The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society is excluded from OSCE meeting

13 September 2007 in Vienna the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society was excluded from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)- Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – meeting. The USA delegation left the session in protest. The human rights society is outraged by this fact, because, first of all, it violates the right to express their opinion avowedly. (24-SEP-07)

Written by HRH Moscow / Inna Komar
Sources: http://www.echo.msk.ru/, http://xeno.sova-center.ru/, http://www.amnesty.org.ru/, http://www.ihf-hr.org

USA delegation leaves the OSCE meeting in protest
13-14 September 2007 in Vienna was held a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concerning “Victims of Terrorism”. On the first day of the session the USA delegation left the meeting making protest against Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) exclusion. Some foreign delegations, such as Canada, Great Britain, Norway and Portugal, expressed their protest, too.
The US delegation representative Christopher Sebilla appealed to Spain, the current  Chairmanship of OSCE, asking for reasons of the flagrant violation. The answer was plain – one of the countries-participants objected to RCFS taking part in the session. An official representative of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Titorenko (right), claimed that organization, convicted in the Russian Federation as “connected with extremism and terrorism” and admitted illegal by the court`s decision, has no right to participate in OSCE meeting. He warned, if the RCFS members stayed, the Russian official delegation would leave the OSCE Conference.

RCFS background
The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) is among the most persecuted civil society organizations in the Russian Federation. Critical of Russian policies in the Chechen Republic while delivering vital humanitarian assistance to victims of the violence there, the organization was closed down in January 2007. The decision was an application of the new NGO law, and based on the “failure” of its chair, Stas Dmitrievsky, to resign from his positions within the RCFS after his conviction for an “extremist” crime and the failure of the RCFS to publicly denounce Dmitrievsky after his politically motivated conviction. The charges against him were brought after the RCFS published appeals by the late Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov and his envoy, Akhmed Zakayev, for a peaceful resolution of the Chechen conflict. Many other media have published such statements.

NGOs protests against RCFS exclusion
The RCFS avoked a protest not only of foreign official delegations, but also among NGOs.
“The International Helsinki Foundation (IHF) strongly objects to this departure from the OSCE´s well-established practice of allowing diverse views – even unpopular ones – to be heard,” stated Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director of the IHF. “Civil society participation is what allows the OSCE to be a vivid platform for dialogue about upholding standards and implementing commitments. Some OSCE participating States apparently seek to shield themselves from scrutiny; others acquiesce.”

The Amnesty International has been watching for the situation about RCFS for a few years. It strongly believes, that publishing the Chechen separatists` appeals and articles, the organization, hence, implemented the right to express their opinion avowedly. The Amnesty International is concerned about the State-Chairman  incompetence to follow its own rules, according to which the member-organization may be excluded from the OSCE meeting only if it “uses violent measures in their activity and encourages terrorism”.