HL Deb 24 May 2004 vol 661 c107WA
Lord Judd

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations they will make to the Russian Government at the forthcoming May meeting of Ministers at the Council of Europe regarding:

  1. (a) the human rights situation in Chechnya;
  2. (b) the humanitarian situation in Chechnya;
  3. (c) the need for a widely based political peace process in Chechnya;
  4. (d) the need to avoid harsh security operations in Chechnya; and
  5. (e) the relationship between the conflict in Chechnya and worldwide relations between Islamic and non-Islamic peoples. [HL2660]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)

We understand that Chechnya will be raised by the chairman at the forthcoming ministerial meeting of the Council of Europe, and we expect the meeting to endorse the Council of Europe's involvement in the restoration of law and respect for human rights in Chechnya. We raise our concerns about the situation in Chechnya regularly with the Russian Federation, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora. These concerns were last raised at ministerial level by my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Bill Rammell) during his recent visit to Russia.