WASHINGTON — The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe today announced a forthcoming briefing:
Chechen Parliamentarians: The Situation in Chechnya
10:00 a.m.—12:00 noon
Wednesday, February 2
Room 2200
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC
Open to Members, Staff, Public and Press
Questions will be allowed after presentations
Presenters will be: Seilam Bechaev, Vice President, Chechen Parliament. Prior to his election in 1997, Mr. Bechaev was an attorney and investigator in the administration of the Government of Chechnya. He is a graduate of the Law Faculty of the Rostov University, Russian Federation. Mr. Tourpal-Ali Kaimov, Chairman, Budget Committee, Chechen Parliament. In 1996-97, Mr. Kaimov was chairman of the Freedom Party. He is a 1991 graduate of the Food Institute in Moscow and a 1978 graduate of the Grozny Pedagogical Institute, Chechnya.
Both Mr. Bechaev and Mr. Kaimov were born in Kazakstan, as a result of Stalin’s exile of the Chechen people during World War II.
In February 1998, President Maskhadov announced the “full implementation of the Shariah rule in Chechnya” and suspended the work of the Parliament. Mr. Bechaev and Mr. Kaimov were elected 1997 in elections that were held with the support of the Grozny-based Assistance Group of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe in February 1997. In December 1998, the Assistance Group was evacuated to Moscow due to the poor security conditions in Grozny.
At the November 1999 OSCE Summit, the OSCE participating States, including the Russian Federation, reaffirmed the existing mandate of the OSCE Assistance Group in Chechnya, and stated that the assistance of the OSCE would contribute to achieving a political solution to the crisis.
