The Helsinki Commission has released a report on violations of human rights in OSCE member states that are taking part in the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation meeting that starts in Warsaw on Monday. In particular, the authors of the report surveyed the plight of people from the Caucasus region and the Romany minority in the Russian Federation. (05-OCT-04)

“In recent weeks, the world has looked on with deep sympathy as innocent Russians endured the latest in a spate of terrorist attacks targeting civilians, in this case including schoolchildren. But the international community knows little about the reverse side of the anti-terrorist, anti-drug and anti-crime offensive of the Putin government: the accompanying further degradation of Russian public life and the dramatic narrowing of both the civil liberties and, indeed the basic safety of persons who had already been the most vulnerable victims of racism and discrimination.” 

The report said that people from the Caucasus region and gypsies have of late been considered to be potential terrorists in the Russian Federation.

The United Nations Helsinki Commission held a briefing on September 23 to examine the plight of the Romany in the Russian Federation. It revealed that they were frequently the victims of racially motivated attacks and have been targeted by law enforcement agents on the basis of their ethnic identity.

ERRC monitoring of Roma rights in the Russian Federation has revealed an alarming pattern of human rights abuse of Roma and other people perceived as “Gypsies” . Issues documented in the course of ongoing ERRC research include:

*   Torture and Ill Treatment of Roma by Law Enforcement Officials
*   Arbitrary Police Raids on Romani Settlements
*   Abduction and Extortion of Money by the Police
*   Racial Profiling by Police and Other Officials
*   Discrimination against Roma in the Criminal Justice System
*   Denial of Fair Trial in Cases in which Roma are Accused of Crimes
*   Denial of Access to Justice
*   Hate Speech against Roma in Russian Media
*   Lack of Personal Documents
*   Obstructed Access to Social and Economic Rights
*   Blocked Access to Education
*   Denial of Access to Adequate Housing


The current report also spoke on killings of journalists in the Russian Federation, preventing independent media coverage of the  Beslan school siege. It mentioned that 13 human rights activists were killed in the Chechen Republic during the last four years; 141 were mistreated by the authorities. Illegal arrests, torture and murders of citizens are witnessed across the Chechen Republic. The situation is also getting worse in neighboring Ingushetia, the report said.

The gathering in Warsaw will finish on Oct. 15.

To read hole report go on www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=3&d_id=3972.