WRITTEN QUESTION P-3244/02

by Harlem Désir (PSE) to the Commission

(11 November 2002)

Subject: Arrest of the Chechen government representative Akhmed Zakayev in Copenhagen

Following the arrest of Mr Akhmed Zakayev in Copenhagen on the night of 29-30 October 2002, can the Commission provide information on the EU's common foreign policy position concerning the settlement of the Chechen conflict and relations with the representatives of the government of the elected President of Chechnya, Mr Aslan Maskhadov?

Mr Maskhadov was democratically elected President of the Republic of Chechnya in January 1997, in OCSE-supervised elections.

Mr Zakayev, the representative of the Chechen President and himself a former minister of culture, has dealt on a regular basis with the Russian authorities, notably in the talks of August 2002 with Mr Ivan Rybkin, the former President of Russia's Security Council, and in those of November 2001 at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport with Mr Viktor Kazantsev, a former commander of the federal forces in Chechnya mandated by the Kremlin.

Attempts to criminalise legitimate elected representatives of the Chechen people in the wake of the attack on the Melnikov Street theatre in Moscow, or to treat them as members of a terrorist group, will only serve to delay the settlement of a conflict which has already, since 1994, claimed 200 000 dead or disappeared, or 10 % of the Chechen population.

Will the Commission intervene with the Danish government to stop the extradition of Akhmed Zakayev to Russia, a country which has not abolished the death penalty but merely suspended it until 2003?

Will the Commission clarify the nature of the Union's policy and step up pressure on Russia to guarantee the rights of the Chechen people, put an end to human rights violations, stop the massacre of the civilian population, and reach a political settlement to a conflict which cannot be resolved by military means?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(2 December 2002)

Concerning the arrest of Mr Zakayev, the Commission cannot intervene in a legal issue which must be dealt with solely by the relevant Danish authorities and in accordance with Danish law.

As regards the Union's policy on the conflict in Chechnya, the Commission would like to confirm that the well-established position of the Union on the matter was put forward in clear terms to President Putin at the recent Union-Russia Summit in Brussels on 11 November 2002. While expressing its abhorrence of terrorism in all its forms, the Union recalled in explicit terms that

the fight against terrorism cannot be conducted at the expense of basic Human Rights. In addition, the Union urged the Russian side to promote without delay a political solution that provides a framework for lasting peace, stability and reconstruction in Chechnya.

The Union will continue to monitor developments on the ground in Chechnya. Furthermore, the Union will continue to raise its concerns on this issue as appropriate in its bilateral political dialogue with the Russian Federation. In parallel, the Union will continue to participate actively in discussions and initiatives on Chechnya within the framework of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. In parallel, the Commission has so far allocated almost EUR 90 million since 1999 for humanitarian aid to refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in the North Caucasus and has continually pressed the Russian authorities to put in place the necessary conditions for this aid to be provided to all who need it safely and effectively.