[JURIST] The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [official website] on Wednesday adopted a resolution [text] condemning the human rights situation in Chechnya [JURIST news archive], citing numerous cases of murder, disappearances, torture, and other human rights abuses [JURIST report]. A report [text] accompanying the resolution blames the abuses mostly on the Russian government [JURIST report], Chechen rebels, and the "Kadyrovtsy" forces operating under the power of First Deputy Prime Minister Ramazan Kadyrov. Assembly members also said that there is no sign of improvement in Chechnya, and they fear that these abuses are spreading to other regions of North Caucasus. Some speakers, however, argued that the situation in Chechnya has drastically improved in the past few years. They also said that the report fails to mention the recent elections that took place in Chechnya, which were a major milestone for the region. The resolution calls on the Russian government to implement the recommendations of the Council of Europe [official website] and recommends that the monitoring of rights abuses in the region be restarted. RFE/RL has more.
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