§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations654W he has made to the Russian authorities to register officially displaced Chechen persons in the republics neighbouring Chechnya. [53056]
§ Mr. BradshawWe have not made any recent representations to the Russian Government about this issue. The main focus of our dialogue has been the human rights situation in Chechnya. However, the UK has supported a Council of Europe project aimed at speeding up the registration process and the issue of identity cards to Chechen internally displaced persons.
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made and to whom for an independent international inquiry into violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Chechnya. [53055]
§ Mr. BradshawThe UK has not called for an international inquiry into allegations of human rights violations in Chechnya. Instead, we have, with our EU partners, pressed the Russian Government to establish, in accordance with recognised international standards, a national, broad-based and independent commission of inquiry to investigate alleged violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law committed in the republic. We last raised this in mid-April at the 58th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.