Do not Forget Chechnya!

Peace march across Switzerland

From 23rd October to 27th October a peace march took place from Geneva via Berne and Zurich to Basle, Switzerland. It ended at the weekend in Strasburg/France. Facing the escalation of the war in Chechnya, the civilian population is confronted with massive discrimination, arbritrariness and coercion by the police and the administration in Russia. The international community, however, does not raise its voice. Political and economic interests are of much greater importance. Thus human rights organisation "Association internationale : Paix et Droits de l'Homme" organised a march for peace and human rights in Chechnya. On this occasion, signatures for an appeal to the UN Commission for Human Rights were collected. Further signatures can be sent by fax to +33383362199 or by email miriprava@hotmail.com. In the box we reproduce the appeal of 3rd October.

Appeal to the international community

To all human rights organisations and others, to political parties and politicians, to the international community.

For several years, the association "Paix et Droits de l'homme" has been addressing the European Council and the UN requesting the following:

1. Measures are to be taken according to international law to end the war in Chechnya

2. The severe violations of human rights and freedom rights in Chechnya should be officially acknowledged and legal measures taken.

The above mentioned international organisations do not reject the legitimacy of these demands but they also do not hurry to implement them. In their letters, the European Parliament and the European Council do not answer these demands in a direct manner. They avoid an answer and refer to resolutions and recommendations that have been ignored by the Russian state for years, as they do not have any legal basis. The legal acknowledgement of severe human rights and freedom rights violations in Chechnya could be an important step towards a solution of the Chechen problem. But this has never been taken - despite the murder of 250,000 civilians, including 36,000 to 65,000 children, despite the hundreds of thousands of injured people who are forced to flee from their country, despite the destruction of towns and villages, despite the kidnappings, depsite the executions without trials and despite the numerous other crimes that make it our duty to acknowledge the severe violations of human rights and freedom rights and then to reestablish freedom and human rights in the country.

The Russian military and political leadership have hidden these crimes and continue their genocide of the Chechen people. With the help of manipulation in the media and the very situation in this country - the equalling of Chechens with terrorists - the Russian leadership has created negative public opinion against the Chechen people as a whole. Without any intervention by the international community, this enables the Russian leadership to implement their political, economic and other interests, regardless of the blood toll and the sufferings of the Chechen people.

Aid for this people (whose fate could be faced by any other people in the world) is only possible with the help of the international community. We hope to make the public aware of the true situation in Chechnya and to achieve our aim with international help: to implement our demands. To this end our movement "Paix et Droits de l'homme" has initiated an unlimited movement for peace and the reestablishment of freedom and human rights in this country. On our initiative, several events have already taken place: peace marches and other events in France, Germany, Luxemburg and Belgium. Not much has been achieved until today. Since 13 October we have been on the third stage of our peace march. The march now moves across Switzerland, where we will collect signatures for the legitimate demands of the Chechen people.

We call upon you to ...

... do everything to assist us and to support our peace march, to sign the lists of signatures against war and for the reestablishment of freedom and human rights in Chechnya, to copy this appeal and the lists of signatures and distribute them, so that many more signatures can be collected and sent to the address below.

Let us not forget!

Violence produces new violence and destabilises the whole international community. Indifference towards crimes committed against innocent victims is nothing but indirect participation in theses crimes.

Ibragimov, Said-Emin, President of the association «Paix et Droits de l'homme» («Peace and Human Rights»)

Registered association in Strasbourg - No. 80/18, Bank account: Banque Populaire, BPRES, Strasbourg, 176070000101199069478/91.