Europeans Criticize Attacks On Chechnya Report Calls For Cease-Fire, Adds To Pressure On Russians

A European factfinding mission to Chechnya concluded Monday that Russia is using “disproportionate and indiscriminate” military might against the tiny secessionist republic.

It called for talks among all forces to arrange a cease-fire and free elections.

The main findings by the team of the 53-nation Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe, the first such international mission of the 7-week-old war, are sharply at odds with Moscow’s version of reality and its policies in the Muslim republic.

But the head of the five-member team, Istvan Gyarmati of Hungary, said he hopes his report will lead to cooperation between Moscow and the Vienna-based body to carry out its proposals. He said both sides in Chechnya had already agreed to one thing: to let the International Committee of the Red Cross visit their prisoners.

Europe has taken the lead in criticizing Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin’s campaign to crush Chechnya’s 3-year-old independence bid. Last month, the European Union protested the war by delaying Russia’s entry into a major agreement on political and economic partnership.

On Monday, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, heard an appeal from Sergei A. Kovalev, a leading Russian critic of the war, to delay Moscow’s application to join that body until its armed forces cease hostilities in Chechnya.

Gyarmati’s fact-finding report, delivered at a Moscow news conference, could reinforce the chill in Europe toward what had been a budding post-Cold War alliance. But its tone and content were mild by comparison to Kovalev’s own criticisms and appeared to be aimed at encouraging Moscow to work with future missions.