COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION REPORT
Press Release
RD/849
COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONTINUES DISCUSSION OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION REPORT
19960301 GENEVA, 28 February (UN Information Service) -- The question of refugees in the Russian Federation and the conflict in the Chechen Republic were the focus of discussion this morning as the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination continued to examine developments in that country.In response to questions posed yesterday as the panel took up a Russian report on implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Andrei I. Kolossovsky, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at Geneva, said the most far-reaching attempt to settle the Chechen question had led to an agreement on military issues with the secessionist movement last summer. An agreement on political issues could not be reached because the Chechen side only wanted independence. The Federal side first wanted stabilization, to be followed by elections and then further discussions.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister at the Ministry for Nationalities and Regional Policies asked the Committee to take into account the complexity of the unprecedentedly large refugee problem, which had originated with the break-up of the former Soviet Union. It was important to stress that Russia had taken on the burden of resettling the refugees fleeing ethnic conflicts in the former republics of the Soviet Union.
The Committee will draw up observations on the report, which it will adopt later in the session.
Discussion of Report
Experts commented on, among other things, reported discriminatory acts against people from the Caucasus region and requested information on the situation of "small people", or minorities, in the Russian Far North.
ANDREI KOLOSSOVSKY, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at Geneva, responding to questions posed by Committee members yesterday and this morning, said international treaties acceded to by the Russian Federation became part of the Russian legal system and took precedence over domestic law. The text of the Convention had been published domestically. Non-governmental organizations also provided information on the international obligations of the Russian Federation under the human rights treaties.
Regarding the status of legislation on human rights, VLADIMIR Y. ZORIN, Chairman of the Committee on Nationalities of the State Duma, said the draft law on national and cultural autonomy mentioned in the report (document CERD/C/263/Add.9) had been studied by the State Duma but not approved. Only one article remained to be agreed, however. Other drafts were being elaborated in accordance with International Labour Organisation Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous people. Ratification of the Convention was also being studied, even though indigenous people in Russia had raised some questions about that instrument.
ANDREI G. CHERNENKO, Deputy Minister, Ministry for Nationalities and Regional Policies, said a special authority had just been set up to implement a State programme on the social and economic life of the Far North. There were 29 "small peoples" in the Far North, totalling 200,000 persons. Difficulties arose because they lived in a territory of 11 million square kilometres.
Anti-semitism was not a serious problem in Russia, despite frequent references to it, Mr. Chernenko said. None of the groups in the country's federation of Jewish organizations had reported suffering violence from nationalist organizations of any kind. Moreover, there were no longer obstacles placed on emigration of Jews, which had dropped sharply in any case.
Regarding the question of refugees, Mr. Chernenko asked the Committee to take into account the complexity of that unprecedentedly large problem, which had originated with the break-up of the former Soviet Union. It was important to stress that Russia had taken on the burden of resettling the refugees fleeing ethnic conflicts in the former States of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, much xenophobia in everyday life resulted from the fact that 2.7 million Russians had had to leave their homes in the former Soviet Union to resettle in Russia in the last few years. Also, refugees were not always satisfied with the provisions made for resettling them.
The origins of conflict in Chechnya and Ingushetia could be traced back to the time of Stalin, he went on. The people who had originally lived in those territories had been removed, and the territory resettled with other groups. When the original residents came back, they encountered those who had been resettled. Thus, this was initially not an ethnic problem. The Federal Government made every effort to prevent those conflicts from spreading.
VLADIMIR V. DEMIDOV, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, said the independence of judges was guaranteed by the Constitution (article 120), as well as by the procedures for their appointment. Judges were trained in the Legal Academy of the Ministry of Justice. They received instruction on international standards of law and human rights. The death penalty was applied only as an exceptional measure, in accordance with the
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law. The crimes punishable by death included homicide with aggravating circumstances and rape with aggravating circumstances.
VLADIMIR DAVYDOV, Deputy General Prosecutor, said the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation was the single organ monitoring implementation of the law in the country. Many nationalities were represented in the staff of the Office. The investigative machinery of the Office in the Chechen Republic was not working very effectively, however.
Mr. ZORIN, responding to questions on the situation in the Chechen Republic, said he was gratified for the expressions of support for the territorial integrity of the Federation and for the fight against terrorism. The conflict there had started in 1991, when the then Supreme Council, or Parliament, of the Soviet Union had declared the regime of the secessionist Zhodkar Dudayev as illicit. In 1992, there was considerable opposition to Dudayev in the Chechen Republic. That had overflowed into the current conflict.
Dudayev's efforts to neutralize that opposition was first local, but then it was extended, he continued. The Federal centre could not accept that. Federal authorities were ready to negotiate with any political forces willing to establish peace in the Chechen Republic. Just last November, an agreement had been signed between the Federal and local authorities recognizing the need to establish a special status for Chechnya, which would allow the Republic to establish its own economic and foreign relations.
In July 1995, he continued, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation had recognized the President's decisions to establish law and order in the Chechen Republic. In its decision, the Court had also reaffirmed international principles on the treatment of persons not directly participating in the conflict. The Court had noted that those provisions were not being observed by the local authorities.
Also in the summer of last year, Mr. KOSSOLOVSKY added, the most far-reaching attempt to settle the question had led to an agreement on military issues with Dudayev. An agreement on political issues could not be reached because the Chechen side only wanted independence. The Federal side first wanted stabilization, to be followed by elections and then further discussions.
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