Oliver Dupuis asks Council of Europe about its awareness of situation in Chechnya

On April 15, 2003 after the meeting between the representative of Greece, which is presently in the chair of the Council of Europe, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation had been closed, the representative of Greece welcomed ?positive signals coming from Chechnya?. He particularly pointed out that ?mass participation of the Chechen people in the referendum on constitution held on March 23 in Chechnya had become such a positive signal for the Council of Europe?. The participants of the meeting came to the decision not to put the clause ?On Situation in Chechnya? on the agenda of the summit ?The Council of Europe ? Russia?, that would take place in Saint Petersburg on May 31 this year.

The question, presented to the Council within the limits of ?The Question Hour for May 2003? by the Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party and the Member of the European Parliament belonging to the radical group Olivier Dupuis:

?Whether the Council is informed of numerous international observers? testimonies, indicating gross breaches during the period which preceded so-called referendum, as well as during the so-called referendum itself? In particular, whether the Council acquainted with the fact of existence of ?the extra registers of voters?, which allowed to supplement registers of voters already after ?the referendum?, though those registers were full even without it, as Russian soldiers took part in ?the referendum?, and even foreign journalists were able to register to participate in ?voting?? Moreover, whether the Council acquainted with the report of the pro-Russian Chechen Administration of Mr. Kadirov, in particular, with the number of peaceful Chechen citizens who fallen preys to mass executions, with the number of common graves and dead bodies found, and with the facts of everyday murders, committed by Russian military and paramilitary units??

Brussels, April 23, 2003