Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), one of the most active charities in Russia's
turbulent north Caucasus region, accused Moscow on Wednesday of doing too
little to solve an aid worker's kidnapping six months ago.
Morten Rostrup, international president of MSF (Doctors Without Borders),
said neither federal authorities in Moscow nor local officials in Dagestan,
a region bordering separatist Chechnya, had done enough to find Dutch national
Arjan Erkel. "It is imperative that the Russian and Dagestani governments
live up to their obvious responsibilities to solve this case: that means
treating it with the gravity it deserves," he told a news conference.
Erkel, who was in charge of MSF operations in the region, was seized by three
unidentified gunmen in Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan. He was looking after
refugees mainly from Chechnya, to the west, where law and order have largely
broken down in a decade of conflict between Russian authorities and rebels.
Along with the United Nations, MSF is to suspend its field activities in
the region on Thursday as a mark of protest, Rostrup said.
Dick Erkel, the father of the kidnapped aid worker, said the family had
heard nothing from those behind the abduction. "We do not know where he
is, what his situation is," he said. "Is he still alive? Is he in good health?
We have only questions."
Rostrup said MSF had never handled a case in which kidnappers remained silent
for so long. Abduction as a source of income for criminal groups has been
common in the area, with Western aid workers seen as fetching the highest
ransoms.
The Kremlin declares the "military phase" of its campaign in Chechnya over
and says the area is returning to normal. Authorities say refugees are returning
from adjacent areas, though rights groups say they are being forced home.
Russian forces come under rebel attack nearly every day.
Moscow, which refuses to negotiate with the separatists, has scheduled a
referendum for next month on a new constitution anchoring Chechnya within
Russia.
A top Kremlin aide upheld Moscow's refusal to negotiate despite the appointment
of a new, moderate envoy by Chechnya's ousted separatist president, Aslan
Maskhadov. "This representative of Maskhadov – a non- existent president
of a non-existent state – no one is going to support relations with
him," Sergei Yastrzhembsky, top spokesman on Chechnya, was quoted as saying
by Interfax news agency.
Salambek Maigov, the new envoy, is a Moscow businessman said to be well
connected to politicians and even the military.