In advance of the Millennium Summit next week, HRW writes to underscore the importance that we assign to continued efforts by your administration to ensure accountability for atrocities committed in Chechnya.
We welcomed U.S. co-sponsorship of the resolution on Chechnya adopted by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in April, as well as your attention to this issue when you met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June. Unfortunately, notwithstanding the Russian government's repeated promises to abide by international standards in Chechnya, arbitrary detention, torture, and other abuses continue there, and, as winter approaches, more than 100,000 displaced Chechens deeply fear returning home. The Russian government has taken no meaningful steps to hold accountable those responsible for abuses, and, as detailed in the attached memorandum, continues to flout the central requirement of the U.N. resolution: the formation of a national commission of inquiry. While it may have been reasonable for the U.S. initially to accept President Putin's assurances that Russian troops would abide by international law and that any violations would be prosecuted, the time for patience has long passed.
We urge you to join with your allies to communicate an unequivocal message to President Putin in New York: Russia must abide by its commitments in Chechnya, including immediate cessation of all violations of international human rights and humanitarian law; a transparent and thorough process of accountability for all violations; access to Chechnya for U.N. special human rights mechanisms and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights; and redeployment of the OSCE Assistance Group to Chechnya. A clearly defined timetable for achieving these benchmarks should be established; it should be made clear that if this timeline is not met, the Russian Federation will face renewed calls for international measures of accountability—such as an international commission of inquiry or an interstate complaint before the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, we hope that you will underscore with your Russian counterparts that international public support for financing through new loans from multilateral financial institutions or debt relief will depend on a demonstrated and consistent Russian commitment to rule of law, not only in Chechnya, but throughout the country.
Thank you for your attention to these matters. We wish you a productive summit.
Sincerely,
Rachel Denber
Acting Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division
Enc.
cc: Secretary of State Madeline Albright
Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott
Mr. Samuel Berger
Amb. Stephen Sestanovich
Amb. David Scheffer
Mr. Mark Medish
Mr. Lawrence Summers
Congressman Sam Gejdenson
Sen. Jesse Helms
Sen. Patrick Leahy
