30/09/2009 Session
“In April 2009, the Russian Government announced the end of the operations in Chechnya. Now, however, the entire region is beset by violence,” said Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) today at the start of the current affairs debate on the situation of human rights defenders and the increasing violence in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation. According to Mr Marty, it is above all the general climate of impunity at all levels which has prevailed in the region for many years that has generated an atmosphere conducive to the spread of violence. “There can be no justice without truth and no peace without justice,” he added.
Ilyas Umakhanov (Russia, EDG) underlined that, when speaking of terrorism, it is necessary to “analyse all its acts without excluding criminality”, as some of them may be linked to an underground mafia seeking to destabilise the region. Although “the situation is under control,” he said, it is difficult and needs to be monitored.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, stressed the need to remember the people who live in the region, as it is very important for victims’ families not to feel that they have been left on their own.