Background on next CSCE meeting (09/01/91)

Background on next CSCE meeting

by Orest Deychakiwsky

WASHINGTON - The Moscow meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension (CHD) will take place from September 10 to October 4 with the participation of the 35 participating states of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Like the two previous CHD meetings, held in Paris in 1989 and Copenhagen in 1990, the Moscow meeting is to address the full range of human rights and humanitarian concerns encompassed in the Helsinki process.

Human rights themes and problems the commission has recommended be addressed include: self-determination issues in the USSR, Yugoslavia and other CSCE states; Soviet emigration cases and freedom of movement issues; the problems of Roma (Gypsies) in many European countries; the plight of Albanians in Yugoslavia; and majority-minority relations.

Another crucial objective is ensuring access and openness at the Moscow meeting for NGOs, media, private citizens and governmental representatives from non-CSCE states. The commission, as well as the State Department, has on several occasions outlined its concerns and offered suggestions to Soviet officials on the access and openness question.

The Moscow CHD meeting will be held at the House of Trade Unions (Dom Soyuzov) near the Kremlin. Delegation offices will be located in the nearby Moskva Hotel. The main press center will be located at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The executive secretary of the meeting is Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Petrovsky.

The official United States delegation will be led by Ambassador Max Kampelman and will consist of representatives of the State Department and Helsinki Commission as well as public members (i.e. individuals from the private sector). Commission Chairman Rep. Steny H. Hoyer and Co-Chairman Sen. Dennis DeConcini will lead a congressional delegation prior to the meeting and will attend the opening session.

Along with the official meeting, there will be parallel activities (conferences, seminars, etc.) for NGOs coordinated by a Secretariat for Parallel Events under the auspices of Soviet organizations such as the Union of Friendship Societies. Some NGOs are choosing not to participate in these parallel activities and will hold their own independent events throughout the course of the meeting.