Russia's assault on humanitarian law
Grozny may become a modern Guernica


By Irwin Cotler :  Professor of law at McGill University and an international human rights lawyer. He is the MP for Mount Royal.
National Post, Saturday December 11, 1999.

     For months now, Russia has been escalating its assault on Chechnya in defiance of international humanitarian law.  The inaction of the international community for much of this time has been a scandal.

     The European inaction is perhaps not surprising, given the Council of Europe chose to admit Russia as a member during the first Russian assault on Chechnya between 1994-96; and the Russians can be excused for assuming that those who welcomed them during that conflict might well condone the current one.

     But, the latest assault and the recent Russian threat to "destroy" or "eliminate" everyone who remains in Grozny after today -- including some 30,000 residents who are too old, sick, disabled, wounded or terrified to leave -- represents a knowing commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  It is also a violation of the basic norms of international law, which specify, for example, that means of warfare must not cause "superfluous injury" or "unnecessary suffering" (as set forth in the Geneva Conventions); and that attacks against civilians are prohibited under the principle of civilian immunity.

     The rain of Russian bombs, missiles and shells has created a situation where, for some two months now, Grozny has been without any functioning hospitals, electricity or water.  The current food shortage threatens starvation.

     What is to be done?  Admittedly, military intervention against Russia is not an option, and sanctions could undermine an already weakened economy and vulnerable citizenry, while fuelling a "red-brown" (communist-fascist) political movement.      But hand-wringing is not an option.  For, if history has taught us anything, it is that neutrality or indifference in the face of evil always means coming down on the side of the victimizer, never on the side of the victim.

     What is required, then, is a "mobilization of shame" against the human rights violator, in the hope that even a post-Soviet -- and lesser -- Russian super-power is not indifferent to its international standing and civilizational legacy.  There is some reason for hope in this regard:  The criticism delivered by the West this past week appears to have caused Russia to rethink -- or at least restate -- its threat to "destroy" Grozny as being directed against terrorists and not civilians.  Unfortunately, the relentless bombing of Grozny is such that the end result may be the same no matter how the threat is worded.

The recommendations include:

  • First, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe should exclude the Russian State Duma delegation until Russia ceases its attacks on civilians and permits humanitarian assistance to be rendered to war victims.

  • Second, the Council of Europe should review Russia's compliance with the obligations it undertook as a condition of admission to the organization, in particular its obligation "to settle international as well as internal disputes by peaceful means" and to "respect international humanitarian law, even in cases of armed conflict on its territory."

  • Third, international financial institutions -- such as the IMF -- should suspend loans to Russia using a calibrated approach linked to Russian conduct.

  • Fourth, the Group of Eight nations (G8) should advise Russia that its membership is conditional on its respect for the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

  • Fifth, members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe should counsel Russia that its impermissible conduct is a standing breach of its undertakings under the Helsinki Final Act.

  • Sixth, the United States should establish "disincentives" for these assaults, including suspending U.S. Export-Import Bank lending.  Targeted sanctions against Russian leaders should be explored, including the freezing of assets.

  • Seventh, the UN General Assembly should convene, pursuant to its authority under UN Resolution 377(c) of Nov. 3, 1950 (the so-called "Uniting For Peace" resolution), to address the humanitarian crisis in Grozny.

  • Eighth, governmental officials should call upon Russian ambassadors, protest to their counterparts in Russia, support the freezing of IMF loans and reassess their respective bilateral relationships -- as our foreign minister, Lloyd Axworthy, did this past week.

         The horror is that Grozny -- and much of Chechnya -- is mostly destroyed; but it is still possible to save its people.  Otherwise, Grozny may become the Guernica of the end of the millennium.


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