IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 206
Expressing grave concern regarding armed conflict in the North Caucasus
region of the Russian Federation which has resulted in civilian casualties
and internally displaced persons, and urging all sides to pursue dialog
for peaceful resolution of the conflict.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 25, 1999
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. WOLF, and Mr. FORBES) sub-
mitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing grave concern regarding armed conflict in the
North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation which
has resulted in civilian casualties and internally displaced
persons, and urging all sides to pursue dialog for peace-
ful resolution of the conflict.
Whereas during the Russo-Chechen War of 1994–1996, Rus-
sian Federation military forces used massive force
against civilians in Chechnya, causing immense human
casualties, gross human rights violations, large-scale dis-
placement of individuals, and destruction of property;
Whereas Chechnya has been the site of internal lawlessness
and numerous kidnapings, including that of United
•HCON 206 IH
States citizen Fred Cuny, whose exact fate is still un-
known;
Whereas in recent months, extremist forces based in
Chechnya have mounted armed incursions into the adja-
cent Russian Federation Republic of Dagestan;
Whereas the United States recognizes the territorial integrity
of the Russian Federation;
Whereas Russian Federation armed forces have conducted
armed attacks against Chechnya and positioned forces
with the stated intention of sealing Chechnya’s borders
and creating a security zone in the region;
Whereas such attacks, including indiscriminate bombing and
strafing of civilians in Chechnya, have given rise to over
100,000 internally displaced persons, most of whom have
escaped into neighboring regions of Russia;
Whereas such indiscriminate attacks are a violation of para-
graph 19 of the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military As-
pects of Security, approved at the 1994 Summit of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
held in Budapest, Hungary, which states that in the
event of armed conflict, participating States ‘‘will seek to
create conditions favorable to the political solution of the
conflict. They will cooperate in support of humanitarian
assistance to alleviate suffering among the civilian popu-
lation, including facilitating the movement of personnel
and resources to such tasks’’, and paragraph 36, which
states, ‘‘If recourse to force cannot be avoided in per-
forming internal security missions, each participating
State will ensure that its use must be commensurate with
the needs for enforcement. The armed forces will take
due care to avoid injury to civilians or their property.’’;
•HCON 206 IH
Whereas the conflict in the North Caucasus may threaten
democratic development, the rule of law, and respect for
human rights throughout Russia;
Whereas almost 300 persons have died as a result of unsolved
terrorist bombings in Russia that coincided with the
armed incursions into Dagestan;
Whereas authorities in Moscow and other cities of the Rus-
sian Federation have used terrorist bombings as a pre-
text to intensify a campaign against individuals from the
North Caucasus region, including the detention and forc-
ible expulsion of such individuals from these cities; and
Whereas in response to Russian attacks the elected Govern-
ment of Chechnya has declared its solidarity with rene-
gade Chechen forces in opposing Russian attacks: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) urges the Government of the Russian Fed-
eration to cease the indiscriminate use of force
against the civilian population in Chechnya, in ac-
cordance with commitments of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe;
(2) urges the Government of the Russian Fed-
eration to enter into negotiations on the North
Caucasus conflict with legitimate political represent-
atives of the region, including President Maskhadov
and his Government, and to avail itself of the con-
flict prevention and crisis management capabilities
•HCON 206 IH
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, which helped broker an end to the 1994–
1996 War;
(3) urges the Government of Chechnya to use
every appropriate means to deny extremist forces lo-
cated in its territory a base of operations for the
mounting of armed incursions that threaten peace
and stability in the North Caucasus region;
(4) cautions that forcible resettlement of inter-
nally displaced persons would evoke outrage from
the international community;
(5) urges that the Government of the Russian
Federation seek and accept international humani-
tarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of the in-
ternally displaced persons from Chechnya, so as to
reduce the risk of civilian casualties; and
(6) calls on the Government of the United
States to express to all parties the necessity of re-
solving the conflict peacefully, with full respect to
the human rights of all the citizens of the Russian
Federation, and to support the provision of appro-
priate international humanitarian assistance.
Æ