Speaking at the 60th session of the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva, Pamfilova said that more often than not now, the international law fails to protect the weak from the mighty.
"The crisis in the application of the international law, the ambiguity and heterogeneity of approaches to solving international problems, the clash between geo-strategic interests, and the pressure of the political situation to the detriment of the principles of human rights protection have made all the more difficult the activity of human rights institutions in many countries across the world," Pamfilova said at the conference.
She also urged the UN Human Rights Commission to review "the mechanisms for adopting its resolutions and the implications of their adoption, " analyzing "what they [resolutions] give in today's situation-whether they really help solve a problem or only drive it deeper into the system, alienating some nations from the ideals of human rights protection." Pamfilova told about the activity of the Russian President's Human Rights Commission, which, according to her, had become a liaison agency between civil society and the Kremlin.
As for Chechnya, "Russia's most acute problem," the humanitarian situation there has changed dramatically in the past year, Pamfilova assured. It is still far from safe there, people go missing, and rights of civilians are infringed upon, but human rights are no longer violated on a mass scale, as was the case just a year ago. Western countries sometimes use alleged human rights abuses as a pretext to bring pressure to bear on Russia, and put spokes in her wheels instead of offering a helping hand.
Those who know a better and faster way of restoring peace to Chechnya should suggest it to Russia, but with due account taken of the nation's distinctive features, she said, citing the recent flareups in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq as experiences that give ample food for thought to "those accustomed to boss the entire world around."
