A Parliamentary Assembly Round Table of the European Council took place in Strasburg on 23 of March. The list of the Council members was compiled by Andreas Gross, a member of the European Council from Switzerland and representatives of the Russian State Duma. They made the decision not to include any representatives of Aslan Maskhadov (Chechen separatist leader, who was killed earlier this month), who didn’t recognize the integrity of Russian Federation. Mr. Gross invited Akhmed Zakaev, (rebel envoy) to participate on the side of the separatists, but he refused. (02-APR-05)
The representatives of the ruling government of the Chechen Republic were satisfied by the absence of the separatists. The Chechen government was well represented by 30 members, namely: Alu Alkhanov – pro-Moscow Chechen President, Vice-Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic Eli Isaev, the Chief of the Chechen State Counsel Taus Djabrailov, the Commissioner of human rights in the Chechen Republic Lema Khasuev, etc.
Alu Alkhanov said that the Chechen leadership is ready to discuss questions about the security of the Chechen population and reconstruction of democratic institutes in the Chechen republic. But he said that it was not possible to negotiate with representatives of Mr. Maskhadov. Mr. Alkhanov considers them terrorists who are guilty of getting the Chechen people involved in the war.
The former working group co-chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, lord Djadd, said that the negotiations between separatists and the government of the Chechen Republic should, in any case, take place. The only man who could be of interest for the separatists in this discussion is Akhmed Zakaev. Mr. Gross also said that the negotiations between these two parties are necessary to achieve a peaceful settlement.
Russian representatives of human rights organisations said this Round Table wasn’t productive because, without any representatives of the separatists, there was no opposing point of view. Svetlana Gannushkina from Moscow Helsinki Group (picture) said that therefore it was not possible to discuss the problems of the Chechen Republic and find a solution to the internal, ethnic conflict of the Chechen Republic. Nevertheless human rights organisations were satisfied that this Round Table took place and human rights defenders were given the chance to speak. The result of this Round table was the decision to keep the dialog open.
Photo: www.hro.org
