World

Russia Rejoins Council Of Europe

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 25, 2001 / 10:43 PM EST / CBS

The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly restored Russia's vote Thursday despite persistent concerns about the human rights situation in Chechnya.

The European human rights body's 600-member chamber said it decided to reinstate the voting rights of the 36-member Russian delegation because of the Russian parliament's increasing cooperation with the group.

The assembly voted by 88 to 20 with 11 abstentions to restore Moscow's privileges. It also agreed to set up a monitoring group for Chechnya with the Russian Duma, or parliament.

The assembly had revoked the Russian delegation's voting rights last April, saying they would not be restored without "substantial progress" toward improving human rights in Chechnya.

While it noted "some encouraging, if limited developments" since then, the assembly said Russia had far to go in adhering to human-rights standards in war-torn republic.

"Russia did not act in line with the Council of Europe's principles and values in the conduct of its military campaign and many of the assembly's requirements in this regard are yet to be implemented," it said in a statement.

A progress report on Chechnya said alleged human rights violations by Russian troops were not investigated and cited a "disturbing" humanitarian situation highlighted by the scarcity of food, medicine, and hospital treatment.

Hours before the vote, Russia allocated just under $500 million in new funds to restore the shattered economy and entrench civilian rule in Chechnya.

Chechen rebels drove Russian troops out of Chechnya in a 1994-96 war, but Moscow's forces went back last year and now occupy most of the territory. Fighting continues, and human rights organizations accuse both sides of human rights violations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a reduction in Russian forces, which nominally control most Chechen territory after fighting that flattened many towns. Russian troops still fall prey almost daily to rebel ambushes.

Putin earlier this week put the FSB, Russia's state security organization and the successor of the KGB, in charge of the war.

Russia has repeatedly rejected criticism of its war in Chechnya, denying widespread abuses and insisting that the conflict is an internal affair.

In Moscow, the foreign ministry welcomed the decision and said it could lead to better cooperation between Russia and the Council of Europe.

"The delegates (of the Assembly) realistically looked at the situation and understood that Russia is not a pupil who can be sent out from the classroom and that cooperation with it … will yield a better result than confrontation," Interfax news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying.

The Parliamentary Assembly is a largely advisory body of lawmakers from the 43 nations that belong to the Council of Europe, which binds members to the 1952 European Convention on Human Righs.

Thursday's vote followed a two-day visit to Chechnya by a Council of Europe delegation this month.

Briton Lord Judd, explaining the assembly's vote, said the alternative to Thursday's decision was "to sit with our arms crossed and do nothing."

Before Thursday's decision, the human rights group Amnesty International spoke of daily abuses and said the Council had "an obligation to remind the Russian authorities that no country is above the law."

Human Rights Watch said in a statement earlier this week that "Every minute of the day, people in Chechnya live in fear of being arrested and tortured. There's nothing normal about that."

The new U.S. administration of President Bush also issued a fresh denunciation of the Russian military campaign Wednesday.

"The fighting has continued and there are continuing and credible reports of humanitarian abuses against the civilian population by Russian troops," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.