PRESS RELEASE
January 23, 2001
Contact: Catherine Osgood (202) 296-5101

ACPC COORDINATES INTERNATIONAL PETITION TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE ON RUSSIAN VOTING RIGHTS

The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, in coordination with organizations in Europe and in Canada, sent a letter last week to Lord Russell-Johnston, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, ahead of the PACE winter session (January 22-26). The letter urged the Parliamentary Assembly not to reinstate Russia's voting rights in the Council before the Russian government ceases its human rights abuse in Chechnya and takes steps to alleviate the continuing humanitarian disaster there.

The Parliamentary Assembly is scheduled to debate the reinstatement of Russia's voting rights on Thursday, January 25. Russia's voting rights were suspended in the Council last April because of severe human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The joint letter to Lord Russell-Johnston was signed by the ACPC, the Danish Support Committee for Chechnya, the Canadian Society for Peace in Chechnya, the Chechen Information Centre in Poland, and the International Group of Parliamentarians on the Problem of Chechenia (an organization representing parliamentarians in Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, Chechnya, Great Britain, Estonia, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine).

The joint letter states that "the political and humanitarian disaster in Chechnya remains unchanged. In addition, there is no indication that the current Russian leadership is committed to ending the war promptly in a manner consistent with preserving the Chechen people's fundamental human rights."

The brutal war in Chechnya has entered its 16th month and has produced an estimated 300,000 displaced persons and refugees. Several international organizations have reported widespread atrocities including summary executions, detentions, denial of safe passage to fleeing civilians, rape, torture and looting committed by Russian soldiers against the Chechen people.

The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, private organization representing nearly 100 distinguished Americans including academics, journalists, politicians, and foreign policy experts, is dedicated to promoting a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

THE AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR PEACE IN CHECHNYA
1319 18th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 296-5101
Fax: (202) 296-5078
www.peaceinchechnya.org

Co-Chairs: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Alexander M. Haig Jr., Max M. Kampelman
Executive Director: Glen E. Howard