Rapporteur Raad van Europa noemt mensenrechtentoestand in Tsjetsjenië rampzalig, maar roept Tsjetsjeense hongerstaker op om actie te beëindigen (en)

Strasbourg, 16.01.2006 - Rudolf Bindig, who is the rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on human rights violations in the Chechen Republic, has appealed to Said-Emin Ibragimov, a Chechen human rights activist based in Strasbourg who has been on hunger strike for more than a month, to end his fast.

Mr Ibragimov, a former Chechen Information Minister and boxing champion who is now in a very weak condition, is calling on the international community to do more to resolve the situation in Chechnya.

In a letter delivered to Mr Ibragimov, Mr Bindig wrote: "The disastrous human rights situation in the Chechen Republic remains a matter of the highest concern. I will personally continue my efforts to put an end to the unacceptable sufferings of your people, which needs human rights defenders alive. So I appeal to you to stop urgently your hunger strike and to restore your forces and energy to help me and your people in this huge task."

The German parliamentarian, who has visited the Chechen Republic many times, expressed his deep concern for the sufferings of the Chechen people. His report, due to be debated by PACE on 25 January during its Winter Session, says human rights violations there continue to occur on a massive scale in a climate of impunity and that Europe's governments have failed to address them in a regular, serious and intensive manner.

Link to the full text of the letter

Link to Mr Bindig's report

Contact:

Communication Unit of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

Tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93 Fax +33 3 90 21 41 34; e-mail: pace.com@coe.int