[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 31, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           GERMAN PARLIAMENT DENOUNCES SITUATION IN CHECHNYA

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 1995
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with my colleagues a 
very important document brought to my attention by my very good friend, 
Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski. Below is the text of a resolution unanimously 
passed by the Bundestag in Germany on January 20, 1995, regarding the 
Russian debacle in Chechnya. I commend the German Parliament for its 
principled stand and I urge my colleagues to carefully consider it as a 
model for our own policy.
  The article follows:
       German Parliament Resolution on Chechnya, January 20, 1995

       Begin informal translation:
       The German Bundestag is deeply concerned and dismayed at 
     the dangerous development of the situation in Chechnya. It 
     does not contest the right of the Russian federation to 
     preserve its territorial integrity within the legal framework 
     provided for by the Russian constitution and in observance of 
     international law and human rights, as well as OSCE 
     principles and other rules with which it (the Russian 
     Federation) had agreed to comply under a binding obligation. 
     The Russian actions in Chechnya constitute, however, a grave 
     violation of the principles of the OSCE, the provisions of 
     the 1992/1994 Vienna Document on confidence and security 
     building measures, and of the U.N. Human Rights Conventions. 
     The acts of violence, the disregard of human rights, and the 
     indiscriminate and unrestrained use of military force are 
     unacceptable. The military actions in Chechnya shake the 
     confidence in the democratization process of the Russian 
     Federation.
       The German Bundestag deplores the appalling loss of human 
     lives, the sacrifice and the suffering of the civilian 
     population caused by the armed conflict in Chechnya.
       The German Bundestag supports all efforts to call on Russia 
     emphatically to continue the intensive dialogue started 
     within the OSCE and to use all possibilities of the OSCE to 
     solve the crisis.
       The German Bundestag calls on the Russian Government and 
     the Chechen fighters to stop the fighting immediately and 
     unconditionally, to end the bloodshed and to seek a political 
     solution of the conflict which takes into account the 
     legitimate interests of Russia as well as those of the 
     Chechen population.
       Only such a solution can exclude dangers for the reform 
     process, democratization and the stability of the whole 
     region; only a democratic Russia will be able to remain a 
     close partner of Germany, the EU and NATO.
       The German Bundestag reaffirms its support for the Russian 
     democrats who champion human rights and the rule of law.
       Germany wants to remain Russia's partner and friend.
       End informal translation.
       Adopted unanimously by the Bundestag on January 20, 1995.
       

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