Depending on the accession opinions handed down for each applicant, additional conditions and timetables for compliance may be crafted in an ad hoc manner to address the Council of Europe's particular concerns with each applicant country's human rights record. Thus, for example, in recommending that the Committee of Ministers extend the Russian Federation full membership, the Parliamentary Assembly "note[d]" that the Russian Federation "intend[ed]" to adopt the conditions enumerated in points 7-10 of Parliamentary Assembly Opinion No. 193 (1996) on Russia's request for membership in the Council of Europe (see Appendix A).
The principal mechanism for monitoring a new member state's compliance with commitments and obligations is enshrined in Parliamentary Assembly Order No. 508 (1995). It details procedures for monitoring, reporting on, and crafting recommendations for securing improvement in the human rights situation (see Appendix B).13 Points 9 and 10 prescribe action that may be taken in response to non-compliance: "The Assembly may sanction persistent failure to honour commitments, and lack of co-operation in its monitoring process, by the non-ratification of the credentials of a national parliamentary delegation at the beginning of its next ordinary session, in accordance with Rule 6 of the Rules of Procedure. Should the country continue not to respect its commitments, the Assembly may address a recommendation to the Committee of Ministers requesting it to take the appropriate action provided for in Article 8 of the Statute of the Council of Europe." The Committee of Ministers also has responsibility for monitoring, but its successes are less easy to gauge since their proceedings are held in secret and findings are not known to be made publicly available. In a new development, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution on January 29, 1997, to create a new sixty-five-member commission to ensure the honoring of obligations and commitments agreed upon at the time of accession.14 The resolutionprovided that no new monitoring procedures would be initiated on the basis of Order No. 508 and that all monitoring procedures pending would be handed over to the new monitoring body and concluded by it. The decision, which will come into effect on April 25, 1997, raises hopes about stronger monitoring practices in the future.
In cases when the Russian Federation has shown insufficient progress, or has actively perpetrated serious abuse, the Council of Europe has responded in various ways. The Council of Europe documented abuses and expressed public condemnation of the serious and widespread human rights violations that the Russian military forces continued to commit as they waged war in Chechnya during 1996. On March 19, 1996, it created the ad hoc committee on the situation in Chechnya "to monitor the situation in Chechnya...and report back."15 The committee and other representatives of the Council of Europe have conducted field investigations and issued reports that uncovered or confirmed evidence of the scale of Russia's violations and the alarming failure of the Russian government to comply with its Council of Europe commitments. Council of Europe representatives have condemned the violations in strong terms and, among other things, demanded that "documented human rights abuses, for example in the filtration camps,16 be investigated, and the guilty punished."17 To its credit, on June 28, 1996, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution establishing a special rapporteur on the case Alexander Nikitin, a retired Russian naval captain and environmental researcher who was incarcerated for ten months in 1996-97 on charges of treason.18 The special rapporteur traveled to St. Petersburg on February 10, 1997, to discuss the case with the St. Petersburg deputy prosecutor and made public his critical views of the case. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki considers this is a very positive example of vigorous, targeted Council of Europe human rights intervention. The Council of Europe explicitly demanded that Russia honor its commitment to implement a death penalty moratorium;19 and, most consequentially, threatened to "take all necessary steps" envisioned in Parliamentary Assembly Order No. 508 (1995) should executions continue, specifically the non-ratification of the credentials of the Russian parliamentary delegation at its next session.20
On the first anniversary of its accession, the Russian Federation will miss its prescribed deadline for ratifying the conventions and protocols identified as mandatory in Point 10 of Parliamentary Assembly Opinion No. 193 (1996). The Council of Europe is not known to have issued any warnings prior to the deadline as it approached, nor to have prepared any threats of sanctions for when that deadline will have passed (February 28, 1997). Human Rights Watch/Helsinki isparticularly disturbed by the Council of Europe's own relative tolerance of missed ratification deadlines because ratification is essential to the functioning of legally binding compliance mechanisms.
Russia's record on human rights has played a large role in the process of admission to the Council of Europe, but the standards applied by the Council, and the degree to which it has pressed for compliance with commitments and obligations, have been inconsistent. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki welcomed the Parliamentary Assembly's Decision on February 2, 1995, to suspend consideration of Russia's application due to the highly abusive manner of its prosecution of the war in Chechnya.21 The Council of Europe decided to resume consideration on September 26, 1995,22 however, and later offered the Russian Federation full membership in January and February 199623 although, not long before, Russian troops had escalated hostilities in Chechnya, including serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, thereby displaying a flagrant disregard for its pledges to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Violations in Chechnya committed by Russian forces at that time and preceding, included the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian targets, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, torture and other forms of severe mistreatment of civilian and military detainees at "filtration points" in and around the conflict zone, and looting.24 Choosing that moment to grant full membership sent a message that the Council of Europe was willing to allow its members to engage in these human rights atrocities. This message was made explicit in Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1065, which noted that "violations may continue" but nonetheless it was recommended that the application process resume.25 Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1063 of September 27, 1996, explained that Russia's application review "was resumed on the grounds that Russia was henceforth committed to finding a political solution and that alleged and documented human rights violations were being investigated."26 Most inexplicable, when the Russian authorities broke their pledges, the Council of Europe again failed to suspend the process, but rather proceeded to offer the Russian Federation a place in its ranks.
11 Point 1 of the Decision of the Committee of Ministers of 16 January 1996 asks that the Council of Europe "encourage" member states which have not abolished the death penalty "to operate de facto or de jure a moratorium on the execution of death sentences." However, it does not explicitly link such a moratorium with accession deadlines or identify it as a specific membership prerequisite. Point 4 (iii) of Parliamentary Assembly's Recommendation 1302 (1996) recommends that "the attitude of applicant states towards the death penalty" be taken into account when the Council of Europe deliberates granting admission to an applicant state as a full member. Assembly debate on June 28, 1996 (24th Sitting). See Doc. 7589, report by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (rapporteur: Mrs Wohlwend). Text adopted by the Assembly on June 28, 1996 (24th Sitting).
12 In Point 6 of Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1044 (1994), the Assembly decided that the "willingness to ratify", but not the ratification itself, of the Sixth Protocol to the ECHR (which abolishes the death penalty in peace-time) was to be a prerequisite for membership in the Council of Europe. Assembly debate on October 4, 1994 (25th Sitting) (see Doc. 7154, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Rapporteur: Mr Franck). Text adopted by the Assembly on October 4, 1994 (25th Sitting).
13 Assembly debate on April 26, 1995 (12th Sitting) (see Doc. 7277, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Columberg; Doc. 7292, opinion of the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries, rapporteur: Mr Seitlinger; and Doc. 7294, opinion of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, rapporteur: Lord Finsberg). Text adopted by the Assembly on April 26, 1995 (12th Sitting).
14 Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1115 (1997) on the setting up of an Assembly committee on the honouring of obligations and commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee). Assembly debate on January 29, 1997 (5th Sitting). See Doc. 7722, report by the Committee on Rules of Procedure (rapporteur: Mrs Lentz-Cornette). Text adoptedby the Assembly on January 29, 1997 (5th Sitting). According to point 5, "the Monitoring Committee shall be responsible for verifying the fulfillment of the obligations assumed by the member states under the terms of the Council of Europe Statute, the European Convention on Human Rights and all other Council of Europe conventions to which they are parties, as well as the honouring of the commitments entered into by the authorities of member states upon their accession to the Council of Europe."
15 Parliamentary Assembly Order No. 516 (1996), point 3. Assembly debate on January 25, 1996 (7th Sitting). See Doc. 7475, motion for an order (Mr Atkinson and others). Text adopted by the Assembly on January 25, 1996 (7th Sitting).
16 "Filtration" is the process by which Chechen males are detained by Russian forces in order to ascertain whether they were combatants and to gather intelligence on the Chechen forces' military activities.
17 Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1086 (1996) on developments in the Russian Federation in relation to the situation in Chechnya, point 10. Assembly debate on April 24, 1996 (13th Sitting). See Doc. 7531, report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Muehlemann; and Doc. 7532, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Bindig.
18 On the basis if a resolution introduced by Mr. Behrndts (Germany), Doc. 7609.
19 See Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1097 (1996) on the abolition of the death penalty in Europe, Point 3. Assembly debate on June 28, 1996 (24th Sitting). See Doc. 7589, report by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (rapporteur: Mrs Wohlwend). Text adopted by the Assembly on June 28, 1996 (24th Sitting). See also Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1111 (1997) on the honouring of the commitment entered into by Russia upon accession to the Council of Europe to put into place a moratorium on executions of the death penalty.
20 Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1111 (1997) of January 29, 1997.
21 Resolution 1055 (1995), point 11. Assembly debate on February 2, 1995 (7th Sitting). See Document 7230, report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Muehlemann; and Doc. 7231, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Bindig.
22 Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1065 (1995) on procedure for an opinion on Russia's request for membership of the Council of Europe. Assembly debate on September 26, 1995 (27th Sitting). See Doc. 7372, report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Muehlemann; and Doc. 7384, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Bindig.
23 Point 11 (I), Parliamentary Assembly Opinion 193 (1996) on Russia's request for membership of the Council of Europe. Assembly debate on January 25, 1996 (6th and 7th Sittings). See Doc. 7443, report of the Political Affairs Committee (Rapporteur: Mr Muehlemann), and Doc. 7463, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Rapporteur: Mr Bindig). Text adopted by the Assembly on January 25, 1996 (7th Sitting). Committee of Ministers Resolution (96) 2, adopted by the Committee of Ministers on February 8, 1996.
24 See "State-sponsored Discrimination: Ethnic" below.
26 Parliamentary Assembly Opinion No. 193 (1996) on Russia's request for membership of the Council of Europe, Point 3. Assembly debate on January 25, 1996 (6th and 7th Sittings). See Doc. 7443, report of the Political Affairs Committee (Rapporteur: Mr Muehlemann), and Doc. 7463, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Rapporteur: Mr Bindig). Text adopted by the Assembly on January 25, 1996 (7th Sitting).