A training seminar for members of Chechen human rights organizations was held in Nazran on December 10. According to one of the organizers, Vladimir Weissman of the International Helsinki Federation (IHF), the goal was to teach the proper way of writing applications to be filed with the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee and other international bodies.

Weissman emphasized that the significance of the seminar was connected to the numerous human rights violations in Chechnya. "Our training was aimed at some very specific cases," he said.

The agenda included several legal consultations with Karina Moskalenko, director of the Moscow-based International Protection Centre . "Today we looked at how to make inquiries into the cases of people who have been jailed for a long time and have not yet received any sentencing. The attendees were taught how to write an appeal to the prosecutor’s office. Very few knew that such an appeal must be reviewed within five days," Moskalenko said.

This was the fourth international law seminar of the International Helsinki Federation’s legal training series. The organizers were the IHF and the International Protection Centre.

[12.12.2003 11:11] Timur Aliyev/Prague Watchdog

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia December 12, 2003 Associated Press Yuri Bagrov--

Russia would welcome international help stabilizing war-torn Chechnya, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

More violence, meanwhile, was reported Friday. Rebel gunfire killed four Russian soldiers and two Chechen police in the previous 24 hours in the region, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen administration said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said "we welcome all steps from the international community full of sincere concern for stabilizing the situation in Chechnya."

On Thursday, the European Commission announced that it was granting $11.6 million in humanitarian aid to help Chechen war victims, particularly refugees. The European Commission's announcement, however, came with an appeal for Russia to do more to ensure that foreign aid workers gain access to the region.

Foreign aid workers have complained about security concerns and cooperation with local and federal authorities.

Rebels, meanwhile, attacked federal positions 17 times in the past 24 hours, killing three soldiers and wounding 10, the Chechen official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another soldier was killed and two wounded in a hail of bullets in the capital Grozny early Friday, the official said.

Rebels also attacked two separate police patrols in the Grozny outskirts, killing two officers and wounding two.

Federal forces shelled suspected rebel bases and Russian troops rounded up at least 190 people in sweep operations in the past 24 hours, the Chechen official said. The daily security sweeps have been widely criticized for alleged mass human rights abuses.

In neighboring Ingushetia, a resident was killed and another injured when Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov's personal guards and Chechen security officers exchanged gunfire and grenades while trying to detain a suspected rebel Thursday, a source in the Ingush Interior Ministry said. It was not clear why the Chechen-based security services were operating in a neighboring region.

Russian tanks rolled into Chechnya in a bid to crush its separatist leadership in 1994, but they withdrew after a 20-month war. Russian troops returned in 1999 after rebel incursions in a neighboring region and after a series of deadly apartment-building bombings in Moscow and other cities that the Kremlin blame on the rebels

Russian military bandits are continuing arbitrariness on occupied Chechen territory, abducting civilians for a ransom and committing murder during their systematic bandit attacks in many settlements in the republic, the information sources of Chechen NGOs say.  

"Hunt" for young Chechens  

The press service of the Chechen National Salvation Committee reports another wave of a hunt for young people by Russian armed bandits in Chechen towns and villages. So-called clearance operations are continuing in Dzhokhar, Gudermes, Argun and other towns. These operations are being carried out mainly by groups of armed collaborationists from the so-called Chechen OMON (special-purpose police detachment) and Kadyrov's other bandit groups.   

Several young people were detained following a "passport regime" check in the Kirov settlement near Dzhokhar. Names of the detainees are being verified, the press service of the Chechen National Salvation Committee reported on Tuesday 9 December.   

The information centre of the Council of NGOs reports that two young people were detained by Russian bandit groups at the central market in Dzhokhar on 6 December. Witnesses say that several masked armed bandits in military uniforms stopped two young men, checked their papers and took them away. When people inquired why the men had been detained, one of the military criminals said that "the detainees will be set free after a check". Names of the hostages are being verified.  Civilian casualties Khamzat Bakinin, a resident of the Starogladkovskaya village in Chechnya's Shelkovskiy District, was killed on the outskirts of the village on 7 December, the information centre reports.

Bakinin hit a land mine when shepherding cattle near the village. He died of numerous shrapnel wounds. Local residents say that the mine was planted by Russian invaders.  The press service of the Chechen National Salvation Committee says that the village of Makhkety in Chechnya's Vedenskiy District was subjected to a missile attack in the evening of 18 November. This happened during the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan. One of the missiles hit a private house, killing a 25-year-old woman named Birlant. Her father, brother and sister received various injuries.   

Our sources in Ingushetia report systematic arrests of Chechen refugees in the republic. Arrests are being carried out by the Russian special services and local power-wielding agencies. The press service of the Chechen National Salvation Committee reports that Chechen refugee Dui Duishvili, born in 1974, was detained and taken away on 29 November. He is a father of two young children. Nothing is known about his fate.