§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the level of civilian casualties in(a) Kosovo and (b) Chechnya. [110332]
§ Mr. VazWe estimate that around 10,000 Kosovo Albanians, many of them civilians, were killed by Yugoslav and Serb forces, between June 1998 and June 1999. This estimate is based on a variety of sources, including debriefing of refugees, eyewitness accounts, reports from NGOs, as well as information derived from more sensitive sources.
We are concerned over the civilian casualties in Chechnya. We have repeatedly made representations to the Russian government about the disproportionate use of force, most recently on 11 January. We have stressed to the Russians that the human cost of their military offensive in Chechnya is unacceptable and that they must pursue a political settlement. We are working with both the OSCE and Council of Europe to urge Russia to begin such a process at the earliest opportunity.