On February 22, an international conference called the “70th Anniversary of the Deportation of the Chechen-Ingush (Waynakh) People into Central Asia” was held in the capital city of Brussels, Belgium.

Roughly 100 Chechens from all over the world and some well known figures who are known to support Chechnya, as well as the Cabinet of Ministers of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, its foreign country representatives and Prime Minister Akhmed Zakayev, participated in the conference.

At the end of the conference, a resolution was published:

“In the name of peace, justice and human solidarity, we call:

1. To recognize the deportation of the Waynakh people into Central Asia in 1944 as an act of genocide
2. To recognize the actions of Russian troops in the wars in 1994 and 1999 in Chechnya as war crimes and crimes against humanity
3. To urge Russia to repair the damage inflicted on civilians during both periods
4. To establish an independent international group with the purpose of undertaking an objective investigation and considering the Chechnya issue in the terms of universally recognized norms and principles of international law
5. To initiate the creation of separate group of judges within the European Court of Human Rights to deal with complaints from citizens of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the Russian Federation without any restriction.”

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco