[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 146 (Monday, October 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RUSSIAN ASSAULT ON CHECHNYA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 25, 1999

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, in the name of combating 
terrorism, Russia has again launched a war against Chechnya. It is 
employing indiscriminate use of force against civilians, and another 
humanitarian tragedy is unfolding.
  In August and September of this year, Islamic extremists based in 
Chechnya--independent of the government of Chechnya--twice staged armed 
incursions into the neighboring Russian Federation Republic of 
Dagestan. In response, the Russian Government has sent its army to 
reoccupy Chechnya, a region that had won de facto independence from the 
rest of Russia as a result of a bloody war from 1994-96 invaded.
  Now the United States Government recognizes, as a standard of 
international law, the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, 
and Moscow has the legal right to bring to justice those responsible 
for committing crimes in the incursion into Dagestan. One should also 
sympathize with the victims of the recent unsolved bombings that killed 
almost 300 persons in Russia. But neither this terrorism nor the 
incursions into Dagestan, as reprehensible as they were, justify the 
use of indiscriminate force against the civilian population of Chechnya 
and causing the carnage that we are seeing now.
  Last week, Russian rockets struck the Chechnen capital of Grozny, 
hitting a marketplace and killing scores of civilians. This was 
preceded by air raids and artillery shelling of non-combatant villages, 
homes and farms in the northern part of Chechnya. The Russian 
Federation Migration Service states that more than 170,000 internally 
displaced persons have fled Chechnya, mostly to the neighboring region 
of Ingushetia.
  Mr. Speaker, I, along with Mr. Wolf and Mr. Forbes, am introducing 
today a concurrent resolution calling upon the Government of the 
Russian Federation to cease unprovoked military attacks on the civilian 
population of Chechnya and to seek a negotiated solution to the 
conflict, using the auspices of the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe, which helped broker an agreement to end the 
1994-96 war. The United States Government should take a stronger stand 
in support of these goals, as the European Union has done.
  Not that the government of Chechnya has been entirely blameless. 
Since achieving de facto independence from Russia in 1996, Chechnya has 
degenerated into a morass of lawlessness and violence, with a 
government powerless to establish law and order. The economy, which was 
devastated by the war, has been sustained heavily by criminal activity. 
Moreover, rampant kidnapings of Russians and foreigners for ransom have 
caused Chechnya to lose much sympathy and support in Russia and the 
West.
  Russia is entirely justified in using appropriate methods to combat 
terrorism, but not in launching a war against innocent civilians. 
Russia is a participating State of the OSCE, and has agreed to certain 
standards regarding the protection of civilians when addressing 
internal security matters. Yes, Chechnya is recognized by the 
international community as a part of Russia, but this is not merely an 
``internal matter.'' The 1991 Moscow Document of the OSCE clearly 
states that commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension 
of the OSCE are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all 
participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal 
affairs of the State concerned.
  Moreover, Moscow's current policy is likely to lengthen and widen the 
conflict, perhaps into Russia and beyond, and it may well jeopardize 
democracy in Russia if Russian leaders attempt to use ``emergency'' 
measures as part of its war policy.
  Our resolution also calls upon the Chechen government to make every 
appropriate effort to deny bases or other support to radical elements 
committed to violent actions in the North Caucasus. Furthermore, the 
resolution urges our own government to emphasize to all parties the 
necessity of resolving the conflict peacefully, under OSCE auspices, 
and to express the willingness to extend appropriate assistance toward 
such resolution, including humanitarian assistance, as needed.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to emphasize that this resolution is not ``anti-
Russian'' or ``pro-Chechen.'' Many observers who wish to see a 
prosperous and democratic Russia have been deeply disturbed by the 
present campaign in Chechnya. The chairperson of the Moscow Helsinki 
Group, Ludmila Alexeyeva, has stated that: ``Under the pretext of 
fighting terrorism, a real war is being waged against Chechnya, with 
tragic consequences for the civilian population. In several cities in 
Russia, under the same pretext, the authorities are conducting a 
genuine campaign of ethnic cleansing. These events are no less 
dangerous for European security than the Kosova crisis caused by the 
Milosevic regime last spring. In and around Chechnya we are witnessing 
a humanitarian catastrophe which is alarming, insofar as the 
international community is paying very little attention.''
  In a recent statement, Deputy Secretary of State Talbott called upon 
Russia to use restraint, ``taking action against real terrorists, but 
not using indiscriminate force that endangers innocents, or resuming 
the disastrous 1994-96 war in Chechnya.'' President Clinton should back 
these good words with stronger steps. If Russia does not act with 
restraint and pursue dialogue, then Chechnya should become the main 
issue at the OSCE Summit in Istanbul on November 18 and 19.
  I hope that the Congress would go on record as supporting these 
calls, and I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this 
resolution.




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