19.11.2003

By Said Isayev

GROZNY, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- In Chechnya, the payment of compensations to those who lost their homes and property over the years of hostilities has been suspended again, as there has emerged the need to verify the presented applications, the government committee for compensations and the affairs of forced migrants has told Tass. Applications from victims continue to be accepted.

The committee's chief, Abubakar Baibatyrov has promised that all those whose homes were ruined and property destroyed would receive compensations. An agreement has been achieved between the Chechen Interior Ministry and Russia's State Construction Committee to jointly inspect the ruined households. So far, formalities took too much time to accomplish due to the lack of coordination between the two agencies. From now on the State Construction Committee and the Chechen police have been given a ten-day deadline to complete all formalities.

So far compensation money has been paid out to 246 families. The cases of another 160 are in the consideration phase. For a lost home the family is paid 300,000 rubles, an equivalent of 10,000 dollars, and for lost property, another 50,000 rubles - or about 1,600 dollars.

According to the forced migrants affairs committee over 39,000 families will be paid compensations over two years. The Russian government allocated 14 billion rubles for the program.

Moscow, Interfax Nov.19, 2003

UN urges to free MSF officer kidnapped in Dagestan

UN representatives have issued another call to free Aryan Erkel, head of the Dagestani mission of Medecins Sans Frontieres - Switzerland, who was kidnapped in Dagestan in August, 2002.

"The Erkel case remains unsolved. We are urging those responsible for this crime to free Erkel unconditionally and immediately," the UN acting coordinator for Humanitarian Problems Mikko Vienonen told the news conference on Wednesday.

"Chechnya is one of the most complicated regions in the world in terms of working conditions. In addition, the work of humanitarian organizations is being complicated by two factors, problems in getting access to those in need of aid and administrative barriers," he said. "However, despite everyday problems, as well as problems of security, the humanitarian community is determined to give effective assistance to those in need," Vienonen said.

"Among the main goals of humanitarian aid organizations in the North Caucasus is that of preserving a safe refuge in Ingushetia for temporarily displaced persons and guaranteeing their right to decide where to live in their own country," he said. He added that the humanitarian community will "continue to defend the voluntary principle of the return to Chechnya and assist the authorities in defending the human rights to acquire a legal status, obtain necessary documents and register to receive social benefits."

Vienonen said that "economic rehabilitation in Chechnya and Ingushetia is becoming an increasingly serious priority for the humanitarian community." He thanked the governments of Russia, Chechnya and Ingushetia for their cooperation, and expressed gratitude to non-government organizations for their strenuous work in these regions.

Vienonen said that non-government organizations, the Red Cross, the UN and donor organizations, among them the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation/Swiss Humanitarian Aid, are working in the region as one entity, which deserves praise.

He also said that thanks to donors, the program of aid for civilians in Chechnya and the neighboring republics has been more than 87% funded. On behalf of the UN and non-government organizations, the UN officials urged international donors once again to provide $62 million in aid in 2004 for civilians in the North Caucasus. //Interfax//

Moscow, Interfax, Nov 19, 2003

UN, NGOs seeking $62 mln for humanitarian programs in North Caucasus

The UN and a number of non-government organizations (NGOs) have called for $62 million in international funds to be spent on humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Chechnya and other North Caucasus republics. The joint UN-NGO appeal was presented at the Interfax central office in Moscow on Wednesday. $61,923,703 are being sought in international assistance.

The appeal says that four years after the resumption of the military confrontation in Chechnya, the region's population still lives in critical conditions, trying to survive amid violence and destruction. Abductions, tortures, terrorist attacks, executions without trial or investigation and rape are common occurrences in the republic, the document reads.

It says that most Chechen residents are unemployed, and an overwhelming majority of them live below the poverty line. Despite the government's efforts to restore the republic's infrastructure, people do not have homes, basic domestic conveniences, water supplies or normal hygienic levels. The document says that an estimated 1.22 million people in the region are in need of proper living conditions.

According to the authors of the appeal, humanitarian organizations are pursuing two goals in the North Caucasus, "to offer urgent humanitarian aid and help restore normal living conditions and to enhance the potential of local civil society and government agencies." The document says that the humanitarian organizations' agenda includes human rights protection, food supplies, accommodation and non- food aid, healthcare, water supplies, proper hygienic levels, education, mine-clearing efforts, and revival of the economy.

The authorities and the humanitarian community will have to work closely together to help temporarily displaced people exercise their right to live in Ingushetia and other Russian regions in safety and to voluntarily return to Chechnya without any threat to their lives and health or damage to their human dignity. Fifty-seven officials from humanitarian organizations have been abducted and ten killed since 1995, the document says.  //Interfax//

UN, NGOs seeking $62 mln for humanitarian programs in North Caucasus The UN and a number of non-government organizations (NGOs) have called for $62 million in international funds to be spent on humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Chechnya and other North Caucasus republics. $61,923,703 are being sought in international assistance. The appeal says that four years after the resumption of the military confrontation in Chechnya, the region's population still lives in critical conditions, trying to survive amid violence and destruction. Abductions, tortures, terrorist attacks, executions without trial or investigation and rape are common occurrences in the republic, the document reads.

It says that most Chechen residents are unemployed, and an overwhelming majority of them live below the poverty line. Despite the government's efforts to restore the republic's infrastructure, people do not have homes, basic domestic conveniences, water supplies or normal hygienic levels. The document says that an estimated 1.22 million people in the region are in need of proper living conditions.

According to the authors of the appeal, humanitarian organizations are pursuing two goals in the North Caucasus, "to offer urgent humanitarian aid and help restore normal living conditions and to enhance the potential of local civil society and government agencies." The document says that the humanitarian organizations' agenda includes human rights protection, food supplies, accommodation and non- food aid, healthcare, water supplies, proper hygienic levels, education, mine-clearing efforts, and revival of the economy.

The authorities and the humanitarian community will have to work closely together to help temporarily displaced people exercise their right to live in Ingushetia and other Russian regions in safety and to voluntarily return to Chechnya without any threat to their lives and health or damage to their human dignity. Fifty-seven officials from humanitarian organizations have been abducted and ten killed since 1995, the document says.

[19.11.2003 16:21] The Chechen Times

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003. Page 3 The Moscow Times

Chaika Slams UN Recommendations

By Anatoly Medetsky Staff Writer The Justice Ministry on Wednesday criticized UN recommendations on how to improve human rights in Russia, saying some of them were "tendentious" and showed the United Nations lacks an understanding of the situation in the country.

While acknowledging some progress, the UN Human Rights Committee urged Russia to improve its record on 18 counts, including salary discrepancies between men and women, domestic violence and extremism.

"The committee notes with concern the high level of poverty among women, the prevalence of domestic violence against women, and a marked difference in the wages of men and women for equal work," say the recommendations, a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times.

"It sounds as if our men are much richer," Justice Minister Yury Chaika retorted at a news conference. "Inequality of men and women in terms of wages is nonsense. But they stated it again, reflecting old stereotypes."

He also lashed out at a suggested revision of a 2002 law on combating extremism to clarify its definition of extremist activity. The UN committee said the law is open to broad interpretation.

"The law has a whole page dedicated to the definition," Chaika said angrily.

Deputy Justice Minister Mikhail Lebedev told the same news conference that a recommendation to protect media pluralism in light of the recent closures of private news outlets was out of touch with reality.

"The issue confirms a lack of knowledge of the situation in our country," Lebedev said.

He refused to discuss the issue further, referring questions to the Press Ministry.

Justice Ministry officials said they had expected many of the other recommendations, including calls to curb police violence, human trafficking, abuses in Chechnya and the prosecution of journalists, researchers and environmentalists.

"We know all these problems and are working on them," Lebedev said.

Alexander Cherkasov of the respected human right organization Memorial insisted, however, that the critical tone of the UN report had came as a surprise to the authorities.

"The officials were indignant about getting such critical recommendations," he said. "They thought this [report] was purely a bureaucratic matter and that no one would really pay much attention to it."

The recommendations came after a Russian delegation led by Chaika presented the Geneva-based UN body in late October with a periodical report on Russia's human rights record.

Memorial and other human rights groups presented the committee with an alternative report, Cherkasov said.

The UN committee issued its recommendations Nov. 6.

An unofficial translation of the recommendations was first released by a group of human rights organizations, including Memorial, last week. The official publication of the recommendations is the responsibility of the government, which has yet to do so.

U.S. May Pursue Charges in Moscow Raid

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 19, 2003

Filed at 6:59 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The deadly takeover of a Moscow theater last year by Chechen rebels is being investigated by U.S. authorities who are trying to determine if criminal charges can be brought against attack organizers.

A federal grand jury and the FBI are looking into the October 2002 attack, said two U.S. government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday. Russian officials have provided U.S. investigators with several leads in the case, they said.

The siege ended when the Russian government sprayed a powerful gas into the theater. More than 120 of the 800 hostages were killed, including Sandy A. Booker, 49, who was visiting Moscow from Oklahoma City. It is not certain if any of the attackers survived.

Booker's fiancee, Svetlana N. Gubareva, survived the attack, which killed her 13-year-old daughter.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Gubareva said she testified voluntarily last week before the federal grand jury in Washington about the attack, and also spoke to FBI and Justice Department officials.

``They asked me if I knew anything about a connection between the Chechen terrorists and al-Qaida,'' Gubareva said. ``From what I saw in the room, I didn't have any facts that these people were connected with al-Qaida. None of them mentioned al-Qaida in my presence. ... Of course, that doesn't mean there wasn't a connection.''

One of the U.S. officials said the questions about al-Qaida should not be taken as an indication that the American investigation is focused solely on proving a link between foreign extremists and the Chechens -- a connection the Russians have long used to justify their military actions in Chechnya.

``We cover everything,'' the official said. ``We never know what bit of information might be helpful.''

The United States often brings criminal charges in cases where Americans were killed abroad, including indictments in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole destroyer in Yemen and against al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa. Frequently, however, those charged are never brought to justice in the United States.

A New York-based group called the International Foundation for Civil Liberties, which works with a Russian association of relatives and survivors of the theater attack, had arranged Gubareva's travel from Moscow, said the group's president, Alex Goldfarb.

Gubareva had made it known to the Russian group, the Association of Nord-ost, that she wanted to travel to the United States and give evidence to U.S. authorities, Goldfarb said. The association is trying to demonstrate that the deaths should not be blamed solely on the Chechen rebels but also on the Russian government, because of Moscow's use of the deadly gas.

``Chechnya is part of the Russian state, and the state is responsible,'' Gubareva said. ``I equally blame both.''

Gubareva is pursuing a $5 million lawsuit against the Russian government and petition before the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

The U.S. government officials stressed that the criminal investigation is not focused on the Russian government but on who directed and organized the attack.

The Russians have contended that rebels seeking to break Chechnya away from Moscow are connected with al-Qaida, an assertion that the U.S. government has not been able to corroborate.

Associated Press writers Ula Ilnytzky and Brian Friedman in New York contributed to this story.

Chechen refugees complain about living conditions in Chechnya camps

CHECHNYA, November 17, Caucasus Times - Chechen refugees officially termed "internally displaced persons" were frustrated about living conditions they found in Chechnya camps at their return. "We have moved to Chechnya from Ingushetia just two weeks ago," Heda Susayeva, a local woman of Staropromislovsky temporary camp is qouted as saying, "Before we moved over here, we had lived for four years in "Bart" tent camp in Karabulak of Ingushetia. These here conditions turned out worse than those we had in Ingushetia's camp. It's terribly cold here, no heating system in the rooms, no bathrooms, we can't even get a shower. Besides, there are constant blackouts and gas shortage. If I had known it, I wouldn't have come back," the woman said.

Meanwhile, President Kadyrov said November 14 in his statement he would visit the camps for Chechen refugees in the territory of Ingushetia to convince the Chechens to get back home. He insisted, there are all conditions and facilities for the refugees to return to Chechnya. "As of now, we have several places in Groznyy established for displaced persons where they could live having all utilities including running water and electricity. Noteworthy, lots of locals do not have all these in other parts of the Chechen capital," Mr. Kadyrov said.

Ruslan Adayev, Caucasus Times, Chechnya

Over 15 residents of tent camps in Ingushetia reportedly detained

INGUSHETIA, November 18, Caucasus Times - At midnight of November 16, the law-enforcement agents detained over 15 Chechen refugees in a sweep conducted by Ingusheia police in Ordzhonikidzevskaya village, the locals told the Caucasus Times correspondent.

According to latest reports, over 15 young men have been detained in the night raid in several camps, namely "Sputnic" Satsita" and "Alina" in Ordzhonikidzevskaya village, the locals said.

"The gunmen came at late night in two vehicles," says a detainee's mother. "They burst into our tent grabbed my son Mussa and took him right away, so he could not even put on his cloth. They said they would set my son free after questioning, but Mussa is being kept in custody as yet. Thus far, they've been keeping him without any charges," the woman said.

On November 16, the joint team of regional police and FSB agency conducted a sweep in the refugee camps of Ingushetia to detect and detain the suspects, allegedly linked with illegal armed forces of Chechen militants, the police said. "As of now, we check the detainees to establish any linkage with separatists acting on the territory of Chechnya. Some of them have been released after being questioned. As to the rest of them, we are going to work with them," a police officer said in his telephone interview with the Caucasus Times agency.

The heavy-handed raids ensued as a result of recent bombing in Troitskaya village of Ingushetia that killed five task forces policemen. The attack triggered sweeps conducted by local and federal police squads in refugee camps. The actions gave rise to concerns among the Chechen residents of refugee camps. "After any incident occurs they usually start hunting down "scapegoats," largely among the Chechen refugees," says Yahya Zubairayev, a refugee from Groznyy. "In such circumstances, they may seize an innocent guy who has nothing to do with the militants," the local man complains.

Malika Suleymanova, Caucasus Times, Ingushetia

Chechen Children Struggle For Survival

GROZNY, November 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Images of suffering children and mothers are everywhere in the emergency ward single room of Grozny's children's hospital.

A six-month-old child suffering from septicemia lies on an adult's bed, crying endlessly.

Two children aged three months are suffering from bronchial pneumonia.

The alarm system on two incubators began to wail, and the nurse set off for the balcony to switch on an emergency generator.

"We have power cuts every day," she explained.

In the daily struggle to survive in Chechnya, lack of medical equipment and supplies in the war-torn country is taking its toll on children, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Furthermore, international aid is unable to cope in the fight against illness and malnutrition.

"Bronchial pneumonia is the main disease of small children," said Sultan Alimkhadzhiev, chief doctor at Grozny's children's hospital.

"Their immune system is weak because of the abysmal sanitary conditions and the poor health of their mothers," Alimkhadzhiev lamented.

Although UNICEF and Medecins du Monde have enough drugs to treat 90 percent of diseases, Alimkhadzhiev said, the Chechen hospital don't have the equipment for example to detect cases of tuberculosis, which are becoming more and more common.

"We have the impression that the world has forgotten Chechnya. Every day one or two children die because of insufficient equipment or medication," he said.

84 % Of Children Ill:

As many as 84 percent of Chechen children suffer from neurological and psychological illnesses, said Hasan Gadayev, the head of Chechen Ministry of Health's maternity and child health division.

The information was revealed in an All-Russian Children's Health Survey during which 320,000 children underwent routine checkups in Chechnya.

According to Gadayev, more than 40 percent of the children have pathological vision and hearing problems, while about 70 percent of those examined have tuberculosis.

"This is an extremely high rate of incidence," he noted.

"So of course we dispensed proper medication and also preventative treatment, such as placement in special rehabilitation centers for those who live in areas where tuberculosis is widespread," he added.

The consequences of the Russian military attacks, the Health Ministry official warned, will have a major impact on the health of our children for many years to come.

Endless Fear:

The Grozny hospital was not saved from the Russian bombing as it has only 150 beds out of the 312 it is supposed to possess.

The missing beds are in a bombed-out part of the building, and repair work has been delayed indefinitely for lack of funds.

The southwestern district in which the hospital is located, Chernorechy, was particularly badly affected by bombing in the early stages of the second Chechen invasion four years ago.

Russian military vehicles spreading in the Chechen capital of Grozny cause daily fear even for ambulances which avoid traveling at night when they risk being fired on by Russian troops at the city's many checkpoints.

The water supply was destroyed during the first Chechen invasion (1994-96), and water is delivered in a truck by the Polish Humanitarian Organization which also supplies schools and hostels for displaced persons.

The water program, financed by the European Union which has earmarked 26 million euros (31 million dollars) for humanitarian aid including medical care to Chechens both inside Chechnya and in neighboring Ingushetia, serves around 59,000 people.

Reduced Numbers

Among its beneficiaries are the children of Schoo l41, in central Grozny.

In the main hall where the day's meals are served, with desks as tables, a group of 30 children wait for their lunch of soya supplied by the World Food Program (WFP) and distributed to all Chechen schools by the Danish Refugee Council.

"This is their lunch. Tomorrow it will be rice. We also provide rolls filled with meat, for two rubles (five cents) each," a kitchen-worker said.

The WFP provides 68,000 hot meals a day for the children of Grozny and the republic's six outlying regions.

The damage caused by the Russian invasion has also reduced by half the number of children the school is able to receive, its 700 children squeezed into the sole building that has remained intact.

"Our main problem is repairs," director Lisa Saidkhasanova said, pointing to the bombed-out buildings with their roofs caved in.

"There are lots of children who would love to study, but we don't have the room, or they stay at home," she said.

Thirty-four children are crammed into a small primary class-room, heated by a stove donated by the Red Cross.

However difficult their situation, these children are well-off compared with their comrades in the refugee camps in neighboring Ingushetia, where 7,000 children are able to receive some rudimentary education only because UNICEF is paying their teachers' salaries.

At least 100,000 civilians and 10,000 Russian troops are estimated to have been killed in both wars, but human rights groups have said the real numbers could be much higher.

The Russian military has a record of abuses in the Islamic republic, raising Russian and international waves of criticism.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee slammed in a panel on November 7 the ill-treatment of detainees under interrogation, executions and torture in the republic of Chechnya.

Earlier, the Russian human rights watch-dogs issued a book on October 8 documenting hundreds of cases of civilians killed or abducted in Chechnya.

The 542-page volume covers abuses recorded from eyewitness accounts by activists working in Chechnya from July to December 2000 - a period in which Russia's main attack on the Chechen Caucasus republic had been completed.