[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 206 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 206


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 17, 1999

                                Received

                           November 19, 1999

             Referred to the Committeeon Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing grave concern regarding armed conflict in the North Caucasus 
    region of the Russian Federation which has resulted in civilian 
 casualties and internally displaced persons, and urging all sides to 
         pursue dialog for peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Whereas during the Russo-Chechen War of 1994-1996, Russian Federation military 
        forces used massive force against civilians in Chechnya, causing immense 
        human casualties, gross human rights violations, large-scale 
        displacement of individuals, and destruction of property;
Whereas Chechnya has been the site of internal lawlessness and numerous 
        kidnapings, including that of United


States citizen Fred Cuny, whose exact fate is still unknown;

Whereas in recent months, extremist forces based in Chechnya have mounted armed 
        incursions into the adjacent Russian Federation Republic of Dagestan and 
        attempted to establish a political entity therein against the wishes of 
        the majority of the population of Dagestan;
Whereas almost 300 persons have died as a result of unsolved terrorist bombings 
        in Russia that coincided with the armed incursions into Dagestan and 
        Russian authorities have attributed the terrorist bombings to Chechen 
        insurgents;
Whereas the United States recognizes the territorial integrity of the Russian 
        Federation;
Whereas Russian Federation armed forces have conducted armed attacks against 
        Chechnya and positioned forces with the stated intention of sealing 
        Chechnya's borders and creating a security zone in the region;
Whereas such attacks and indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force have 
        harmed innocent civilians and given rise to over 100,000 internally 
        displaced persons, most of whom have escaped into neighboring regions of 
        Russia;
Whereas such indiscriminate attacks are a violation of paragraph 19 of the Code 
        of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, approved at the 
        1994 Summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 
        held in Budapest, Hungary, which states that in the event of armed 
        conflict, participating States ``will seek to create conditions 
        favorable to the political solution of the conflict. They will cooperate 
        in support of humanitarian assistance to alleviate suffering among the 
        civilian population, including facilitating the movement of personnel 
        and resources to such tasks'', and paragraph 36, which states, ``If 
        recourse to force cannot be avoided in performing internal security 
        missions, each participating State will ensure that its use must be 
        commensurate with the needs for enforcement. The armed forces will take 
        due care to avoid injury to civilians or their property.'';
Whereas the conflict in the North Caucasus may threaten democratic development, 
        the rule of law, and respect for human rights throughout Russia;
Whereas authorities in Moscow and other cities of the Russian Federation have 
        used terrorist bombings as a pretext to intensify a campaign against 
        individuals from the North Caucasus region, including the detention and 
        forcible expulsion of such individuals from these cities; and
Whereas in response to Russian attacks the elected Government of Chechnya has 
        declared its solidarity with renegade Chechen forces in opposing Russian 
        attacks: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) urges the Government of the Russian Federation and all 
        parties to cease the indiscriminate use of force against the 
        civilian population in Chechnya, in accordance with commitments 
        of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe;
            (2) urges all parties, including the Government of the 
        Russian Federation, to enter into negotiations on the North 
        Caucasus conflict with legitimate political representatives of 
        the region, including President Maskhadov and his Government, 
        and to avail itself of the conflict prevention and crisis 
        management capabilities of the Organization for Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe, which helped broker an end to the 1994-
        1996 War;
            (3) urges the Chechen authorities to use every appropriate 
        means to deny extremist forces located in its territory a base 
        of operations for the mounting of armed incursions that 
        threaten peace and stability in the North Caucasus region;
            (4) urges the Chechen authorities to create a rule of law 
        environment with legal norms based upon internationally 
        accepted standards;
            (5) cautions that forcible resettlement of internally 
        displaced persons would evoke outrage from the international 
        community;
            (6) urges that the Government of the Russian Federation 
        seek and accept international humanitarian assistance to 
        alleviate the suffering of the internally displaced persons 
        from Chechnya, so as to reduce the risk of civilian casualties; 
        and
            (7) calls on the Government of the United States to express 
        to all parties the necessity of resolving the conflict 
        peacefully, with full respect to the human rights of all the 
        citizens of the Russian Federation, and to support the 
        provision of appropriate international humanitarian assistance.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 16, 1999.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.