Pushkov calls on Council of Europe to give attention to situation with mass graves in Donbas
MOSCOW. Sept 24 (Interfax) - In a conversation with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, Alexei Pushkov, the head of the State Duma committee on international affairs, called on the Council of Europe to pay attention to the situation regarding mass graves found near Donetsk.
"I had a conversation with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland yesterday. As head of the Russian delegation, I pointed out to him the facts of graves on the territories where representatives of the law enforcement structures and the Ukrainian National Guard were present a short time ago and said I am convinced that the Council of Europe administration should give priority attention to these newly discovered facts," Pushkov told Interfax on Wednesday.
Pushkov said Jagland has more than once said the Council of Europe should be actively involved in investigations into the crimes and human rights violations committed on the territory of Ukraine and said the Council of Europe should be actively involved in the investigation into the 'Odesa massacre,'" Pushkov said.
Pushkov said he believes the Council of Europe cannot stay indifferent to "facts that most likely indicate that the Ukrainian law enforcement structures and military units are responsible"
"Mr Jagland told me the Council of Europe cannot help but become involved in the investigations into such circumstances and asked me to inform him if new information on persons who may be responsible for these crimes becomes available," Pushkov said.
"He also said that, as secretary general of the Council of Europe, he will work with this issue and raise it in the Council of Europe," Pushkov said.
Pushkov also said he is going to send a letter to Anne Brasseur, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), calling on PACE "not to repeat its passive position," like it happened in the situation with the Odesa tragedy, "fully realizing its responsibility within the framework of its mandate, which is to track and make appropriate conclusions on human rights violations on the territory of the countries of the Council of Europe."
"In the situation with Odesa, PACE limited itself to calls on Ukraine to conduct an investigation. Although one PACE reporter on Ukraine visited Odesa and talked to the local authorities and public, the position of PACE is, nevertheless, that all questions about the causes and the people responsible for he Odesa massacre should be given by the official Kyiv authorities," Pushkov said.
In the meantime, Pushkov said he believes the official Kyiv is interested in winding down the investigation.
"October is coming and the Odesa massacre will soon be half a year old and we still have not received any clear explanations and investigation results from Kyiv. For this reason, I am working on the assumption that international organizations, the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly, should be more persistent and should probably initiate an international investigation," Pushkov said.
Pushkov reiterated that Russia will insist that the Council of Europe should perform its human rights functions in this situation and act in accordance with its own mandate, "not the geopolitical preferences of specific PACE delegations."
