[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 61 (Tuesday, May 17, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
     ELENA BONNER ON RUSSIAN TROOPS AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE BALTICS

                                 ______


                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 1994

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 10, 1994, the Commission on Security 
and Cooperation in Europe, of which I am proud to serve as co-chairman, 
cosponsored, along with the National Endowment for Democracy, a 
breakfast featuring Dr. Elena Bonner. Dr. Bonner is the widow of Nobel 
Peace Prize laureate Dr. Andrei Sakharov, and a prominent human rights 
activist.
  I will not report on all of the many interesting and insightful 
comments made by Dr. Bonner, one of which was her belief that Russia, 
while still facing many problems, has made significant progress since 
Soviet times in the area of pluralistic democracy and human rights. In 
other words, it's not all gloom and doom.
  But specifically, I would like to focus on Dr. Bonner's response to a 
question from her audience regarding the remaining Russian military 
forces in Estonia and Latvia, and linkage with human rights of the 
ethnic Russian, noncitizen population of those countries. Dr. Bonner 
noted that there should never have been, nor should there be, any 
linkage between human rights of Russians in the Baltics and the 
withdrawal of troops, nor should there have been talk of zones of 
influence and geopolitical interests. Morever, as she put it so 
succinctly, ``there's nothing for Russian soldiers to do there 
anyway.''
  Dr. Bonner continued by saying that when the Russian troops are 
removed, it will be possible to seek the observance of human rights for 
ethnic Russians under the provisions of the U.N. Declaration on Human 
Rights. Otherwise, she noted, the troops issue can be used for 
propaganda purposes by those who do not really wish to see the issue 
resolved.
  Dr. Bonner's advice to delink human rights and the necessity of 
withdrawing Russian troops hits the nail on the head. Since July 1992, 
the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe has called for the 
early, orderly, and complete removal of foreign troops from the Baltic 
States, and I have repeated this call on several occasions before this 
body.
  On the other hand, Estonia and Latvia, where Russian troops remain, 
have not resolved the issue of the legal status of their noncitizen, 
predominantly ethnic Russian populations. There have been charges in 
both countries of irregularities in the process of registering 
noncitizens for legal residence. The CSCE Mission in Estonia, for 
instance, has referred to ``delays and bureaucratic obfuscation in 
registering noncitizens and issuing residence permits.'' And the 
European Union has expressed concern ``regarding the implementation by 
the Estonian authorities of some aspects of the Aliens Laws.''
  Mr. Speaker, I believe Moscow would do well to take Dr. Elena 
Bonner's advice and remove all of its military forces from the Baltics, 
unless there is a specific treaty permitting them to be there. Threats, 
such as the one made by Russian Defense Minister Grachev recently to 
increase force levels in Estonia, are entirely out of place. If the 
Government of Russia has complaints about human rights violations 
anywhere in the CSCE member countries, it should raise them privately 
and publicly in appropriate diplomatic and public fora. The 
international community is listening. But human rights concerns should 
not be used as a cover for occupying the territory of another member 
country of the CSCE and the United Nations.

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