the beginning of the conflict, some Russian officers reportedly defied orders to target civilians, the Russian air force seems to have shelled civilian areas indiscriminately from the very beginning.
According to news reports and research by human rights organisations, Russian forces destroyed at least two hospitals in Chechnya and part of a third, an orphanage and several market areas. Residential areas have been bombed by the Russians from the air, a railroad car carrying civilians has been attacked by Russian ground forces, and civilians - as well as journalists - have been killed by stray bullets fired by both sides. Injured civilians who made it across the border to Dagestan report being attacked by the Russian Army on the way, especially by low-flying combat aircraft. Hundreds of civilians have died, more have been wounded. The number of refugees is estimated at several hundreds of thousands.
3. Violations of international humanitarian law
While it is not the desire of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to take a stand on Chechnya's claims for independence, the Committee feels it is its duty to examine the situation in the light of established standards of international humanitarian law.
The Committee must determine whether the conflict is an international or internal one and whether it affects rules of international law and, hence, concerns the international community.
a. The 1949 Geneva Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War
In this context, the Committee would like to recall that already in 1949 international standards as to the treatment of civilians in time of armed conflicts were adopted under the four Geneva Conventions. Though the conventions apply mainly to international armed conflicts, Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (12 August 1949) assigns similar obligations to the Parties in a conflict of non-international character. According to the same article in the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the contracting parties, persons taking no active part in the hostilities shall be treated humanely. Moreover, the application of violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture are unconditionally prohibited. The Second Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions is entirely devoted to non-international armed conflicts (civil wars). According to the Protocol, the civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attacks (Art. 13); starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited, etc.
The Fourth Geneva Convention was signed by the USSR as early as 12 December 1949 and was ratified on 3 August 1954. The Second Protocol was signed on 12 December 1977 and was ratified on 29 September 1989 by the former Soviet Union.
b. The Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE, former CSCE)
The commitments under the Geneva Conventions have recently been reaffirmed by the Russian Federation by the signing, in December 1994, of the OSCE Budapest Document, and in particular the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security. In Article 34 of the Code of Conduct the participating States undertake to ensure that "its armed forces are in peace and in war, commanded, manned, trained and equipped in ways that are consistent with the provisions of international law and its respective obligations and commitments related to the use of armed forces in armed conflicts, including as applicable the Hague Conventions of 1907 and 1954, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the 1977 Protocols Additional thereto, as well as the 1980 Convention on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons".
c. Documents of the United Nations General Assembly
The Committee would further like to refer to important documents adopted by the United Nations General Assembly dealing with the protection of civilian population in time of armed conflict. Mention should in particular be made of: Resolution 2444 (XXIII) on the Respect for Human Rights in Armed Conflicts of 19 December 1968; Resolutions 2674 (XXV) and 2675 (XXV) on the Basic Principles for the Protection of Civilian Populations in Armed Conflicts of 9 December 1970, as well as the UN Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict (Resolution 3318 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974). None of the documents mentioned above discriminate between international and non-international armed conflict and call for respect for human rights in all situations of warfare. It may be useful to quote some of the basic principles for the protection of civilian populations in armed conflict affirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2675 (XXV):
"2. In the conduct of military operations during armed conflicts, a distinction must be made at all times between persons actively taking part in the hostilities and civilian populations.
3. In the conduct of military operations, every effort should be made to spare civilian populations from the ravages of war, and all necessary precaution should be taken to avoid injury, loss or damage to civilian populations.
4. Civilian populations as such should not be the object of military operations.
5. Dwellings and other installations that are used only by civilian populations should not be the object of military operations.
6. Places or areas designated for the sole protection of civilians, such as hospital zones or similar refuges, should not be the object of military operations."
As the legal successor to the USSR, the Russian Federation is bound by the international agreements entered into by the former Soviet Union. Consequently, Russia has to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law and observe minimum humanitarian standards in time of armed conflict. The violation of these obligations can but provoke a vigorous reaction on the part of the international community.
4. Conclusions
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights wants to underline that whether the current conflict is viewed as an internal one or not, both combatant parties must respect the rules of international law on the conduct of their armies towards non-combatants.
The Committee is assured that both parties, but the Russian military especially, are disrespecting these rules by acting in the way described above. Violating human rights and the principles of international humanitarian law in such a way is never justifiable, neither in an internal nor an external conflict.
The Committee is shocked that the Russian leadership, after a whole month of fighting, is only now starting to consider "that the military phase of the conflict is nearly over" and that, having taken into account "the errors made", they wish to "concentrate their efforts on a peaceful settlement" (statement made by Mr Filatov, Head of the Office of President Yeltsin). The Committee cannot accept that the Russian authorities only offer peace terms (on the basis of an unconditional surrender) after they have achieved their aims militarily violating international humanitarian law.
The Committee thus firmly condemns the violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law described above. It urges both parties to lay down their arms and seek a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, it also expects the Russian authorities to pay damages to all civilians who can prove that they were attacked by its army.
5. Recommendation
The Committee recommends that the Assembly suspends its examination of Russia's application for membership until it is convinced that the Russian Federation has secured respect for human rights in Chechnya, since membership is conditioned on the enjoyment by all persons within a member's jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms, according to the Council of Europe's Statute.
The Assembly should decide to send the Sub-Committee on Human Rights of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to Chechnya once the hostilities have ceased to verify that human rights are observed. Only after such a visit should the Assembly decide whether it wants to re-open the examination of Russia's application for membership. The decision should be taken in the Plenary Assembly.
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Reporting Committee: Political Affairs Committee (Doc 7230)
Committee for opinion: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Reference to committee: Doc 7222, Reference No. 1987 of 30 January 1995 - Urgent debate decided by the Assembly on 30 January 1995
Opinion approved by the committee on 2 February 1995
Secretaries to the committee: Mr Plate, Ms Bakardjieva and Ms Kleinsorge