Lithuanian MPs call on Europe

Oct 19, 2000

An appeal to the European Parliament, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly signed by 15 members of the Lithuanian Parliament and made public on Oct. 13 urges the leaders of these institutions to demand that Russia should stop military actions in Chechnya from a moral, political and legal point of view.

The appeal reads that Russia should start negotiations with the legitimate authority of Chechnya - President Aslan Maskhadov, to give urgent assistance to the people of Chechnya in rebuilding their homes, supplying foodstuffs and allowing OSCE and Council of Europe missions into Chechnya.

It says that more than 200,000 Chechens live in poverty in refugee camps in Ingushetya, 211,000 people are homeless - 20 percent of them live in tents and the rest live in basements and dugout accommodation without food or medical assistance.

"This is a state-inspired apartheid," Lithuanian MPs maintain. Members of factions of the Conservative, Social Democratic and Christian Democratic parties signed the statement.

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