Cease-fire for Chechnya urged.

A call for an immediate cease fire in Chechnya --an autonomous North Caucasus republic within the Russian Federation--was made on 27 February at the UN Commission on Human Rights' session in Geneva.

In deploring "grave violations of human rights before and after the beginning of the present crisis", Commission Chairman Musa bin Hitam of Malaysia called for the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to all groups of the civilian population in that area.

On 9 March, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in expressing alarm over what it called a "disproportionate use of force" by the Russian armed forces and a "massive loss of life" in Chechnya, asked for an urgent report from the Russian Federation on details of the conflict.

A consolidated inter-agency appeal, for $22.9 million over six months to provide aid to some 220,000 persons internally displaced by the emergency in Chechnya, was launched by the UN on 22 March. The multisectoral assistance was to include: bringing the internally displaced persons to reception centres; distribution of domestic items, food, shelter material, water and sanitation; immunization and provision of basic drugs; and epidemiological surveillance, medical supplies and training.

Also, a 14-member operations team of the Geneva-based Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) travelled to the North Caucasus on 6 February to implement a three-month assistance programme, bringing more than 72 metric tons of aid and equipment, including 9.3 metric tons of wheat flour. UNHCR had earlier delivered some 120 metric tons of humanitarian assistance destined for displaced people.

Armenia, Azerbaijan

The 12 May 1994 cease-fire in Nagorny Karabakh--a mostly Armenian-populated region in Azerbaijan--was "still largely being respected", Jan Eliasson and Valentin Lozinsky, Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), reported (S/1995/249) on 21 March.

The parties were committed to respect it until a political agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict had been attained, the Co-Chairmen said.

Also, they went on, an agreed basis for further talks had been discussed at a round of negotiations between them, held in February in Moscow under the auspices of the Co-Chairmanship of the Conference.

On 11 February, a preliminary agreement for the "immediate release of all persons wounded, sick and over 50 years of age" had been reached, and earlier commitments to "release all women and minors" had been reconfirmed, the Co-Chairmen stated. In addition, the parties agreed to establish a working group to deal with the issue of civilian detainees and prisoners of war.

They believed that a "maximum guarantee to the political agreement", as well as of the "speedy achievement of an effective comprehensive settlement", would be an OSCE peace-keeping operation in the area. If such an operation were carried out, "continuous political support" from the Security Council and overall UN technical advice and expertise would be necessary, the Co-Chairmen stressed.

On 23 March, the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs launched a consolidated inter-agency appeal for $ 118 million to fund humanitarian programmes for one year in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. At the regional level, some $13.6 million would be for logistical costs and $5.3 million for disease control.

The Department indicated that the lack of a durable political solution to the conflicts in the Caucasus was hindering the return of displaced populations, totalling some 890,000 in Azerbaijan, 380,000 in Armenia and 280,000 in Georgia.