Prima/CT: Houses burnt and
rights activists chased after in Chechnya
The Chechen Times
Russian federal troops shelled on March 1 residential buildings in the town of
Argun in Chechnya. The shelling was meant to simulate a combat action, but the
fire ensued which destroyed houses and property of Argun inhabitants.
Citing accounts of local people, the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society reported
that there were children in the targeted area which were not allowed to leave
the area in spite of their parents' pleas. Among those who have lost their houses
in the fire are Roza Matsukayeva; Roza Daudovna Baitakova; Aina Abubakrova; and
Zalpa Mikheyeva. Roza Matsukayeva and another woman received light gunshot wounds.
Several children who witnessed the shelling are suffering from severe stress and
have been refusing to eat for already three days. Roza Matsukayeva suffered a
serious heart attack during the 'simulated encounter' and was unconscious for
about an hour and a half as it was impossible to call for medical help.
On March 4, Imran Ezhieyv of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society and a group
of his colleagues interviewed residents of the central provincial town of Shali
and videotaped their testimonies. During this mission they were fired at by unknown
armed people in two UAZ vehicles without license plates. The activists managed
to escape from the targeted area on a KAMAZ truck which happened to be nearby.
Some time later they were fired upon from passing-by Niva and Zhiguli cars. In
the videotaped interviews made by the Society activists in Argun, local residents
are appealing for help to the chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission under
the President of Russia, Ella Pamfilova, and to the chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki
Group, Ludmila Alekseyeva.