This is the statement made by representatives of the Russian human rights center
organization "Memorial" on Thursday in Moscow. Leading employee of the organization
Alexander Cherkasov reminded that every fourth out of thousand citizens of the
country fell victims of Stalin's terror in the USSR (leaving out of account artificially
caused hunger in the Ukraine, taking away the lives of 6 to 8 million people).
As to Chechnya, according to him, the corresponding index is already up to 5
million(*), and, accentuates Cherkasov, the number is taken on the grounds of
the showing of the official statistics with regard to the civilians missing and
killed by the federals. Thus, according to the data of pro-Moscow Chechen prosecutor's
office, the number of such make up about 1200 and 1700 respectively, while according
to the data of the body of Kadyrov's administration engaged with the registration
of the missing people, the number is 2800.
At the same time, note Cherkasov and the head of "Memorial" Oleg Orlov, it is
clear that these figures should be considered the top of the iceberg, and factually
the victims of the federals' "squadrons of death' are much more. And Orlov cited
as an example the case of two murders of Chechen civilians and rape of their relatives
by the federals - only under pressure of the "Memorial" the Prosecutor's Office
of Moscow-backed administration registered the criminal actions of the federals
several months later.Orlov returned from Chechnya a few days ago. According to
his information, despite the decrease of the number of notorious "Zachistki",
the number of the Chechen civilians disappearance and finding their tortured and
maimed bodies has increased as compared to the autumn of the last year. Orlov
produced a list of 50 tragic events for January-February of the current year,
which has not been reflected in any of the statistics.
Besides that, Orlov said to the journalists that "Memorial" only is in correspondence
with the pro-Moscow Chechen prosecutor's office on 600 cases of disappearance
and murders, in other words, they have taken the control of the prosecutor's office,
but not infrequently the efforts of "Memorial" are vain. According to Orlov, the
prosecutor's office and other law-enforcement bodies investigate only separate
cases of human rights infringement and seldom punish anyone.
In the words of Orlov, most of the cases are closed "for the impossibility to
define the offender". As to the offenders, says Orlov, most frequently they are
the murderers from Russian "squadrons of death" - illegal armed formations of
Russian special services and army special units.
Orlov also tells about the intolerable condition of the inhabitants of the mountainous
part of Chechnya, where there is no access for the observers. Neither human rights
groups nor journalists can get there. According to Orlov, many villages of Vedeno,
Kurchaloy and neighboring districts have devastated, as the natives are in search
of safety in the plain. "Being aware of their impunity and the absence of eye-witnesses,
the federals do whatever they like there. Well, how can the residents
of a mountain village live if in the outskirts of the village a landing part of
the Russians is stationed?" - asks Orlov a rhetoric question.
Orlov does not know whether it is done deliberately or not, by it is a fact that
mountainous part of Chechnya is cut off the plain and gradually becomes a deserted
territory. Besides that, -says Orlov, - pro-Moscow authorities of Chechnya by
all means try to hamper this process, the process of leaving the mountainous villages
by the natives, and do not help the tens of thousands internally displaced people
to settle in the plain. In other words, apart from the Chechen refugees in Ingushetia
and other countries outside Chechnya, now there are tens of thousand displace
people in Chechnya.
Orlov also tells about persecution and disappearance as well as deaths of the
relatives and family members of the Chechen Resistance fighters. However, notes
the human rights activist, there are many cases of killing the civilians by the
federals, though they have nothing common with the Chechen separatists. Oleg Orlov
points out that the terror of federals against the local population is intensified
before the so-called "referendum". People, in his opinion, are depressed and frightened.
Orlov thinks, many Chechens will go to vote just to avoid the punitive actions
of the Russians. He cites a number of examples how the federals and Kadyrov's
administration
use the administration resources for the preparation of all-Chechen referendum.
"It will not be a surprise to me if the results of the 23 March Referendum are
already ready to be made public" - says in conclusion the human rights activist.
This should read "5" without the million (as it was in the Russian original),
meaning "5 out of 1,000". Apparently a translation mistake. (Norberts Strade)