IV OSCE
| DOI | 10.1177/016934419501300408 |
| Date | 01 December 1995 |
| Published date | 01 December 1995 |
| Subject Matter | Part B: Human Rights News |
Human Rights News
burden-sharing, but only after all possibilities for reception in the region, close to the
home areas of the displaced, would have been exhausted. In the end, they decided to offer
a few thousand places out
of
the contingent of more than 50,000 places for which
UNHCR
is currently seeking offers from the international community. The Fifteen also indicated
they are only ready to admit, on a temporary basis, those displaced persons who satisfy
the criteria for particularly vulnerable groups, as established in 1992/1993 by ED
Ministers: ex-detainees, serious ill and wounded people, persons under direct threat to life
or limb and whose protection cannot otherwise be ensured.
IV OSCE
Arie Bloed
A. OSCE Assistance Group in Chechnya
The OSCE mission in the Chechen capital Grozny - officially called 'Assistance Group',
as the conflict is considered to be of an internal nature - continues to be a central
mediator in the efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict in Chechnya.
Although other international organizations also have sent ad hoc missions to this war-torn
Caucasian region, the OSCE is the only international institution with a permanent
representation on the spot.
The mission, headed by the Hungarian diplomat Sandor Meszaros, constitutes the
framework for the peace negotiations between the Russian authorities and the Chechen
rebels. Although one must beware of exaggeration, there is a general feeling that the
mission has been quite instrumental in achieving the (so far) successful outcome
of
the
talks between both parties. The implementation of the basic agreement between Russia and
the Chechen party faces many problems. The question of the disarmament appears not to
be carried out successfully, so that many arms are still in the hands of Chechen fighters.
The Russian troop withdrawal, although many soldiers have been withdrawn, is also not
completed. Moreover, at various occasions, bomb attacks take place aimed at high-ranking
personalities. In the beginning
of
October the Russian military commander was seriously
wounded as a result of such an attack. Nevertheless, parties seem to be firm in their efforts
to continue the peace process. In the middle of October, however, there were rumours that
the Chechen side wanted to break offthe negotiations, until international monitors and UN
peacekeeping troops would be sent to the region.
Not everybody is that satisfied with the activities of the OSCE mission in Grozny.
This was clearly reflected on 28 September when the mission building in Grozny was
surrounded and sealed
off
by the local police and when Grozny's mayor (a well-known
enemy
of
separatist leader Dudayev) even decided to suspend the mission's activities and
to suggest its departure to a remote place in another Chechen region. One of the reasons
was that the local authorities considered the OSCE mission to be a point of attraction for
politically unwelcome persons: the place in front
of
the building was used, among other
things, for demonstrations by supporters of the ousted Chechen leader Dudayev. During
the surrounding of the mission, the OSCE staff was harassed and threatened. Also as a
result
of
a quick action by the Hungarian embassy in Moscow (Hungary is the present
OSCE Chairman-in-Office), the Russian military forces in Grozny ended the blockade and
secured the proper functioning of the mission again.
Nevertheless, this serious incident is indicative for the harsh circumstances under
which the Assistance Group has to function. This was again clear on 6 October when a
465
To continue reading
Request your trial