OSCE/ODIHR Director visits Chechnya to assess human rights situation
(OSCE)Ambassador Gérard Stoudmann, Director of the OSCE Office
for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, visits an Internally
Displaced Persons' camp in Znamenskoe, Chechnya, 14 June
2001. (OSCE) Photo details
WARSAW, 14 June 2001 (OSCE) - The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Gérard Stoudmann, visited Chechnya on 13 and 14 June on a fact-finding mission to assess the human rights and humanitarian situation in the republic.
The OSCE/ODIHR delegation visited a pre-trial detention facility as well as a camp for internally displaced persons, and met with the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic, Stanislav Ilyasov, and other representatives of the local administration and the judiciary. The delegation also visited the local offices of the Presidential Human Rights Representative in Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, in Grozny and Znamenskoe to assess how previous support provided by the OSCE/ODIHR is being reflected in the Office's ongoing operations. The OSCE/ODIHR had been invited by Mr. Kalamanov's Office to visit Chechnya.
Upon return from Chechnya, the mission's findings will be presented to the Russian authorities and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.
Press arrangements:
The delegation is available to comment on the outcomes of the visit on Friday, 15 June, and Saturday, 16 June. Please directly contact: Nina Suomalainen, Personal Adviser to the OSCE/ODIHR Director, +48-605 343 899, or Ian Gorvin, OSCE/ODIHR Head of Monitoring and Public Affairs, +48-603 793 789, or Vadim Zhdanovich, Adviser, +48-603 942 914 (for Russian language inquiries).
The OSCE/ODIHR delegation visited a pre-trial detention facility as well as a camp for internally displaced persons, and met with the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic, Stanislav Ilyasov, and other representatives of the local administration and the judiciary. The delegation also visited the local offices of the Presidential Human Rights Representative in Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, in Grozny and Znamenskoe to assess how previous support provided by the OSCE/ODIHR is being reflected in the Office's ongoing operations. The OSCE/ODIHR had been invited by Mr. Kalamanov's Office to visit Chechnya.
Upon return from Chechnya, the mission's findings will be presented to the Russian authorities and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.
Press arrangements:
The delegation is available to comment on the outcomes of the visit on Friday, 15 June, and Saturday, 16 June. Please directly contact: Nina Suomalainen, Personal Adviser to the OSCE/ODIHR Director, +48-605 343 899, or Ian Gorvin, OSCE/ODIHR Head of Monitoring and Public Affairs, +48-603 793 789, or Vadim Zhdanovich, Adviser, +48-603 942 914 (for Russian language inquiries).