UNWire

RUSSIA: Putin Pledged Not To Forcibly Repatriate Chechens, Activist Says.

Moscow Helsinki Group Chairwoman Lyudmila Alexeyeva said Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged not to forcibly resettle Chechens living in camps in Russia's Ingushetia republic, Associated Press reports.

Alexeyeva, who is also a member of Putin's human rights commission, told AP the president told the commission yesterday that "people must not be involuntarily resettled" (AP/MSNBC.com, Dec. 11). The United Nations and others have criticized Russia over the alleged forced repatriation of people displaced from the country's war-torn Chechnya republic.

Russia last week closed a camp for Chechens near Aki Yurt, Ingushetia, and has promised to close six camps in all by Dec. 20 (UN Wire, Dec. 6).

Alexeyeva said she told Putin his subordinates are lying to him when they say Chechens are returning home voluntarily. "What does 'voluntary' mean when they visit you at the camp and tell you bulldozers will tear your tent down Dec. 20 and you will be left in the cold?" she asked.

Putin has agreed to set up a joint commission of migration officials and rights advocates to study the matter, she added (AP/MSNBC.com).

Chechens in four camps in Ingushetia yesterday sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, U.S. President George W. Bush, Council of Europe head Walter Schwimmer and others calling on them to get involved in the matter, which the Chechens said "cannot exclusively be Russia's internal affair." "Don't allow our forced deportation to Chechnya -- stop this cursed war, find a political solution," the letter reads (Agence France-Presse/ReliefWeb, Dec. 10).

The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that Chechnya is not necessarily safe for returns, adding that it has been appealing to Russia over the matter

(AFP/ReliefWeb II, Dec. 10).