Human Rights Watch
Open letter To EU Heads of State and Government and Foreign Ministers
9 December 1999
Your Excellency,
We are writing to you in advance of the E.U. Helsinki summit, to relay to you Human Rights Watch's concerns in Northern
Caucasus. As you know, Russian forces are now poised for a full assault on Grozny, Chechnya's capital, and have warned
civilians to leave the city of face certain death. This ultimatum follows two months of war during which Russian forces
have neglected their obligations to protect civilian immunity. The Russian government has justified its military action
in the region in terms of eliminating terrorism and "Islamic fundamentalism." For some time the Russian government and
the army appeared confident that because the E.U. has a shared interest in these goals, it would restrain criticisms
about the conduct of the armed conflict and take no action when Russian forces violate international humanitarian law.
We welcome the many strongly worded statements by the E.U. and its member states which represent a sincere challenge to
this misplaced confidence. We believe that it is high time for the E.U. to move beyond rhetoric and set out tough
conditions for Russia to secure better protection for civilians.
We urge the E.U. to consider the following measures:
- support a freeze on the release of future IMF funds to Russia until demonstrable proof, over a protracted period,
that: Russian forces are desisting from attacks on heavily populated areas; that they are implementing well-publicized
cease-fires along exit routes to allow civilians to flee; and that they are allowing unfettered access and necessary
security for international observers and that of humanitarian organizations seeking to provide relief in Chechnya.
- press the World Bank to withhold its upcoming $100 million structural adjustment loan disbursement to Russia until
same conditions are met;
- take immediate steps to suspend the E.U.'s Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Russia until same conditions are
met;
- support suspension of Russia's delegation to the Council of Europe until same conditions are met.
- respond generously to the U.N.'s $16.2 million Joint Appeal for humanitarian assistance for Northern Caucasus;
Human Rights Watch researchers in the northern Caucasus have interviewed hundreds of civilians fleeing Chechnya. Our
findings confirm that the conduct of Russia's military campaign in Chechnya continues to take a terrible toll on
civilians. Russian forces have bombed and shelled dozens of towns and villages still inhabited by civilians, actions
that have killed and maimed untold numbers of people and shown contempt for international humanitarian law. They have
consistently failed to provide civilians safe exit routes out of the conflict zones, forcing them either to remain in
villages under siege or risk getting shot on the road. Civilians able to reach the Ingush border often face long waits
-- sometimes up to days -- in freezing weather while Russian border police "process" them and extort bribes as a
condition for permitting them to cross. Soldiers in Russian-controlled areas of Chechnya apparently have carte blanche
to strip homes of household goods and valuables; many people have returned briefly to their homes to find them stripped
bare. Displaced persons in Ingushetia face serious protection problems and acute -- sometimes life-threatening -- lack
of basic humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, the Russian government has embarked on a vicious propaganda campaign to mislead the public and the
international community about the tactics in the military campaign and to sanitize the civilian cost of the war. It has
denied that the massive human suffering it has inflicted in the northern Caucasus and brands efforts to advocate on
behalf of civilians as supporting terrorism.
The Russian government claims it is fighting this war to stop terrorism, in the wake of the September terrorist bombings
in Moscow and Volgodonsk. Any state has the right to protect its citizens from terrorism; but no state can do so through
wanton disregard for civilian life. The E.U. has distinguished itself with its strong position against the civilian
suffering the conflict has caused. Now that the war growing more intense, we firmly believe it is time to present the
Russian government with serious consequences should it continue to so blatantly ignore the needs of innocent civilians.
We thank you for your attention to our urgent concerns.
Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division
Human Rights Watch
Lotte Leicht
Brussels Office Director
Human Rights Watch