COE HUMAN RIGHTS HEAD SEES GROWING DICHOTOMY IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 001243

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KDEM RS
SUBJECT: COE HUMAN RIGHTS HEAD SEES GROWING DICHOTOMY IN
THE NORTH CAUCASUS

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Alice G. Wells for reasons
1.4 (b),(d).


1. (SBU) Summary: COE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas
Hammarberg noted during his April 18-26 visit to Russia that
while Chechnya is making progress on the protection of human
rights, the situation in neighboring Dagestan and Ingushetiya
is becoming more violent. In his meeting with Putin,
Hammarberg asked for more GOR efforts to find the estimated
3,000 people missing in Chechnya, including the
identification of bodies found in 50 mass graves there.
Hammarberg left reportedly pleased with the progress he had
seen in Chechnya, and with the fact that Putin and Medvedev
met with him, but the message from the GOR on implementing
human rights standards and ratifying COE protocols was not
promising. End Summary.

Engaging the Kremlin
--------------


2. (C) During his April 18-26 visit to Russia, Council of
Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg held
extensive high-level meetings and visited three northern
Caucasus republics -- Chechnya, Ingushetiya and Dagestan --
which have been at the forefront of concern by international
human rights organizations. In addition to separate sessions
with Putin and President-elect Medvedev, Hammarberg met with
foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Prosecutor General Yuriy
Chaika, Minister of Health and Social Development Tatyana
Golikova and representatives from the Ministry of Justice.


3. (C) In his 25 meetings with Putin and Medvedev,
Hammarberg emphasized that there remained human rights issues
in the region, even though kidnappings in Chechnya were less
common and there had been no reports of torture in the former
breakaway republic for more than a year. (Note: North
Caucasus expert Tanya Lokshina from the Moscow office of
Human Rights Watch believes that since Ramzan Kadyrov became
president of Chechnya in April 2007, fewer people are willing
to report abductions and instances of torture for fear of
angering government authorities, upon whose assistance they
are dependent to find their relatives. End Note).
Hammarberg also told Putin that the GOR should work to
resolve the problem of the missing if there is to be lasting
stability. (Aleksandr Machevskiy, an advisor in the
Presidential Administration on Russia's relations with Europe
who organized the COE delegation's visit, reminded us of
Russian interest in finding and identifying Russian soldiers
who are also missing as a result of the two Chechen wars.)
Hammarberg told reporters after his meeting with Medvedev
that their discussions focused on the future cooperation
between Russia and the COE, but a contact at the Swedish
Embassy told up that Hammarberg left Moscow disappointed that
there was no agreement on several outstanding bilateral
issues to continue implementing human rights standards, as
well as no progress on the ratification of Protocol 14 to the
European Convention on Human Rights and Russia's complete
abolishment of the death penalty.

North Caucasus Consultations
--------------


4. (C) According to Machevskiy, Hammarberg was struck by the
progress Chechnya is making on human rights, along with the
large amount of money being spent to reconstruct the
war-ravaged republic. Machevskiy told us the trip was a
balance of meetings with government officials, including
several two-hour long meetings with each of the presidents of
the three Caucasus republics, as well as discussions with
representatives of human rights organizations and ordinary
citizens. Unlike previous groups that visited the North
Caucasus, Machevskiy said that the COE delegation, which
included several hand-picked Russian and foreign journalists,
overnighted at a new hotel adjacent to Groznyy's airport.


5. (C) In his public statements Hammarberg was more nuanced,
citing progress in Chechnya, especially on the reduced
reports of torture and kidnapping, but noting that there
remain a large number of missing persons. Shortly after
Hammarberg's visit to Chechnya, the European Court for Human
Rights in Strasbourg ordered the GOR to pay 72,000 euros for
"material and moral damages" to a Chechen woman whose son and
son-in-law disappeared in May 2001. Hammarberg promised
locals in Chechnya he would use his best efforts to convince
Moscow to open an DNA-testing facility in the capital Groznyy
(according to Machevskiy, such analysis is now performed in
Rostov-on-Don and Moscow). Hammarberg also undertook to
raise with Russian officials the increase in incidents of
xenophobia against Chechens living in other parts of Russia,
and lastly, to look at the possibility that Chechens are
treated more harshly under the Russian penal system. Jo

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Hegenauer, head of UNHCR's North Caucasus regional office,
told RefCoord that he had an hour-long lunch with Hammarberg
in Chechnya, who told him he was impressed by Chechen
Ombudsman Nudri Nukhazhiyev. Hegenauer himself thinks that
Nukhazhiyev is a "work in progress." Immediately following
the COE delegation's visit, Nukhazhiyev praised Chechen
President Kadyrov for meeting regularly with human rights
activists.


6. (SBU) In his meeting with President Murat Zyazikov of
Ingushetiya, Hammarberg focused on extrajudicial killing and
the use of excessive force against individuals who are
detained. He noted that the use of indiscriminate force by
security services increases bitterness among civilians who
then begin to themselves support the insurgents. Zyazikov
reportedly agreed that any use of unlawful force would make
law enforcement appear no better than the terrorists
themselves against whom they are struggling.


7. (C) In Dagestan, the GOR pulled out all the stops, flying
Hammarberg and his entourage by helicopter to a remote
military base in the mountains near the village of Botlikh to
which Putin also made a surprise visit earlier this year. It
was from this region that Chechen insurgents began an attack
in Dagestan in 1999 after which Putin promised to base
security forces permanently in the area when he became
president. According to the internet-based Caucasian Knot
newspaper, no ordinary residents were invited to meet with
Hammarberg during his visit to Botlikh. During a two-hour
meeting with Dagestan leader Mukhu Aliyev, Hammarberg
reiterated his earlier warning to Zyazikov that actions by
law enforcement that harm innocent civilians or violate human
rights will result in a vicious cycle of increased violence.
Hammarberg also met with representatives from an NGO made up
of mothers whose sons have disappeared in Dagestan.


Comment


8. (C) Machevskiy noted that because of the long-standing
"friendly" dialogue, the COE carries much more weight with
the GOR on these issues than either the U.S., the EU or its
individual member-states. In reality, the GOR plays the
generally tamer COE human rights representatives against
their U.S. and other European counterparts. Some leading
human rights representatives here continue to be disappointed
that there is not stronger condemnation of Russia's human
rights record by the COE.
BURNS