Russia opposes UN Commission's passing resolution on Chechnya

Russia cannot agree with the intention of the European Union to submit the question of the situation in Chechnya for consideration by the UN Human Rights Commission, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

"We think the EU resolution is not true to fact and the goals which the people of Chechnya are handling", the Russian minister told the press conference in Dublin on Wednesday, April 14.

Lavrov stressed that Russia has many times told its European partners that human rights violations in Chechnya are not disregarded. "This question is paid an increased attention to. Criminal cases are initiated not only against leaders of illegal armed formations, in other words terrorists. A whole range of criminal cases have begun regarding servicemen of the federal forces accused of excess of powers", he said.

Russia has no "double standards", the Russian foreign minister noted.

Lavrov also said that, at the request of the Irish foreign minister, he has stated the Russian estimates of the developments in Chechnya.

"I have explained to our European friends all the details of the political processes under way in Chechnya, the steps being taken to meet the economic wants of the people of Chechnya in a bid to provide everything necessary to those who had to leave Chechnya and now want to be back", Sergey Lavrov said.

"I have shown that the only violence now under way in Chechnya is the work of terrorists trying to block the process of rehabilitation and stabilization of Chechnya", he said.

"So far, such attempts are being reduced to naught, their initiators understand their lack of prospect and sense and are giving themselves up to the federal authorities", the Russian foreign minister said.

Lavrov one more time pointed to Russia's readiness to discuss differences with countries of Europe, though "as friends, openly and frankly".

The draft resolution on Chechnya was submitted to the EU in the end of last week. Voting on the resolution in the UN Commission is slated for Thursday, April 15.

Representatives of the Russian delegation said in Geneva that, despite its rather quiet nature, some clauses of the resolution are utterly not true to fact.

"It again makes mention of the forced resettlement of internally displaced persons. But such a problem does not exist. This is recognized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees", said one of the Russian diplomats.

The draft resolution proposed by the European Union recognizes the right of the government of the Russian Federation for the protection of its territorial integrity, the struggle against terrorism and crime, as well as for the protection of the population, including residents of Chechnya, from acts of terrorism. At the same time, the draft states serious violations of international human rights legislation and the international humanitarian law in Chechnya.

Editors note: See also the article "Human Rights Watch: amid evidence of new atrocities, UN Human Rights Commission must take action".