The World Chechen Congress entitled «The Fate of the Chechen Nation: present day reality and future prospects» which convened in Pultusk (Poland) on 16-18 September 2010 and which was organised in conjunction with members of the European Parliament and MPs from different European countries.
Witnessing the tragic situation in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya makes our hearts ache. Over two hundred and fifty new graves have appeared in the Chechen land as a result of the last two wars. We express our deep condolence and our sympathy with the victims of this conflict. We condemn the violence perpetrated by anyone and in any form and we consider terrorist attacks a direct consequence of the on-going Russian-Chechen war. We choose the principle of non-violence and press for the conflict to be resolved by political means. By condemning all acts of violence we are setting up the scene for open dialogue.
STATING our committment to human values and the internationally recognised right of nations to self-determination in accordance with which all nations have a right to freely determine their own political status and to pursue their own economic, social and cultural development;
ACKNOWLEDGING the onus on the international institutions which have ignored the Chechen tragedy over such a prolonged period of time – the fact which calls into question their reputation as competent democratic institutions designed to protect the world; whose lack of concern has already resulted in a large scale catastrophe which has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people;
CONVINCED that the hands-off approach of the international community to the resolution of the conflict between the Russian state and the Chechen people has led to a humanitarian catastrophe of enormous proportions and to unmanageable processes throughout the Caucasus region which also impede the democratic development of the Russian Federation itself;
HONOURING the dignity of all members of the human family and recognising that the Chechen people’s aspiration is to build a modern state based on human values, on respect for human rights irrespective of ethnicity or religion, and recognising also that their equal and inalienable rights are the basis of liberty, justice and peace;
URGING the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya to declare a unilateral moratorium on hostilities and to step up the non-military methods of resistance with the aim to put an end to violence and to demilitarise the Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya;
WE SUGGEST that a permanent «Council on the Caucasus» be set up under the guaranteed auspices and with the universal support of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the UN, and with the participation of prominent official and public figures from the US, Europe, Russia and the Caucasus, in order to develop a common strategy to put an end to the Russian-Chechen war, prevent a further escalation of hostilities and counter terrorism in the Caucasus.
1. To call on the Russian government to put an immediate end to all hostilities and to start a process of negotiations with the leadership of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya. To call on the Russian leadership, to hand over as a good will gesture, the body of the former President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya Aslan Maskhadov to his relatives to be buried in accordance with the national customs.
2. To demand that the Russian leadership release all members and supporters of the Chechen resistance and stop the persecution of their relatives and human rights activists.
3. Given the high level of violence, comparable only to the Hollocaust of Jews in the Nazi Germany, to recommend that the UN set up a special tribunal in line with the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly's recommendation N1323 of 2/04/2003 on the Chechen Republic and the UN Convention on Genocide.
4. To adopt a pan-European law on granting political asylum to refugees from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya, and to treat them as war refugees and vistims of genocide. To recognise the persecuted status of the Chechen nation and to provide Chechen refugees with a corresponding status.
5. To demand that the Russian authorities provide free access to the territory of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya for international investigations into mass graves, for the search for missing persons, for the independent media, medical and humanitarian organisations.
We, the delegates and participants of this Congress, make an undertaking to support this resolution in our future work and to begin a dialogue between non-government organisations, political parties, politicians and governments. Together we are creating an international coalition to support the true process of establishing a just peace in the Caucasus and a speedy resolution of the Russian-Chechen war.
http://www.chechenpress.co.uk/content/2010/09/24/main01.shtml
