Council of Europe's Rights Chief Decries Abuses, Says Russia 'Only Country Not Cooperating'

2017/9/27 23:47:40

Human Rights Envoy Disturbed by Alleged Abuses of Gay Men in Chechnya


By Pete Baumgartner for RFE/RL, Sep 27, 2017

 

PRAGUE -- The Council of Europe's human rights chief says there is a "lot of work to do" in Russia as he criticized Moscow's lack of cooperation amid reports of rights abuses in Chechnya and Russia-occupied Crimea.

 

"Russia is the only country that has not cooperated with my office in the last couple of years; every other country has cooperated," said Nils Muiznieks [pictured], the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, which has 47 member countries.

 

"And I would like to see that [uncooperativeness] change. I think there is a lot of work to do in Russia," he told RFE/RL in an interview in Prague on September 26.

 

Muiznieks called reports in recent months alleging the abuse, torture, and killing of gay men in Chechnya "very, very disturbing." He said Russia's Investigative Committee was playing its role and that the country's ombudswoman, Tatiana Moskalkova, had just visited Chechnya and met with its controversial leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

 

"[Moskalkova is] determined to get to the bottom it," he said.

 

"I think the Investigative Committee and the ombudswoman have both played their role. The problem is more the broader sense of lawlessness in the North Caucasus, in general, and in Chechnya, in particular," said Muiznieks.

 

"It's not only lesbians and gays who are persecuted in Chechnya, it's human rights defenders and journalists and others," he said. "So there's a broader issue of impunity for human rights violations in that region.

 

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https://www.rferl.org/a/muizneks-russi ... ncil-europe/28760684.html

 

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