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ROMANIAS CHAIRMANSHIP

OF THE OSCE

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND

COOPERATION IN EUROPE

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

Printed for the use of the

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

OCTOBER 31, 2001

[CSCE 107-1-7]

 
(ii)

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

LORNE W. CRANER, Department of State

JACK DYER CROUCH II, Department of Defense

WILLIAM HENRY LASH III, Department of Commerce

COMMISSION STAFF

 RONALD J. MCNAMARA, Chief of Staff

DOROTHY DOUGLAS TAFT, Deputy Chief of Staff

BEN ANDERSON, Communications Director

OREST DEYCHAKIWSKY, Staff Advisor

JOHN FINERTY, Staff Advisor

CHADWICK R. GORE, Staff Advisor

ROBERT HAND, Staff Advisor

JANICE HELWIG, Staff Advisor

MARLENE KAUFMANN, Counsel

MICHELE MADASZ, Office Administrator

MICHAEL OCHS, Staff Advisor

ERIKA B. SCHLAGER, Counsel for International Law

H. KNOX THAMES, Staff Advisor

MAUREEN T. WALSH, General Counsel

HOUSE

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey

Co-Chairman

FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania

ZACH WAMP, Tennessee

ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama

STENY H. HOYER, Maryland

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland

LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida

SENATE

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado

Chairman

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas

GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio

CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York
(iii)

ROMANIAS CHAIRMANSHIP

OF THE OSCE

OCTOBER 31, 2001

PAGE

COMMISSIONERS

Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Chairman .................................................. 1

Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman .................................................... 2

Hon. Robert B. Aderholt, Commissioner ...................................................... 17

WITNESS

Testimony of His Excellency Mircea Dan Geoana, Chairman-in-Office,

OSCE ........................................................................................................... 3

APPENDICES

Prepared Statement of Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell ............................. 26

Prepared Statement of Rep. Christopher H. Smith .................................... 28

Prepared Statement of His Excellency Mircea Dan Geoana ....................... 29
ROMANIAS CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE OSCE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2001

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

WASHINGTON, DC

The Commission met at 9:30 a.m. in Room 385, Russell Senate Office

Building, Washington, DC, The Honorable Ben Nighthorse Campbell,

Chairman, presiding.

Commissioners present: Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Chairman;

Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman; Hon. Robert B. Aderholt,

Commissioner

Witnesses present: His Excellency Mircea Dan Geoana, Chairmanin-Office, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

OPENING STATEMENT OF

HON. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, CHAIRMAN,

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

Sen. CAMPBELL. This CSCE hearing will be in session.

This morning we welcome Foreign Minister Geoana to the Commission in his capacity as Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE]. The Minister met with the

Commissioners at the beginning of 2001, and we have been in close

contact as the events of this year have unfolded.

Mr. Minister, I appreciate the close working relationship that you

have maintained with this Commissiona tradition we hope to continue with your Portuguese successor next year.

Romania has encountered many challenges and accomplished a great

deal since assuming the chairmanship of the OSCE earlier this year,

yet much remains to be done. Indeed, Romanias chairmanship will

conclude as the international community faces a new set of challenges

that affect every one of the 55 OSCE participating States.

Its my hope that Operation Enduring Freedom will bring enduring

freedom to all of the countries in the vast OSCE region, including the

countries of Central Asia. In this regard, I see the OSCE role in promoting democracy, human rights, and economic liberty, and the campaign

to root out terrorism as complementary.

Americans are united and determined to see this war against terrorism in all of its forms succeed. The Helsinki Commission itself has

faced serious disruption as a direct result of terrorism, but we will not

be deterred. Erosion of our common commitment to human rights would

only lead to greater instability, not less.
2

It will be essential to dissuade despots of any notion that we are abandoning our firm commitment to democracy and human rights. To do

otherwise would imperil the very values and principles which terrorists

seek to destroy. Paying lip service to human rights alone will not suffice.

As President Bush has said, it is important to distinguish between

those who pursue legitimate political aspirations and terrorists. History has shown that the seeds of repression bear very poisonous fruit.

Mr. Minister, I appreciate your leadership in focusing the work of the

OSCE on combating corruption and organized crime, as well as your

strong support for the Southeastern Europe Cooperation Initiatives

[SECI] center for combating transnational organized crime located in

Bucharest.

Clearly there is a strong nexus between the operations of transnational criminal organizations and international terrorist organizations.

Indeed, according to experts, terrorists frequently work together in the

fields of drug trafficking and money laundering, and I strongly urge the

OSCE participating States to redouble their efforts to pursue practical

and cooperative fights of international crime and terrorism.

Its also our understanding that some terrorists themselves raise their

money from international crime and international drug sales.

The past year has provided Romania with a unique opportunity to

lead by example in implementation of its OSCE commitments during

its chairmanship. Indeed, several of our Commissioners have followed

developments in Romania for decades, and we appreciate your work to

ensure that long-standing human rights concerns in Romania will be

addressed by Bucharest.

In this regard, we look forward to continued action to overcome the

legacy of the past, including anti-Semitism, while protecting the rights

of all Romanian citizens, including the Roma as well as ethnic and

religious minorities.

Mr. Minister, we wish you continued success in the closing and challenging days of Romanias chairmanship of the OSCE and your views

on how to strengthen the OSCE process.

Im pleased to yield to Co-Chairman Smith for any remarks he would

have.

OPENING STATEMENT OF

HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CO-CHAIRMAN,

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank

you for convening this important hearing on Romanias leadership as

Chairman of the OSCE. I join you in welcoming our friend, Foreign

Minister Geoana, and look forward to his testimony.

The Commission has frequently held hearings to examine various

aspects of the OSCE. In the past 2 months alone, we have held hearings

which have examined police training issues in the OSCE region, U.S.

policy toward the OSCE, and the efforts of the OSCE in resolving the

situation in Moldova.

We have been fortunate at many of these events to hear directly from

OSCE officials, including Mission Heads and the Representative of Freedom of the Media. I look forward to the insights that Minister Geoana,

serving in the OSCEs most senior political position, can bring us this

morning.
3

Minister Geoana, as you know, I, along with many other Commissioners, had several concerns about Romanias readiness to serve as the

OSCE Chair-in-Office. Indeed, we wrote Secretary of State Albright to

express those concerns back in 1999.

However, I have to say that I have been encouraged by your commitment, your leadership, and your engagement on the issues of relevance.

Thank you for your skills. Romania has received high marks for its

stewardship of the OSCE community. I particularly appreciate your

initiative in spearheading OSCE meetings on trafficking and on the

Roma.

In fact, being the top man or woman in the OSCE seems to bring

greater and greater demands with each passing year, with the plethora

of conflicts and crises that continually erupt in the OSCE region. Unfortunately, the events of September 11 have added to the challenges

the OSCE community faces.

While I commend you for your own role in serving the OSCE community, I must express some disappointment about the situation in Romania itself. When we wrote to Secretary Albright in 1999, we did so in

great measure because of human rights issues in your own country.

The country that serves as the OSCE Chair should, in my view, lead by

example.

Unfortunately, many problems we described in 1999 persist. Statues

celebrating an executed war criminal stand on at least four pieces of

public property. There has been no move at all to repeal Romanias

criminal defamation law.

I am particularly concerned about the recent proposal by the Mayor

of Piatr Neamta town which hosts an Antonescu statue, by the way

to create a walled, guarded ghetto for Roma. I welcome Prime Minister

Nastases condemnation of this outrageous plan, but the very fact that

an elected official could offer such an idea to the public says a great deal

about the climate of intolerance that Roma continue to face in Romania.

I am encouraged by the fact that the OSCEs Senior Advisor on Roma

Issues, Nicolae Gheorghe, and Romani CRISS, one of the leading NGOs

in Romania, are working to address these issues, and I hope your government will support them in their efforts.

Again, thank you for your leadership. I look forward to your statements that you make today, and we appreciate your taking the time to

be with us.

TESTIMONY OF HIS EXCELLENCY MIRCEA DAN GEOANA,

CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE, ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND

COOPERATION IN EUROPE

Min. GEOANA. Thank you very much.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Please proceed, Mr. Minister.

Min. GEOANA. Its always a pleasure to be back. Its like coming

home. I have to say that I, myself, as Chairman-in-Office, but also as a

Foreign Minister and former Ambassador over here, I appreciate the

long-term involvement and dedication of the Commission in being with

us, giving us advice, praising us for doing good things, and also drawing our attention when we are still suffering from some legacies of the

past.

Its always a privilege, and I would like to thank both the Chairman

and the Co-Chairman for their leadership in the Commission.
4

I would like to present very briefly some things that we were able to

achieve and some remaining pending issues during our chairmanship

of the OSCE, and probably to give an overview of how we think the

organization is moving, especially after the September 11 fundamental

change in global affairs.

Then I will try to give some answers or I will be welcoming further

questions about some situations in my own country, Romania.

When we took over the chairmanship, we wanted, first and foremost,

to ensure that all OSCE participating States should continue to believe

that our organization was addressing the issues of concern to them and

their citizens in a more practical and action-oriented way.

Our objectives at the beginning of our chairmanship were that the

OSCE should remain relevant and useful as an instrument for crisis

management, conflict prevention, and post-conflict rehabilitation. It

should remain a key body for promoting the rule of law and human

rights, but that it should also strengthen its activity in other areas

such as the economic and environmental dimension. Here I would like

to stress how much we appreciate the advice of Senator Campbell in

that regard.

I would also like to mention that we stressed at the beginning of our

chairmanship that our organization should be prepared to cope with

new security challenges, such as organized crime and corruption, international terrorism, as it proved to be the case after September 11,

and, generically, extremism.

We are also concerned that the OSCE should pay more attention to

regions which had been less in the international spotlight, such as the

Caucasus and Central Asia. I would like to mention four specific issues

which have taken much of our attention this yearMacedonia, Kosovo,

corruption and organized crime, and, indeed, terrorism.

A few words on Macedonia. The situation in Macedonia has given us

a clear lesson that conflict can still erupt unexpectedly. The situation

has stabilized for now thanks to the concerted and intense efforts that

the U.S., the EU, NATO, and the OSCE have taken together.

The NATO operation to disarm and disband the ethnic Albanian groups

was a clear success, but there wereand there still areworrying signs

that some groups will try to delay the parliamentary process which

would have thrown the whole process and the whole peace agreement in

jeopardy.

I was in Skopje often myself or with the Secretary General of NATO,

George Robertson, or Mr. Solana from the EU, and Ambassador Pardew as the U.S. Special Envoy. I am planning to go again, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Co-Chairman, next week, the 7th, trying, with my friends

George Robertson and Javier Solana, to give a final push to the discussions or the debates in the Parliament in Kosovo for the final amendments to the Constitution to be passed, and for us to be able, as the

OSCE, to get into the stage when confidence-building measures are really implemented and trying to help that society to come at peace with

itself.

There are deep scars, there are deep wounds in that society, and I

think our organization can and should do many things for that society

to come back together as a truly multi-ethnic and tolerant and multireligious society.
5

There are lots of things that need to be done. I am very proud to say

that our organization was able to react faster than before in mobilizing

additional monitors to help with the return of the authorities to the

villages, and we have displayed and dispatched in the last couple of

days some of our monitors, including police observers, in some pilot

projects in five villages near Kumanovo.

I myself visited such villages when I was there 10 days ago, and I am

optimistic that well be able to do a good job as we move forward.

We are also very closely working on something that the OSCE, as you

know, Mr. Chairman, has developed a certain skill in doing, and thats

basically training of multi-ethnic police forces. We have done a good job

in Kosovo, and now, starting January 1, well be taking over the current police training which is done by the United States.

The OSCE will be taking practically over this operation January 1 in

trying to help the Macedonian society building a new, more respected,

and multi-ethnic police force. So this is something that we know you

care about, and we are trying to give some answers to that.

Ill get now to Kosovo, because we are getting very close to the elections in this province, and we do believe that these elections on November 17 for self-governing institutions in Kosovo are probably the most

important event of the year.

These elections must be inclusive if we want to see viable and sustainable institutions in a multi-ethnic Kosovo. Our organization has

played an important role in organizing and supporting the voter registration process. More than 170,000 Serbs have registered on electoral

lists, and a representative number of Serb political parties have registered as candidates.

Our main priorityour main challenge and our main concern today

are to ensure that, on the day of the elections, the Kosovo Serbs and

other minority groups will be actually coming to vote. This is something that well continue to need to encourage Belgrade, their turn to

encourage the ethnic Serbs to show a strong turnout for the elections.

For our part, we are working with the UNMIK and KFOR on the

security concerns raised by Kosovo Serbs and Belgrade, so that refugees and internally displaced persons feel they can return safely to their

homes.

Among our many activities in Kosovo, I will mention again our work

at the Kosovo Police Service School, which is training local police officers and trainers. We are now very proud to say that the first Kosovo

police trainers of this service school graduated on August 1, and now

they are training police cadets.

The school aims to provide police training in line with democratic

standards for at least 4,000 locally recruited officers, including members of minority communities and women.

The long-term future and stability of Kosovo and all those who live

there is still far from being certain, and we must strive for a working

relationship between Belgrade and Pristina. The international community must keep making this point, both to the Albanian leaders in Kosovo and, equally, to the authorities in Belgrade.

Another topic of a priority to the OSCE, and for my own country,

wasand still isthe issue of corruption and organized crime. We know

how much this thing is of concern also to the Commission, and we are

trying to put more energy into this subject.
6

Our chairmanship has consistently emphasized that corruption is a

serious threat to the OSCE values, that corruption and illegal activity

like money laundering, trafficking, and organized crime endanger not

only our economic growth and sound development but also our security.

We must pay particular attention to the links between organized crime

and terrorist groups, particularly on the financing side.

The OSCE Economic Forum is mainly focused on transparency and

good governanceindeed, a weak spot for many of our member states.

OSCE can play an important part in stimulating the political will to

develop and implement the necessary legislation, and promoting regional

cooperation, strengthening civil society, and increasing civil participation in the governmental decision-making process. All of this can really

contribute to good governance.

We have done a couple of projects in the field, and they are still going

on with significant success. The OSCE presence in Albania, along with

the World Bank and the European Commission, continues to provide

direct advice and strategic planning on anti-corruption issues. The OSCE

office in Armenia is coordinating the International Anti-Corruption Joint

Task Force. Together with other OSCE missions in the Caucasus, they

have built up a network of NGOs.

U.S. support and financial contributions to OSCE anti-corruption

activities have been enormously valuable, and we are very grateful for

the U.S. continued support for such important projects.

Concrete actions that we have been proposing could include promoting, the adoption and implementation of international legal instruments,

and developing codes of conducta recommendation that the Economic

Forum this year has put forward. Holding periodic consultations with

partner institutions and organizations, like as the tripartite meeting

on good governance last February with the Council of Europe and the

UN.

Involving OSCE field missions in the Council of Europes GRECO

evaluations, under the Stability Pact Anti-Corruption Initiative. And

cooperating with the SECI Regional Center on combating cross-border

crime that you know so well and you have supported constantly, and we

have encouraged the SECI Center to make contact with the Central

Asian law enforcement authorities.

This is something that I proposed to the leadership in Uzbekistan

when I visited last week, and they seem interested in Central Asia and

the Caucasus in the SECI experience and in cooperating with the SECI

Center in activities against organized crime of a transregional nature.

We have focused, indeed, on something that is a great concern also to

my country, and this is the matter of illegal trafficking of human beings. This is a plague. This is a growing business. This is something

that we try to do a better job in fighting against.

Our chairmanship organized a regional conference in May this year

on illegal trafficking. We had the privilege of having the Director of the

FBI, other senior government and law enforcement representatives for

Southeast Europe and EU countries. We agreed at that meeting on a

couple of conclusions, priorities, and actions in order to fight together in

a better way human trafficking.
7

Im happy to say that when it comes to the SECI Center we have been

able, with joint cooperation among the 11 countries taking part in our

center, to crack down on a couple of important networks and criminals,

including lady criminals, who are and were the key vectors of trafficking in our region.

Our police in RomaniaIm happy to report to you that we were able

to crack down on a couple of such networks in the recent days. So I

think that the value of this regional cooperation is starting to pay off.

A few words on terrorism. The September 11 attacks against the

United States brought home, more than any other single act of terrorism, the dangers from international terrorism to freedom, humanity,

and the security of the individualvalues which the OSCE is committed to defend and uphold.

The OSCE condemned rigorously and vigorously the attacks on September 11, and we have fully supported the creation of a strong and

broad international coalition against terrorism, and this is something

that well continue to do.

But we also wanted to focus on some specific contribution that the

OSCE can make in the international fight against terrorism. In my

address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on September 20, I

mentioned three areas where I believe the OSCE can bring added value.

First, making use of our political will and solidarity in committing to

joint action, with a strong declaration on combating terrorism to be

adopted at the Bucharest OSCE Ministerial the beginning of December.

Secondly, focusing our attention on addressing root causes, such as

economic and social marginalization, which can be fertile ground for

extremist ideologies, and fighting the gray zones of organized crime,

including trafficking in people and arms.

Thirdly, acting as a bridge between regional initiatives to set common priorities.

Cooperation between OSCE states can only be truly effective if all

states strengthen or introduce anti-terrorist legislation, including European-wide powers of arrest and extradition of suspects.

A common legal framework is essential for the exchange of information and expertise between our law enforcement agencies. The appointment of an OSCE Police Advisor, an older British idea which is supported by most OSCE states, would be the first step in promoting this

kind of active cooperation.

I have to report that I am today more optimistic that the idea of a

Police Advisor at the OSCE will become a reality in the very near future.

The Bishkek conference on terrorism, drug trafficking, and organized

crime in December provides a good opportunity for us to review the

state of play on signature and ratification of the various UN conventions on terrorism and to strengthen police and judicial systems in the

democratic context. Our hope is that the Central Asians can draw on

the experience of other countries in counterterrorism.

We have now set up a task force in Vienna to look at concrete steps

the participating States can and should take in coordinating our efforts

to combat terrorism with the aim of developing an OSCE-wide action

plan against terrorism for adoption at the Bucharest Ministerial in

December.
8

Now a few words on human rights. You know how much our organization and your Commission have been at the core activity of the human rights since the inception of the OSCE in 1975. We believe, as CoChairman Smith has said, that also Romania has led also with the

power of example, and we are taking these things very seriously.

We have spent many years and vast resources in the OSCE on crisis

management and rebuilding societies after conflict. It might be going

too far to say that if these basic rights had been respected fully we

would not have witnessed the vicious conflicts of the last past 10 years.

Im convinced that results would not have been so catastrophic or

have required such massive international intervention if free and democratic systems had been in place.

I also made the point in my presentation at the Permanent Council in

Vienna that the current fight against terrorism should not beshould

not be a pretext for leadership in some countries of the OSCE to be used

as a pretext in cracking down their legal secular opposition.

I made this point in Tashkent to the President of Uzbekistan. I made

this point in Turkmenistan and the other countries I visited. There is a

significant democratic deficit in these countries.

I have also recognized, Mr. Chairman, that we also have to put more

resources in assisting these countries on the economic and security

fronts, but this should not and will not be done at the expense of the

human dimension of our democratic values. They are universal, and all

our member states should abide by those standards.

Cooperation with international organizations was another point of

interest for our chairmanship, and this was the principle which was

governing our activity, working in close synergy with other organizations, and also trying to have a practical division of labor, recognizing

where other organizations have more comparative or competitive advantage, and also asking them to recognize when the OSCE has such

advantages.

I think that the best example of cooperation is Macedonia. I think

what weve been able to do together with our friends in NATO and EU

and us, the OSCE, is really an example of a true new spirit of cooperation among key organizations. The same thing applies, of course, with

our relationship with our friends at the Council of Europe, and the other

more specialized agencies, such as the UNHCR and the International

Organization for Migration.

Last few words on the future direction of our organization and also

how we see the last couple of months of our chairmanship. Our priorities for the OSCE Bucharest Ministerial are to set the agenda for the

next few years in certain areas.

We are aiming for the following results: strong declarations on terrorism and on illegal trafficking, appointment of an OSCE Police Advisor, adoption of an OSCE action plan on Roma/Sinti issues. Im grateful

that you recognize the efforts of our chairmanship and of my country in

organizing, for the first time ever in the history of the CSCE/OSCE, an

international conference on the Roma/Sinti issue.

It was done in Bucharest. I think it was a success. Now we have to

really follow through with practical actions. Im convinced that a Portuguese chairman-in-office next year will follow on some ideas that we

have been able to adopt in Bucharest.
9

Strengthened commitments to assist with quality refugee return, and

this is something which is of paramount importance in our fight against

global terrorism. As you did, I visited many refugee camps in many

corners of the OSCE space. The situation is dramatic, Mr. Chairman.

There are youngsters with basically no hopes for the future. Thats

the place where organized crime is developing. Thats the place where

including even more difficult activities related even to our fight against

terrorism can be related to. This is something that we have to put more

energy into.

And also, we are aiming and adopting a substantive declaration on

Southeast Europe, mainly after the very successful regional conference

of the Stability Pact, which was held in our capital city, Bucharest, last

week.

And, finally, wed like to see an agreement on institutional strengthening of the organization, and I think that the time has come in this

new global environment to look closer at the legal capacity for the OSCE.

And here Im making a personal plea to you as important leaders of

the U.S. Congress, and also our friends in the U.S. administration, to

move forward on this subject. We know it is a complicated one, but I

think the time has come for us to look at the legal capacity of our organization.

I think that if we want to build sustainable democracy in our part of

the world, Southeast Europe, it is time to look for a strategy for the

region as a whole. The time for ad hoc localized solutions is past. The

syndrome of dependency on the major powers cannot continue indefinitely.

The countries of our region must start to exercise responsibility themselves by looking to their own resources and by developing healthy regional cooperation systems. This is not an overnight process, and the

international community must remain engaged. But we should also be

pushing now for more effective self-governance in line with OSCE standards.

I have highlighted just a few of the points of interest. I will make two

comments, and then if you want me I can go and answer some of the

specific remarks which were made in the two interventions of the Chairman and the Co-Chairman, or, if you want, any other questions I am

ready to respond.

I was in Moscow last week, and I had a long conversation with Minister Ivanov, who by the way will be visiting Washington in the next

couple of days. And I think that my conversations with other capitals of

the OSCEbig capitals and smaller capitalsare indicating to us that

now this new atmosphere in global politics, and the fact that also Russia is cooperating in its global fight against terrorism, could also be an

opportunity for the OSCE really to go over some of the difficulties we

encountered in the past.

Im today more optimistic that the ministerial in Bucharest will be a

more successful one than the previous ministerial. And I think that we

are really having a chance of injecting more energy, more visibility,

and a higher profile of our organization as an important organization of

the trans-Atlantic community.

I think its a chance we should not miss. I think that we should not

compromise our principles for the sake of such an endeavor. But I think

we should play all our political energy, all our diplomatic skills, and all

our wisdom, common wisdom, to try to make full use of this new envi-
10

ronment in the relationship between not only Russia but some also Central Asian and Caucasian member states, and the rest of our member

states.

This is basically the aim of the ministerial in Bucharest, to really

start thinking about the future of our organization. And as I mentioned

in a couple of speeches, including the speech I had in Paris when we

met the last time at the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, I think

that sooner rather than later we should be thinking of a new OSCE

summit to be held as soon as possible.

I think the time has come to draw the line and see what this organization can and should do for the security of our space in the 21st century.

I will stop here with my intervention. I have prepared and distributed

a prepared statement. And I would like to have your indications on how

you want us to proceed. I can go further in responding to some specific

points, or I can answer some of your questions.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Well be joined probably

by several other of the members of the Commission who will be coming

and going, and so well ask some questions in about 5-minute rounds,

so we can each have an opportunity.

Thank you very much for that very detailed presentation. And your

complete testimony will be included in the record.

You have asked the OSCE Permanent Council to develop an action

plan to combat terrorism to be adopted at the ministerial at Bucharest.

And you mentionedand I certainly agree with you on several of the

points that you feel are importantdeveloping the political will, focusing on the root causes of terrorism, and bridging some common priorities.

I think those are all really important. Like all long-term things,

though, they have to be taken in the abstract a little bit, too.

Do you have any particular concrete steps that you believe the OSCE

can take as an organization to combat international terrorism?

And, secondly, how do you envision the OSCE interacting with other

organizations or agencies in combating terrorism?

Min. GEOANA. Thank you very much. This is a subject too much

already in our focus. We have proposed in my presentation in the Permanent Council a couple of practical steps to be taken by our organization.

First, we have requested all our member states to have a national

review of their domestic legislation, including the ones related to financing, including the ones related to freezing assets of suspect organizations or entities, including looking at the bank supervision, and also

trying to have a more uniform legal framework across the board.

And we have really welcomed what EU has done, but I think that EU

is a necessary step, but its only encompassing a portion of our continent. And I think that working also closer with the UN and the OSCE

and EU I think we can do a good job in having a more uniform legal

framework across the board. There should be no escape for anybody

trying to hide from the rule of law and from the tough action of our law

enforcement agencies.
11

Secondly, we are proposing an exchange of information and expertise,

and also asking our field missions to put this topic at the very forefront

of their agenda on the spot. And also, we are also looking closer to border monitoring and policing, because they are also something that relate to the capacity of our member states to fight against terrorism.

We also have paid greater attention to what we call the gray zones.

There are lot of what we call frozen conflicts areas, gray zones. But

basically they are entities which areconsider themselves as basically

independent from the state that they belong to normally and legally.

There are numerous such places in the OSCE space, especially in the

former Soviet space.

And there I think, together with the friends in the Russian Federation or CIS or other countries in the region, I think we should try to find

together some solutions for those areas not to become black holes.

Some of them are already platforms of organized crime, illegal trafficking, and they might be even related to financing, directly or indirectly, of some even worse situations. So this is something that I believe

we should try to make a stronger effort in doing.

And also, in assessing the risks and putting more energy in our programs dealing with the judicial, law enforcement, and intelligence consultation, and also have proposed a comprehensive interagency and interregional ministerial conference, including the Ministries of Justice,

Domestic Affairs, and Intelligence agencies. And Im optimistic that

sometime next year that the response of the member states will be positive.

So the OSCE is uniquely positioned, together with the UN, to have

also intraregional and interregional cooperation. So we have to go across

the board.

I also would like to come back again to the SECI Center in Bucharest

whom I care about because its based in our capital city, but also because this is something that you have greatly supported along the years.

We are also trying to use this center, and we are now looking into the

possibility of adding some anti-terrorist components to our already quiet

successful cooperation in fighting organized crime, because it is obvious

that there is a relationship between various layers of organized crime,

financing of these activities, and global terrorism.

I would also like to make the point again that we should try to avoid,

to the maximum extent possible, the temptation that some leaders and

some agencies in some countries of organization might face in, again,

cracking down their legal, legitimate leg secular opposition.

Fighting terrorism is a noble and normal goal but should not be used

as an excuse in really limiting basic individual freedoms, and also already the weak opposition that we arean NGO community that we

are seeing in some member states.

So this is briefly where we stand. We have asked a task force to be

created in the OSCE, and Im very happy to report that the Danes have

taken over this task force in the OSCE. They are quite renowned for

their meticulous and hardworking approach, and they will be producing some concrete actions to be adopted at the Bucharest ministerial of

the OSCE in early December.

Sen. CAMPBELL. I think we both know, all of us know, that a number

of participating States havent been in compliance with their OSCE

commitments to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. So

Im glad you spoke to that a little bit.
12

In fact, some of the states have repressed their citizens under the

guise of combating terrorism, as you said. I can remember just as recently as couple of years ago that Russia was using their  some of the

things that they were doing in Chechnya, they were saying, Well, thats

because were trying to control the Chechen terrorists.

So the word terrorist has taken on a new meaning sinceparticularly since September 11, and I worry, as you do, that it may be used

sometimes as an avenue for more repression instead of less of basic

fundamental human rights and freedoms.

What is the current operational capability at the SECI? You mentioned this a couple of times. I know that America is participating and

is ramping up our participation. In fact, I just lost my Deputy Chief of

Staff who you met when you were in visiting me a couple of months ago,

Mike Russell. Mike has been transferred to the Treasury Department

because of his expertise in combating money laundering and counterfeiting.

And he kept me abreast quite regularly when he was with me about

the SECI Center, but Id like to know what its role is going to be in

combating terrorism, if you could give me a couple of specific examples.

Minister GEOANA. We made a couple of proposals. First of all, let me

say again that the center is operational. It is operational. It started

working, and the fact that we are able, amongst 11 countries of Southeast Europe, to exchange and share intelligence was a tremendous additional tool in our fight against organized crime, transborder organized

crime.

And the first networks of drug traffickers, of human traffickers, and

arms smugglers already were decapitated. Weve made significant arrests, not only in Romania but in some other countries in the region.

Its far from being perfect, but I would say this is probably the most

positive example of regional cooperation that Ive seen in Southeast Europe

in years.

And Im very grateful, again, for the support we received from the

U.S. Congress, from yourselves, but also from various U.S. agencies,

and also European agencies, and member states of European Union,

too.

Secondly, we have made a couple of proposals in using our center for

broadening its scope and progressively reach also the dimension of international terrorism. This is not an easy proposition because of the

complexity of the fight.

We have been working together with some of the U.S. law enforcement agencies. Weve been working with our friends in the European

Union, and also with the other intelligence and law enforcement bodies

of our region. And our ambition is that when we have this meeting

next year of the Justice, Home Affairs, and Intelligence agencies, to

come together with a more concrete plan.

We have alsomy country has proposed to NATO a very interesting

operation, which is already functioning, which is the South East Europen Common Assessment Paper, SEECAP. This is the most comprehensive survey of the threats to the security of our region, and we are

now working also with NATO in trying to see how we can work closer

together.

Secondly, we are also working and trying to get closer to EuroPol. So

we are trying to hook up our center with the other organizations. And

next week the President of Poland, President Kwasniewski, will be
13

organizing in Warsaw a major conference of countries in Central and

Eastern Europe, including Southeast Europe, down to Turkey, including Russia.

And this will be dedicated to our fight against terrorism, and the

SECI Center will be present there, and also it will be made a reference

on how some other regional similar activities can hook up with our

center. So we are really becoming a quite powerful instrument.

Again, because of the sensitivity of the subject and the fact that not

only Ministers of the Interior or Police or Customs, we also need to have

other intelligence agencies working with us. There is a certain sensitivity, but we are working very aggressively in that direction, and I think

our center will be able to give an answer also to the problem of terrorism in our region and beyond.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Thank you. Let me yield to my Co-Chairman, Mr.

Smith, but also to thank you for particularlysomething thats been of

particular interest to me, and that is the action plan on the Roma that

you are going to present at Bucharest; and, secondly, to tell you that

the return of refugeesmany times the refugees themselvesyou mentioned thisbut they are the people that need help the most, because in

many cases theyre the ones who do not have jobs, do not have educations, do not have a future, do not have, literally, any hope.

And when they come from the refugee camps its even worse than

before they left. It seems to me thats fertile ground for recruiting into

religious causes of one sort or another, so I commend you for also being

sensitive to that.

Mr. Smith, your turn.

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank

the Minister for his kind words and expressions of solidarity with the

United States, especially in light of the horrific 9/11 events and the

ongoing pain.

Many in my own district suffered loss. At least 50 people from my

district died in the World Trade Center. The ongoing problem with anthrax has manifested itself in my own district as wellin Hamilton

Township. The postal facility in Trenton is in my district as well. Having asked for more than a week, just yesterday we got the news that 44

other feeder stations will be checked for anthrax. We do not know how

far that contagion of anthrax and cross-contamination may need to go.

So, the issue of terrorism certainly is paramount on the minds of my

own constituents, of Americans. Again, your comments are very much

appreciated.

One issue that weve worked on very vigorously on this Commission

as you well knowand youve done it personally as wellis the issue of

human trafficking, which continues to be a scourge. It particularly affects, in a very dire way, women and children, but mostly young women

who are trafficked and forced into prostitution.

Ive been privy to, and Ive read, as has our staff, some very damaging allegations about police monitors and their very dishonorable activities vis-a-vis trafficked women, protection of locations where women

have been trafficked, as well as the utilization and the exploitation of

themselves by police monitors themselves.

My understanding is that some of this has occurred in Bijeljina in

Bosnia. The reports, which make very sobering reading, made it very

clear that the investigators are as profoundly unwelcome as the traf-
14

fickers. There have been threats about what might happen to ones car

if their activities are exposed. Others have told of investigators being

followed, in an effort to intimidate.

Its my understanding that some IPTF police monitors have been

repatriated, but there is no guarantee that justice will be pursued when

they get repatriated. The monitors in question included Romanians.

You might be able to shed some light on whether or not there will be

prosecutions levied against those who have exploited women in this way.

Id also like to ask you about Uzbekistan. I know that on October

22nd you met with the President, the Prime Minister, and several other

high-ranking officials in Uzbekistan. Your meetings were just a few

days after religious activist Ravshan Haidov died in police custody. As I

know you know, Shovriq Rusimorodov, a political activist, had also died

in the custody of the state in July. A large number of both religious and

political activists are being tortured in Uzbek prisons.

Were you able to raise those specific cases with the Uzbek officials

that you met with?

What was their reaction?

Also, if you could, spend a moment on Chechnya. I know that theres

a reinvigorated assistance mission that was deployed in July, or agreed

to in July. And this success is a credit to you and to the OSCE. Perhaps you can shed some light on that situation.

We have had numerous hearings and fact-finding missions. Frank

Wolf, one of our Commissioners, has been to Chechnya, which continues to be an open sore that we hope could be healed. What role does the

OSCE play vis-a-vis Chechnya? What kind of access do your monitors

have with regards to human rights activities on either side of that ongoing conflict?

Finally, concerning Belarus, following last months flawed presidential elections which we all know failed to meet the OSCE standards,

where do we go from here with regards to Belarus and our activities

there?

Sen. CAMPBELL. Is that all, one question?

Min. GEOANA. Thank you very much. I am making a virtual trip of

the OSCE. The matter of human trafficking, I will address one word

about what were trying to do in Romania as well. We have, in the

Cabinet, adopted a draft law regarding human trafficking. Its probably

one of the most modern and far-reaching legislations of this sort in the

region, and Im confident that our Parliament will be passing this legislation quite fast.

Also, I took part with Foreign Minister Fischer of Germany in a very

successful seminar of the OSCE dedicated to human trafficking in Berlin 2 weeks ago. You know that in order for this industry to flourish at

such a speed, there is a need not only for supply and demand but also

for a network, criminal networks.

Sometimes such networks are criminal gangs. Some of them were

dismantled, as I reported to you. And if you want I can brief you separately on some of the specific cases. Also, benefitting from the benevolent or half-closed eyes of some officials, including sometimes international monitors or people, especially in some specific cases in the Western

Balkans.
15

We are also alerted to the news and the reports that such activities

might be also being supported, directly or indirectly, by some police

officers from some important member states of the organization. There

was some indication thatalso, too, about police officers serving over

there might have been engaged in such activities.

We immediately conducted an internal investigation from our Ministry of the Interior. We had a special team going over there looking at

how our people are doing and also on the broader context.

Youre right, Mr. Chairman, that sometimes having access to real

information is not that easy, but we have basicallywe are continuing

back home to have our domestic analysis of the behavior of our police

officers. And if it will be proven to really have gone beyond the law, they

will be punished according to our legislation.

We also hope this will be the case in some other situations, because

this is a matter of concern to our whole community.

Secondly, about Uzbekistan. I was there. Ive met with the president,

the foreign minister, as you mentioned. Ive raised our concerns, and

our concerns in terms of the human dimension are numerous in Uzbekistan, and Im sorry to say in some other Central Asian countries.

I was sending the message to the Uzbek officials that they need to

make more progress towards democratization. And as we welcome

Uzbekistans strong support for this coalition against terrorism, this is

not in any way a reason for us not to continue to press, and for them not

to continue to work together with us towards a more open society in

that country.

I made this thing very clear. I raised my concerns about the justice

system, the freedom of religion, the freedom of expression, and some of

the practices in their justice system. Some of the people detained by

police are subject to torture, and also that government censorship of the

media is also something that is quite frequent.

I also met with a group of NGOs and people representing the independent media over there, and they expressed the same concerns to us. So

weve done this. Well continue to do this. Again, as I mentioned, we

highly appreciated the strong commitment and support of the government to our common fight against terrorism.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Could you yield briefly? Were you able to bring up

Mr. Haidovs case, since he had been

Min. GEOANA. Ive raised specific cases

Sen. CAMPBELL. Good.

Min. GEOANA.Nominally, and also I have left a full list of cases of

concern which were basically prepared by ODIHR, our Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Was there any response back?

Min. GEOANA. We hope that through our mission well be getting

some response back from them.

Chechnya is the next subject. Of course we were pleased to see the

assistance group returning. Im very much indebted to one of our diplomats, Ambassador Cornera, who took this responsibility.

Our assistance group in Chechnya is today at its full operational

strength as it was approved by the mandate in the Permanent Council.

It is not a large group. Its only six people. But also we are working very

closely with some of the Council of Europes people on the ground.
16

We were focusing our activities over there in the stabilization of our

presence in Chechnya, implementation of rehabilitation programs, and

the programs aimed at improving the situation of internally-displaced

persons, nursery schools for preschool age children, medical rehabilitation for IDP children, extended aid classes, are just a few examples.

We tried to give some relief and some assistance to the people in need

over there, especially because some other international agenciesbecause of the security situationare still concerned in involving themselves fully.

Of course we are monitoring the overall human rights situation in

Chechnya. We have received in our mission large numbers of visitors

and inquiries about human rights violations and property issues, including some things related with the Russian army, and we are working in close coordination with the Office of Mr. Kalimanov, the Russian

representative on human rights, and also, as I mentioned, the Council

of Europe field representative in Znamenskoye.

Our group produces reports on human rights violations, which are

submitted not only to the local or the republican or federal authorities

but also with the NGO community and also with the other organizations present in the region, including some UN agencies.

We have been dealing also with the situation of the working conditions of our staff, and also the security arrangements. We are moving

our people with some concern to their security. And, as you know, the

Russian Ministry of Justice is providing such security for people.

So far we had a good cooperation with the Russian bodies at the federal/local levels. And I think that our mission, even if its not big in

numbers, I think has played a positive role in creating some sense of

normalcy. And we hope that the current discussions between Moscow

and some leaders in Chechnya will continue, and hopefully this will be

something that will develop in the period ahead.

Now, on Belarus, Mr. Chairman, as you know, the elections in September dominated our activity in this country. Our concern was to see

that this should represent an important step in the democratic transition of Belarus towards European democracy.

We were, of course, concerned and we expressed this concern that

despite all the efforts of the OSCE Assistance Monitoring Group and the

pressure from the international community, the electoral process and

campaign in Belarus did not meet OSCE standards. We concluded that

these elections did not allow the correct expression of the opinions of the

electorate.

And we also have said that we have seen a single candidate of the

democratic opposition, and at least, in nominal terms, this was the first

time when I have seen an opponent to Mr. Lukashenko showing up in

the elections. So this was a small, still timid, but, nevertheless, encouraging sign.

Nevertheless, the international observers noted the fact that slowly

there is an emergence of civil society. Its, of course, under strong control from the authorities, and we do believe that we should continue to

do our work and saying quite openly things that do not work well in

Belarus but also trying to engage with the civil society and the groups

struggling for democracy.

The head of mission is coming to the end of his tour over there, and

we have received a proposition also from Germany to have somebody to

replace Mr. Wieck, whom I say, again, we greatly appreciate his dedi-
17

cation and work. He is not a very popular character in Minsk with the

authorities, but he has done, indeed, a tremendous job for pushing for a

more open society in Belarus.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Are you finished, Chris?

Mr. SMITH. Yes. I have more, but

Sen. Campbell. Okay. Mr. Aderholt, did you have some questions?

Mr. ADERHOLT. Yes. I just want to follow up with a quick question.

Thank you for being here. When you were talking about Chechnya just

a few minutes agocould you talk a little bit about the actual, as closely

as possible, the number of monitors that are actually present there,

and also some of their regular activities that take place.

Min. GEOANA. As I mentioned, our assistance group is small. This

was the mandate that we received from our organization. There are

only six people. We also have a couple of other people working with the

Council of Europe, and I think taking into account the relatively limited number of our monitors over there they have managed to do a

pretty impressive job so far.

I am receiving reports of the numbers of inquiries and meetings they

have with the civilian population over there in terms of some restitution problems, some legal difficulties they are facing.

Also, we have done, as I mentioned, a pretty good job in trying to get

some relief and assistance, especially for the IDP camps, internallydisplaced person camps. I visited some of those camps when I was in

Chechnya, and I have to say that the situation is really very serious.

And I think we have done a pretty good job in that.

Of course, our impact is still limited. We have to recognize that. But

I stress again that the fact that we are able to returnthe fact that we

have reasonably good cooperation with the Russian authorities, and also

that we are regaining the trust of the local population, that the international community is there to help, to assist, is something that we can

consider a success. Its still limited, I recognize, but its an important

step in the right direction.

Thank you.

Mr. ADERHOLT. Thats all I have.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Thank you.

At the Commissions last hearing, Mr. Minister, the former head of

the OSCE mission in Bosnia, Ambassador Bob Barry , said the OSCE

had a comparative advantage over other international organizations

regarding civilian policing, police monitoring, police training.

He also went on to say that if there was a weakness, it was that the

judicial systems are not functioning. First of all, is the OSCE doing

anything to try to establish better judicial systems?

And, secondly, another gentleman who we met with, General Joe

Ralston, who Im sure you know from NATO, he gave us a tour of the

OSCE police school in Kosovo. He believed the academy worked very

well and would be a good model for police reform in Bosnia. Do you

think that OSCE should take the lead in police monitoring and training

in Bosnia rather than the United Nations?

Min. GEOANA. Thank you very much, and we appreciate and we are

grateful for your personal involvement, Mr. Senator, in this field. We

discussed about this subject also in Paris when we last met, and also it

is something of great interest to myself and our organization.
18

I say again that the OSCE has developed a significant capacity in

assisting with the training of multi-ethnic police forces. We are successful. I was with Joe Ralston in Skopje 20 days ago, and he also raised

the thing with me that what we have done in Kosovo, what we are now

starting to do in Macedonia, is a true example of success of organization

in this respect.

We are also creating a working group dedicated to this very subject in

Vienna, and Im convinced that the OSCE police advisor unit, which is

now created inside the Secretariat of the OSCE in Vienna, and also

what I hope to be the senior police advisor of the OSCE to come soon,

will be another important step in that direction.

I also would say that a functioning judiciary is one of the top priorities of the mandates of our field presences of all our missions in the

OSCE, and we have developed tremendous programs in host countries

in improving legislation and support for their judicial systems.

When it comes to the multi-ethnic police force, I would also probably

say that the most successful operation so far, which was not noticed

that much, was what we managed to do in southern Serbia on very

short notice. And, of course, when there is success it gets noticed.

In numbers, only 95 police officers we trained have Serbian and Albanian ethnic backgrounds, and I think that, you know, we are able to

show that we can also do things on the spot. We also have done good

work in Croatia with the police monitoring group, and, as you mentioned yourself, Senator, also what we have done in Kosovo.

Now, when it comes to Bosnia, we are examining the issue of deploying a civilian police force in Bosnia. Im convinced that the OSCE can

do more in this field. The only one thing we should reflect on is to find

convenient ways for financing such activities on the one side, and on

the other side to see if our eventual greater role in Bosnia would also be

something that our friends at the UN, because they are the leading

agency, and also our colleagues and friends at EU, because they also

have some ideas in that respect, will come to a common conclusion.

I want to say, again, as I mentioned in our previous conversations,

that I will be pleading for an OSCE more significant role in Bosnia. Its

premature to say which will be the outcome of our efforts, but Im raising this thing constantly in Brussels, and I hope to raise this thing

with the Secretary General of the UN in the next couple of weeks when

Ill be visiting New York and discussing our future common activities

in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Let me move on to some institutional matters. I was

going to mention some of the problems weve heard with the police in

Macedonia, but I do not want to run out of time before I get to several

other issues.

Youve been a very active minister. In the light of your experience as

the OSCEs Chair-in-Office, do you feel the annual rotation of that position is in the best interest of the organization? Youve taken the lead on

an awful lot of issues, and it seems to me that sometimes a year isnt

very long to promote some of the activities that a chairman would be

interested in doing.

Min. GEOANA. Thank you for the question. Sometimes a Chairmanin-Office at the end of one year is so exhausted that

Sen. CAMPBELL. You want to get out.
19

Min. GEOANA.He or she would like to get out. At the same time,

its true that if you want to be consistent, continuity is also an important thing. We are trying, together with Mr. Kubis, our Secretary General of the OSCE, to work out a solution which will not dramatically

change the current arrangement, because it will be difficult to change

the current procedure, but to create inside the Secretariat of the OSCE

in Vienna a small unit of advisors who would be able to give such practical advice to any Chairman-in-Office.

So, basically, instead of trying to look into if one year is long enough

or short enough, we are trying to put together a pool of experts who

would be put at the disposal of that specific Chair-in-Office and not rely

only to the exclusive resources of his or her foreign ministry or diplomatic service or national capabilities.

So we are trying to ensure continuity through knowledge, and I think

that this might be probably a good step in answering the issue that you

have raised, Senator. This is something we are working on, and Im

confident this will be accepted by all members states. So, to really have

some advisors to the Chairman-in-Office who will be professionals from

the OSCE itself.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Well, as it is now, as I understand it, the chair does

have some decision-making capacity under the troika of the last, the

current, and the future chairs. What would the relationship between

this advisors group be and the

Min. GEOANA. The troika.

Sen. CAMPBELL.The troika.

Min. GEOANA. They will basically be working with the Chairman-inOffice primarily. But as you know, there is a division of labor between

the members of the troika. The incoming chairman is also taking care

of some of the specific activities one year before. So, sort of a warm-up

for the next year.

And also, the outgoing chair is also taking care of some activities. So

some activities are also taken by the troika itself.

When I visit, lets say, Central Asia or Chechnya, I always go with

the troika. So this group of advisors will be related mainly to the Chairman-in-Office. But if the Chairman-in-Office will deem appropriate, this

expertise could also be given to the other members of the troika.

Sen. CAMPBELL. That group of advisors, are those going to be paid

positions?

Min. GEOANA. Sure.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Well, since the establishment of the High Commissioner on National Minorities, there have been a number of suggestions

of establishing more high-level positions within the OSCE. And I assume that means highly paid or at leastat least paid, and that weve

seen proposals for high-level positions on everything from gender issues

to the rights of children to displaced persons, and so on.

I have to tell you, I would be a little bit concerned if we also have a list

of advisors who would also be all salaried, too. How many advisors are

you talking about that would be on that group?

Min. GEOANA. Not more than two or three. This will be something

within our current logic that will continue to abide, which is a zero

growth budget policy. And this will be something for the Secretariat

and the Chairman-in-Office to work with the current budget.
20

Also, something that I have not reported to you is that our chairmanship was able to resolve, in a satisfactory way, a very difficult debate on

the scale of contributions. This was something that is always sensitive

to all our members states, big or small, rich or poor, but I think weve

come with a good solution.

We are very prudent in terms of our expenditures. I think that our

organization is doing a good job with a relatively small budget. It is not

our interest to grow this organization into a huge bureaucracy. We

want to be efficient. We want to be streamlined.

But also we want to put our expertise and our resources where basically needed. Strengthening the Chairman-in-Office capability to act in

a more efficient way will be something that will benefit our organization and not putting pressure on our budget.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Okay. Thank you.

Mr. Smith?

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Minister, as you know, there has been a very serious crackdown

in Azerbaijan with more than a half a dozen writers having been convicted of insulting public officials. In fact, the OSCE representative on

freedom of the media, along with his counterparts from the UN and the

Organization of American States, have repeatedly called for criminal

defamation laws and insult laws to be repealed.

Unfortunately, Romania has yet to repeal its own laws which

criminalize defamation and prohibit offending public authorities or insulting public officials.

I would just note as a lawmaker myself, and Im sure Ben has this

as the Chairman of our Commission, has the same problem. I get insulted every day and twice on Sunday.

(Laughter.)

Sen. CAMPBELL. That comes with the job.

Mr. SMITH. It comes with the job, whether its merited or not. Perhaps you could shed some light on the Azerbaijan situation, and also

whether or not Romanias Parliament and government is intending to

repeal that part of their criminal code.

Its my understanding that Articles 205, 206, 238, and 239, are those

that would be prudent to repeal.

Allow me to focus for a brief moment on the issue of minority faiths.

One vestige of the Ceausescu regime and in other dictatorships throughout the world has been this often onerous hurdle of registration. It is

used very often to keep certain organizations and groups out from forming or at least operating as a legal entity.

We had hearings on this and noted with a great deal of concern the

Russian Dumas passage of its registration law, seeing it as a prelude to

fencing certain religious organizations and groups, religious organizations outside of the officially recognized perimeter.

Jehovahs Witnesses have had a particularly harsh time, as we know,

in Romania. Members who may object to service in the military, for

example, can be imprisoned for their conscientious objection to military

service, since their group is not officially registered as a church. So

theres a catch 22.

These religious believers who refuse to serve in the military are acting out of a pacifist impulse, and certainly if its a bona fide religious

pacifism the stance ought to be respected. Again, I was hoping you could

shed some light on what your government is doing to ensure compli-
21

ance with the 89 Vienna Concluding Document, which states that governments are obligated to grant communities of believers the right to

register. Perhaps you can give some particular emphasis to the Jehovahs

Witnesses situation.

Also, could you briefly touch on your recent meeting with Russian

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. It appears that the Russian Government

is on track to remove its CFE Treaty-limited military equipment from

Moldova, in accordance with the agreement reached at the 1999 OSCE

summit in Istanbul.

However, the Russian Government has also expressed some dissatisfaction with the OSCE process of late. For example, too much emphasis on human rights, too much emphasis from their point of view on

countries in the former Soviet Union, and suggesting the OSCE concentrates too much on human rights to the detriment of economic issues.

Thats a song weve heard many times before in our bilaterals with the

Russians and the Soviets. Why do not we talk economic issues and not

human rights issues?

Finally, if you could address the plans for the human dimension implementation meetings in Warsaw. There is some concernand this primarily has been expressed to me by members of our staffthat were

spending less time, not more, on this part of our proceedings. The meeting used to be a 3-week focus, and now its been narrowed down to about

9 days.

Certainly, the human rights portfolio and the humanitarian issues

have not diminished.. Perhaps, you could offer us some insight as to

why and whether or not that meeting might be expanded.

Min. GEOANA. Thank you very much. I had a stopover in Baku on

my way to Uzbekistan, and I talked, again, with the Foreign Minister.

We constantly raised the matter of concern to leadership of that country. There are still problems, but also recently there was an amnesty

for a group of journalists in Azerbaijan, so ODIHR has sent out a letter

recognizing this effort on behalf of President Aliyev. We are continuing

to work and press on the issues of interest.

Getting back to Romania, as you are already aware, our government

has basically sent to Parliament a draft law which includes also the

modification of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. So

basically two instruments dealing with criminal offenses.

We also think that our proposals and the draft language, which is

now under consideration at the Judicial Commission of the Romanian

Senate, also, when it comes to Articles 205 and 206, paragraph 1 in

each case, are also bringing a satisfactory answer to the matter of insult, calumny, including when it comes to journalists.

So we are confident that this willwe hope will bring a satisfactory

conclusion to this matter. And also, in terms of Article 238, this will

bebasically be deleted, and alsowe are also working on Article 239.

So we are quite optimistic that this new draft law will become actingit will be enacted by our Parliament and will have finally responded

to some of the questions and concerns raised by this Commission, and

also by some other friends in Europe.

When it comes to the minority religious groups, I think that by and

large we have done a decent job. When it comes to the draft law on the

religious denominations, which was drafted a couple of years ago, we

basicallythis projectthis draft law was withdrawn from the Parliament.
22

We listened to some of the advice of our friends, including in the

Commission, that this law needed more careful consideration. We also

are looking very seriously at the Jehovahs Witnesses matter.

We also had from our judicial system, the Court of Supreme Justice

in Romania, there was an action introduced by the Jehovahs Witnesses

in Romania, and this is a final decision of the Supreme Court in Romania. So now we are getting down to the administrative procedures in

registration according to our law of this religious denomination.

And we also had the State Secretary for Religious Affairs, Mr. Tanase.

He was in October over here, and he had a meeting with the World

Council of the Jehovahs Witnesses. And we invited a group of the legal

experts from this organization to visit with us, and I think well be able

to straighten out all the remaining legal and bureaucratic procedures.

We, of course, will comply to the decision of Supreme Court of Justice

in Romania. So I think that this is, I would say, a positive resolve of

this situation.

Speaking of my meeting with Minister Ivanov, we have recognized

the fact that in some cases the Russian Federation has in the last couple

of months accelerated the process of withdrawal of some of their forces

and troops and munitions and weaponry, according to the Istanbul commitments. And we welcome this, and I take this opportunity to welcome

this again.

Of course, there are other things that need to be done, but by and

large it seems there is a movement in that direction.

Traditionally, Russia has accused the OSCE and the Chairman-inOffice of this organization over the last couple of years that, indeed, the

OSCE would be putting too much emphasis on the former Soviets space,

so what they call the geographical imbalance of our policies, and also

the fact that we are putting almost exclusive emphasis on the human

dimension and basically not paying enough attention to the economic,

environmental, and security dimensions of organization.

I have made the following point. I recognize that when it comes, lets

say, to Central Asia, our involvement in the economic, environmental,

and, to a certain extent, even the security dimensions, we have basically not done enough. And I made this self-criticism publicly in Vienna, because I was in Central Asia myself and they were talking about

Afghanistan and the risk of Islamic fundamentalists, and probably we

have not paid enough attention to them.

Having said that, I also have said to our Russian colleagues, and also

to the leaders of countries in that situation, that we will try to do more

on the security front, on the economic and environmental fronts, but

notand I repeat notat the expense of the human dimension.

So my point is that we should do more on the economic and security

fronts, but also try to do more, and it will be something that will be

linked with our eventual assistance on economic and security fronts to

their progresstangible, concrete, demonstrable progress on the human dimension.

So its not a change of policy. Its a change of emphasis. I think we

should try to invest more in the security and economic well-being, especially of the nations in Central Asia and the Caucasus of Muslim majority, because we have a chance in these countries to assist them in developing a Muslim nation with a set of principles and values of a secular

nature which will be an answer and a countermove to some more extreme and intolerant fundamentalist modes that some other individuals

or organizations or states are proposing in other Muslim nations.
23

So this is our policy. Well never give up on our fundamental principles and our values of human rights. But I recognize that we should

probably try to do more on a security and economic front as well.

Mr. SMITH. On the meetings of the human dimension

Min. GEOANA. Excuse me. On the Warsaw thing, I was also worried

that the fact that there is a tendency of shrinking the time appropriated to such discussions. Unfortunately, I myselfI took off from Bucharest trying to get to Warsaw for this meeting, and I had a technical

problem with my airplane, so I had to return.

We also believe that the human dimension at a time where appropriate should beshould be, if not generous, should be in full accordance

to the importance of this subject for our organization. And this is something that we already conveyed to our specific institutions in the OSCE.

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Minister, if I could ask you, are the Jehovahs Witnesses generally satisfied with the Supreme Court decision? And has

that decision been implemented? Is that one of the issues that remains

Min. GEOANA. I think that they are very happy with the decision of

the Supreme Court of Justice in Bucharest. This is also another proof

that our judicial system is not only independent but also looking at

such cases with

Mr. SMITH. Is it being carried out?

Min. GEOANA. And now thats why theyre coming to Bucharest in, I

think, 2 weeks time2 weeks timeexactly for our lawyers and their

lawyers to look into this thing and try to make the registration happen.

You made this point at the beginning, that sometimes there is a tendency, sort of a bureaucratic slowdown, and some bureaucratic barriers

on basically registering these kind of things. This is not a policy of our

government.

We also want to go, and we basically welcomed their attempt to go to

the judicial system in Romania, because when it comes especially to the

military service, this is something that we do not feel that our government is called to take such an important decision because its creating

a precedent.

So alternative military service is something which is not usual in Romania. So we prefer to go to the highest court of the country, of the land,

and ask their advice. And their advice was crystal clear, so its up to us to

implement the decisions of the highest court of justice in the land.

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Mr. Minister, at the 1999 OSCE Istanbul summit,

there was an agreement there should be a political resolution to the

conflict in Chechnya, and deployment of the OSCE mission in July of

this year was one of the accomplishments of your chairmanship.

What, if any, role do you envision the OSCE in having of the current

conflict?

Min. GEOANA. Mr. Chairman, as you know, our mission there, our

assistance group there, has done a pretty good job so far. Of course, we

are interested also on the political track of the evolutions in Chechnya,

and we are also very highly interested in the dialogue, political dialogue, between the Russian Federation and the Chechen leaders.

So far there is no role of our assistance group in the peace talks between Moscow and President Maskhadov, as the host country accepts no

international mediators in these talks so far. So I want to be explicit on

this thing. We are not involved into this operation. We encouraged it.
24

We are interested in being part of this, but so far there is strong

resistance from the host country in having international mediators or

organizations dealing with this subject.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Well, as part of the agreement, the OSCE agreed to

pay about $510,000, a little over a half a million dollars, to Moscow to

provide security for the mission. Have the members of the mission enjoyed pretty much freedom of movement? Tell me a little bit about the

security situation of the mission members.

Min. GEOANA. Because of the security environment which is still

extremely risky in Chechnya, we thought and we still believe that it is

our duty, first, to make sure that the security of our personnel is taken

care of. We cannot just play with the lives of the people who are sacrificing themselves and doing such a tremendous job for democracy and

human rights.

Sen. CAMPBELL. How many people are there?

Min. GEOANA. Only six people on our side.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Six.

Min. GEOANA. Nevertheless, to transport them, we have to use armored vehicles. Thats, unfortunately, the daily life in places like that.

There is no other security arrangement possible other than going to one

federal agency.

We have gone to the Ministry of Justice, because we thought that

going to the Ministry of the Interior would be perceived by the Chechens as a provocation. At least the Ministry of Justice in Russia was not

involved in Chechnya in any of the stages of the conflict over there.

We believe that no price is too high for making sure that our people

are safe. So far they enjoy freedom of movement, and as I said, I think

that so far our relationship with the federal authorities are encouraging.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Did I understand you to say they have to travel in

armor-plated vehicles?

Min. GEOANA. Yes. Basically, its not an armored vehicle. I travel

myself with such vehicles. This is the way in which our monitors are

also transported in Macedonia. This is not a military operation, but it is

basically a kind of police armored vehicle.

Sen. CAMPBELL. Well, the $510,000 doesnt go very far if we have to

armor-plate vehicles. Who provides those? Russian security provides

those?

Min. GEOANA. Yes.

Sen. CAMPBELL. I see. Okay. I have no further questions.

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Minister, thank you so much for your testimony and

for clearly and succinctly answering the questions. We look forward to

working with you as we have done so well in the past.

Sen. CAMPBELL. I do, too, Mr. Minister. I think there may be some

further questions we might submit to you in writing from some of the

other members of the Commission, if we can do that.

But I certainly appreciate your being here. I have to tell you that

your travel schedule certainly exceeds ours, and ours is terrible. So I

wish you well and hope you stay in good health in your travels until you

end your term. Thank you for being here.

Min. GEOANA. Thank you very much.

Sen. CAMPBELL. This Commission hearing is adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 11:01 a.m, the hearing was adjourned .]
25

APPENDICES

PREPARED STATEMENT OF

HON. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL,

CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION

 IN EUROPE

It is appropriate that we welcome Foreign Minister Geoana to the

Commission in his capacity as Chairman-in-Office of the Organization

for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Minister met with

Commissioners at the beginning of 2001 and we have been in close contact as the events this year have unfolded. Mr. Minister, I appreciate

the close working relationship you have maintained with the Commission, a tradition I hope to continue with your Portugese successor next

year.

Romania has encountered many challenges and accomplished a great

deal since assuming the chairmanship of the OSCE earlier this year.

Yet, much remains to be done. Indeed, Romanias chairmanship will

conclude as the international community faces a new set of challenges

that affect every one of the 55 OSCE participating States.

My hope is that Operation Enduring Freedom will bring enduring

freedom to all of the countries in the vast OSCE region, including the

countries of Central Asia. In this regard, I see the OSCEs role in promoting democracy, human rights and economic liberty and the campaign to root out terrorism as complementary.

Americans are united and determined to see the war against terrorism  in all of its forms  succeed. The Helsinki Commission itself

has faced serious disruption as a direct result of terrorism, but we will

not be deterred.

Erosion of our common commitment to human rights would only lead

to greater instability, not less. It will be essential to dissuade despots of

any notion that we are abandoning our firm commitment to democracy

and human rights. To do otherwise would imperil the very values and

principles which terrorists seek to destroy. Paying lip service to human

rights will not suffice.

As President Bush has said, it is important to distinguish between

those who pursue legitimate political aspirations and terrorists. History has shown that the seeds of repression bear very poisonous fruit.

Mr. Minister, I appreciate your leadership in focusing the work of the

OSCE on combating corruption and organized crime, as well as your

strong support for the Southeastern Europe Cooperation Initiatives center for combating transnational organized crime, located in Bucharest.

Clearly there is a strong nexus between the operations of transnational

criminal organizations and international terrorist organizations. Indeed,

according to experts, they frequently work together in the fields of drug

trafficking and money laundering. I strongly urge the OSCE participating States to redouble their efforts to pursue practical cooperation to

fight international crime and corruption.

The past year has provided Romania with a unique opportunity to

lead by example in implementation of its OSCE commitments during

its chairmanship. Indeed, several of our Commissioners have followed

developments in Romania for decades. We appreciate Minister Geoanas

work to ensure that longstanding human rights concerns in Romania

be addressed by Bucharest. In this regard, we look forward to continued

action to overcome the legacy of the past, including anti-Semitism, while
26

protecting the rights of all Romanian citizens, including Roma as well

as ethnic and religious minorities. Mr. Minister, we wish you continued success in the closing and challenging days of Romanias chairmanship of the OSCE and your views on how to strengthen the OSCE

process.

I am pleased to yield to Co-Chairman Smith for any remarks he would

like to make at this time.
27

PREPARED STATEMENT OF

HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CO-CHAIRMAN,

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION

IN EUROPE

Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening this hearing on Romanias

leadership as Chair of the OSCE. I join you in welcoming my friend,

Foreign Minister Geoana, and look forward to his testimony.

The Commission has frequently held hearings to examine various

aspects of the OSCEin the past two months alone, we have held hearings which have examined police training issues in the OSCE region,

U.S. policy towards the OSCE, and the efforts of the OSCE in resolving

the situation in Moldova. We have been fortunate, at many of these

events, to hear directly from OSCE officials, including Mission Heads

and the Representative of Freedom of the Media. I look forward to the

insights that Foreign Minister Geoana, serving in the OSCEs most

senior political position, can bring to us today.

Minister Geoana, as you know, I, along with several other Commissioners, had a number of concerns about Romanias readiness to serve

as the OSCE Chair-in-Office and, indeed, we wrote to Secretary of State

Albright to express those concerns in 1999. I have to say that I have

been deeply impressed with your leadership, engagement, and commitment. Thanks to your skills, Romania has received high marks for its

stewardship of the OSCE community. I particularly appreciate your

initiative in spearheading OSCE meetings on trafficking and on Roma.

In fact, being the top man or woman in the OSCE seems to bring

greater and greater demands each year, with the plethora of conflicts

and crises that continually erupt in the OSCE region. Unfortunately,

the events of September 11 have added to the challenges the OSCE

community faces.

While I commend you for your own role in serving the OSCE community, I must express some disappointment about the situation in Romania. When we wrote to Secretary Albright in 1999, we did so in great

measure because of human rights issues in your own country. The country that serves as OSCE Chair should, in my view, lead by example.

Unfortunately, many of the problems we described in 1999 persist. Statues celebrating an executed war criminal stand on at least four pieces

of public property, there has been no move at all to repeal Romanias

criminal defamation law, and much needs to be done to improve respect

for the basic human rights of Roma.

I am particularly concerned about the recent proposal by the Mayor

of Piatr Neamta town which hosts an Antonescu statue, by the way

to create a walled, guarded ghetto for Roma. I welcome Prime Minister

Nastase condemnation of this outrageous plan, but the very fact that

an elected official could offer such an idea to the public says a great deal

about the climate of intolerance that Roma continue to face in Romania. I am encouraged by the fact that the OSCEs Senior Advisor on

Roma Issues, Nicolae Gheorghe, and Romani CRISS, one of the leading

NGOs in Romania, is working to address these issues and I hope your

government will support them in their efforts. There is still time for the

Romanian Chairmanship to lead by example.

Again, I appreciate the Foreign Ministers desire to testify before this

Commission and offer his insights as Chairman-in-Office and vision for

the OSCE and its role in the region.
28

 PREPARED STATEMENT OF

HIS EXCELLENCY MIRCEA DAN GEOANA,

CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE, ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND

COOPERATION IN EUROPE

I would like to start with a very brief summary of Romanias objectives for our Chairmanship-in-Office, what we believe have been the

most pressing issues during the year so far and what we hope to have

achieved by the end of the year.

When we took over the Chairmanship, we wanted to ensure that all

OSCE Participating States should continue to believe that the OSCE

was addressing issues of concern to them and their citizens in a practical and action-oriented way.

Our objectives were:

 that the OSCE should remain relevant and useful as an instrument for crisis management, conflict prevention and post-conflict

rehabilitation;  that it should remain a key body for promoting the rule of law and

human rights;

 but that it should also strengthen its activity in other areas such

as the economic and environmental dimension;  and that it should be prepared to cope with new security challenges such as organised crime and corruption, international terrorism and extremism.

We were also concerned that the OSCE should pay more attention to

regions which had been less in the international spotlight, such as the

Caucasus and Central Asia. I would mention four specific issues which

have taken much of our attention this year: Macedonia, Kosovo, corruption and organised crime, and terrorism.

MACEDONIA

The situation in Macedonia has given us a clear lesson that conflict

can still erupt unexpectedly. The situation has stabilised for now thanks

to the concerted and intense efforts of the US, the EU, NATO and the

OSCE. The NATO operation to disarm and disband the ethnic Albanian

groups was a clear success. But there were worrying signs that some

groups were trying to delay the Parliamentary process which would

have thrown the whole peace agreement in jeopardy. As CIO, I joined

NATO Secretary General Robertson, EU High Representative Solana

and Special Envoy Pardew in making clear to political leaders in Macedonia that they must respect the spirit of the Ohrid Agreement. Artificial delaying tactics will not be acceptable to the international community. The Albanian parties have returned to Parliament, the President

has agreed that the amnesty declaration needs to be clarified, and there

is every sign that the Constitutional amendments will be approved by

the end of the month.

But the really hard work is still ahead: rebuilding confidence within

the population. The OSCEs role in this is critical. The Governments

decision to send Macedonian security forces back into areas affected by

the conflict without first consulting the international community was

unwise and counter-productive. Fortunately, no violent incidents took

place and the Government agreed that security forces would not be deployed in sensitive areas until OSCE monitors were in the field. We
29

have taken the necessary decisions to put 120 monitors in the field,

including police observers, and have begun a pilot programme in 5 villages near Kumanovo. We are working closely with the US on training

for a multi-ethnic police force which is an essential element in the confidence-building process.

KOSOVO

The 17 November elections for self-governing institutions in Kosovo

are the most important event of the year. These elections must be inclusive if we want to see viable and sustainable institutions in a

multiethnic Kosovo. The OSCE has played an important role in organizing and supporting the voter registration process. More than 170.000

Serbs have registered on the electoral lists and a representative number of Serb political parties have registered as candidates. Our main

priority now is to ensure that on the day the Kosovo Serbs actually

exercise their vote. We have pressed the authorities in Belgrade to encourage a strong turn-out. For our part, we are working with UNMIK

and KFOR on the security concerns raised by Kosovo Serbs and Belgrade so that refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) feel they

can return safely to their homes.

Among our many activities in Kosovo, it is worth highlighting the

work of the Kosovo Police Service School which is training local police

officers and trainers. The first Kosovo Police trainers of the KPSS graduated on 1 August and are now training police cadets. The School aims to

provide police training in line with democratic standards for at least

4000 locally recruited officers, including members of minority communities and women.

The long-term future and stability of Kosovo and all those who live

there is still far from certain. We must strive for a working relationship between Belgrade and Pristina. The international community must

keep making this point both to the Albanian leaders in Kosovo and to

the authorities in Belgrade.

CORRUPTION AND ORGANISED CRIME

The Romanian Chairmanship has consistently emphasized that corruption is a serious threat to OSCE values. Corruption and illegal activity like money laundering, trafficking and organised crime endanger

not only economic growth and sound development, but also our security. And we must pay particular attention to the links between

organised crime and terrorist groups, particularly on the financing side.

THE OSCE ECONOMIC FORUM IN MAY FOCUSSED ON

TRANSPARENCY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

OSCE can play an important part in stimulating the political will to

develop and implement the necessary legislation. Promoting regional

co-operation, strengthening civil society and increasing civil participation in the governmental decision-making process can contribute to good

governance.

Let me mention some concrete examples of on-going projects in this

field. The OSCE Presence in Albania, along with the World Bank and

the European Commission, continues to provide direct advice and strategic planning on anti-corruption issues. The OSCE Office in Armenia
30

is coordinating the International Anti-corruption Joint Task Force. Together with other OSCE missions in the Caucasus, they have built up a

network of NGOs.

US support and financial contributions to OSCE anti-corruption activities have been enormously valuable. We are grateful for US continued support for such important projects.

Concrete action could include:

 Promoting the adoption and implementation of international legal

instruments; developing codes of conduct (an Economic Forum

recommendation);

 Holding periodic consultations with partner institutions and

organisations (such as the tripartite meeting on good governance,

last February, with the Council of Europe and the UN);

 Involving OSCE Field Missions in the Council of Europes GRECO

evaluations, under the Stability Pact anticorruption initiative.

 Cooperating with the SECI Regional Centre on Combating CrossBorder Crime. Romania has encouraged the SECI Centre to make

contact with Central Asian law enforcement authorities who are

interested in the SECI experience and in cooperating in SECI activities against organised crime.

In the fight against organized crime, we have focused on the illegal

trafficking of human beings. The Romanian Chairmanship organised a

regional Conference in May this year on Illegal Trafficking which was

attended by the Director of the FBI and other senior Government and

law enforcement representatives from South East Europe and European Union countries. The agreed conclusions of that meeting set out

priorities for national, regional and internationally coordinated action

to eliminate human trafficking, including a role for the OSCE.

The OSCE has taken its responsibilities seriously. The OSCE/ODIHR

is chairing the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in Human

Beings and has initiated a number of projects in the field, for example

in Kosovo, Armenia and Albania. Our field missions work alongside the

IOM in developing public awareness campaigns and are active in advising governments on anti-trafficking legislation.

TERRORISM

The 11 September attacks against the United States brought home

more than any other single act of terrorism the dangers from international terrorism to freedom, humanity and the security of the individual,

values which the OSCE is committed to defend and uphold. The OSCE

condemned rigorously the 11 September attacks. We have fully supported the creation of a strong and broad international coalition against

terrorism and the targeted strikes launched by the United States and

United Kingdom against Al Qaeda terrorist training camps and Taliban

military installations in Afghanistan.

But, along with other international organisations, we have also begun to consider what specific contribution the OSCE can make in the

international fight against terrorism.
31

In my address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 20 September, I mentioned three areas where I believe the OSCE can bring

added value:

 Making use of our political will and solidarity in committing to

joint action, with a strong Declaration on combating terrorism to

be adopted at the Bucharest OSCE Ministerial;

 Focussing our attention on addressing root causes, such as economic and social marginalisation which can be fertile ground for

extremist ideologies, and fighting the grey zones of organised

crime, including trafficking in people and arms;

 Acting as a bridge between regional initiatives in order to set common priorities.

Co-operation between OSCE states can only be truly effective if all

States strengthen or introduce anti-terrorism legislation, including

European-wide powers of arrest and extradition of suspects. A common

legal framework is essential for the exchange of information and expertise between law enforcement agencies. The appointment of an OSCE

Police Adviser, which is supported by most OSCE States, would be the

first step in promoting this kind of active cooperation.

The Bishkek Conference on Terrorism, Drug Trafficking and

Organised Crime in December provides a good opportunity for us to

review the state of play on signature and ratification of the various UN

Conventions on Terrorism and to strengthen police and judicial systems in the democratic context. Our hope is that the Central Asians

can draw on the experience of other countries in counter-terrorism.

We have now set up a Task Force in Vienna to look at concrete steps

the Participating States should take to co-ordinate our efforts to combat

terrorism with the aim of developing an OSCE-wide Action Plan against

terrorism for adoption at the Bucharest Ministerial in December.

HUMAN RIGHTS

The protection of human rights has been a core activity for the OSCE

since its inception in Helsinki in 1975. The Romanian Chairmanship

believes that this should remain so. Respect for such basic rights as

freedom of expression, freedom of religious belief, freedom to vote and

the equal treatment of minorities, including the Roma, are fundamental for security. We have spent many years and vast resources on crisis

management and rebuilding societies after conflict. It might be going

too far to say that if these basic rights had been respected fully, we

would not have witnessed the vicious conflicts of the past ten years. But

I am convinced that the results would not have been so catastrophic or

have required such massive international intervention if free and democratic systems had been in place.

COOPERATION WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Governing all our activity has been the principle of working in close

synergy with other international organisations: namely, the UN, NATO,

the European Union, the Council of Europe, as well as other more

specialised agencies such as the UN High Commission for Refugees and

the International Organisation for Migration.
32

FUTURE DIRECTION

The Romanian Chairmanships priorities for the OSCE Bucharest

Ministerial are to set the agenda for the next few years in certain areas.

We are aiming for the following results:

 Strong declarations on Terrorism and on Illegal Trafficking

 Appointment of an OSCE Police Adviser

 Adoption of an OSCE Action Plan on Roma/Sinti issues

 Strengthened commitments to assist with quality refugee return

 Substantive declaration on South East Europe · Agreement on

Institutional Strengthening, including legal capacity for the OSCE

I believe that if we want to build sustainable democracy in South

East Europe, it is time to look for a strategy for the region as a whole.

The time for ad hoc localised solutions is past. The syndrome of dependency on the major powers cannot continue indefinitely. The countries

of the region must start to exercise responsibility themselves by looking

to their own resources and by developing healthy regional cooperation

systems. This is not an overnight process and the international community must remain engaged. But we should be pushing now for more

effective self-governance in line with OSCE standards. I have highlighted

only the most pressing issues but am happy to offer more information

on other areas of activity.
33

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

 TO AMB. MIRCEA GEOANA

AND HIS RESPONSE

Question. OSCE participating States have committed themselves to

preventing racial, ethnic, or religious hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and intolerance of Roma. But, there are at least four statues of Ion

Antonescu, a man executed as a war criminal, standing on public land

in Romania today. As you know, 250,000 Jews from Romania or Romanian-held territories died during the war, in addition to 19,000 Roma.

Why has your government failed to have these statues removed from

public land?

Answer. The Government Ordinance no.137/2000 was approved in 16

January 2002 (Law 48/2002 published in the Office Journal no 069/

30.01.2002). Romania is the first Central and Eastern Europe country

having a anti-discrimination law.

On 27 of November 2001, Government Decision no. 1194 on the establishment of the National Council to Combat Discrimination was approved (published in the Official Journal no. 792 on 12 December 2001).

The Council was set up in order to apply the sanctions stipulated in the

Governmental Ordinance no.137/2000 for preventing and sanctioning

all forms of discrimination.

 The statues of Marshall Ion Antonescu in Jilava, Sarmas (Mures

county), Calarasi and Bucharest stand on private property. The

statues of Antonescu in Piatra Neamt and Slobozia (Ialomita

county) stand on public ground during 19931994. Similary initiatives in Cluj-Napoca and Drobeta Turnu Severin were overturned by central or local authorities.

 Since its creation in 1997, the Department for the Protection of

National Minorities (whose activities have been transferred to the

newly created Department for Inter-ethnic Relations) allocated

every year a special budgetary fund for programs against racism,

anti-Semitism, xenophobia and intolerance. This fund has increased every year and was generally used for awareness raising

projects on Roma and Jewish issues.

Question. The mayor of Piatra Neamtwhich, by the way, is one of

the cities which has an Antonescu statuehas proposed putting Roma

into a walled ghetto that would be under police surveillance. This sounds

a lot like the scandalous wall that was built (and then finally torn down)

in the Czech Republic two years ago. Will your government take resolute steps to ensure this plan for segregation is never implemented?

Answer. The mayor of Piatra Neamt announced, last year, his intention to build a neighborhood quarter in the town, with block of flats for

the socially disadvantage people. The initiative was disapproved by the

Romas ONG who considered that this initiative seems to put the Roma

people into a walled ghetto under police surveillance. The President,

the Prime Minister and other authorities condemned the statement by

the mayor and spoke in favor of integration than isolation. Following

the involvement and assistance of the ODIHR-OSCE Adviser on Roma

and Sinti Issues, Romanian central and local authorities and civic organizations signed an agreement, on October 26th, 2001, with the aim of

monitoring the situation in Piatra Neamt.
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