Russia could be expelled from the Council of Europe because of human rights abuses in Chechnya, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, yesterday told the standing committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The Minister was speaking in Dublin Castle before a discussion by the standing committee on Chechnya. Ireland is currently President of the Council of Europe, and Mr Cowen was speaking as chairman of the Committee of Ministers. Italy will shortly take over this role.
The Committee of Ministers was in the process of assessing Russia's human rights abuses and what progress it had made on this issue, Mr Cowen said. "On that basis, the committee will need to decide on its response to the question of possible suspension of Russia's membership of the organisation. In my view, no option should be excluded."
Mr Cowen added that the Council of Europe's Assembly would then have to consider the matter after receiving the assessment.
He said that, following the inauguration of Mr Vladimir Putin last week, there was speculation about the policies of the new government.
"The recent raid by armed masked security service men on the offices of Media-Most is widely seen as an ominous portent," he said.
According to Mr Cowen the Russian Council of Europe parliamentarians were no longer participating in the assembly. However, he said there had been meetings between the Committee of Ministers and a Russian representative, which he described as robust but constructive.
"He can be in no doubt as to the depths of our concerns, the extent of our expectations regarding concrete follow-up by Russia, and the potential consequences, both for the Council of Europe and for Russia, of a failure to meet the council's requirement."