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eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 20/4/2004 Parts of human body found at combat site in Ordzhonikidzevskaya Partially burned parts of a human body were found on April 19 during an additional examination of the ruins of the house where a combat between soldiers and rebels took place on April 17, a source at the Ingush interior ministry told the Caucasian Knot correspondent. It is not possible to identify the dead man for the time present, the source added. "There are suppositions that he is a certain Geliskhanov, but it is difficult to say exactly who Geliskhanov is and whether he was the destroyed rebels' confederate," he said. Geliskhanov has become the fourth dead man extracted from the ruins of the destroyed house, according to official data. These data conflict with the evidence given by eye-witnesses, who assert the military took four killed men from the house on Saturday, April 17. The destiny of the FSB (Federal Security Service) officer who had been captured by the Wahhabis before the storm began remains unknown. The interior ministry reports now as before his body was not found among the killed men. Author: Malika Suleymanova Source: Own correspondent Tuesday, 20 April 2004 20 April 2004 -- The United Nations today granted Russia's demand to describe the situation in Chechnya as "not an armed conflict" within the meaning of international treaties. The UN initially said in its report on wartime abuse of children that Chechnya is an area in Russia where "Chechen insurgency groups" recruit or use children in armed conflict. But Russia objected to that qualification, saying its forces merely respond in Chechnya to attacks by "terrorists." It also says that many foreign fighters, some of them Arabs trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan, are believed to be helping Chechen separatists. Following the Russian demands for change, the UN also altered its reference in the report to insurgency groups to read "Chechen illegal armed groups." Meanwhile, the Moscow-based rights organization Memorial today disputed claims from the Russian government that the situation in Chechnya is safe enough for families to return. Aleksandr Cherkasov of Memorial said at a news conference that a Chechen woman and her five children were killed in Chechnya's Vedeno district on 8 April in a Russian air raid. Military officials denied that, and prosecutors said the family was killed by a land-mine explosion. Cherkasov showed videotape of the bodies being unearthed and said an investigation would have determined the extent of the pilot's guilt but fhat the military was denying there was even a raid. Svetlana Gannushkina of Memorial recounted the story of one Chechen family that reportedly fled to Ingushetia after they had to pay a $2,600 ransom for their three sons, who Gannushkina said were held by Moscow-backed local security services. (Reuters/AP) Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2004 RFE/RL, Inc. Act of intimidation An event that caused serious concern among the locals happened in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria 12 days ago. In the evening of April 9 unknown men with camouflage uniforms and masks on kidnapped 11 people in Elbrus and Chegem Districts of Kabardino-Balkaria and took them outside of the Republic. Virtually none of the locals has any doubts that this kidnapping was carried out by Russian secret services. Near the village of Bylym two vehicles: Russian-made VAZ-09 and South Korean Daewoo, with citizens of Kabardino-Balkaria on board, were surrounded by unknown attackers armed with assault rifles. The victims were beaten, tied up with duct tape, blindfolded and shoved into a Russian-made Gazelle van. Some time later, 70 km away from that location the unknowns attacked five other people standing on the side of the road near two Russian made cars (VAZ-09 and VAZ-07) on the Rostov-Baku highway near the village of Chegem-2. The next day the captives were dumped out: some were dumped out in neighboring republic of North Ossetia, some in Stavropol Province, Southern Russia. The victims told that the attackers were asking them for money and inquiring about their ties to 'Wahhabites' (Russian term for 'Islamic extremists'). At least three of those who were kidnapped and dumped out in North Ossetia have been held in Mozdok Hospital in serious condition for several days. Later on the local press reported referring to the local police that only two out of all kidnapped were on file as persons who have ties to the so-called 'radical Islam'. The rest were law obedient citizens. The victims say that they were being transported in cars with police license plates: white numbers on blue background. The cars were stopped at police checkpoints many times, but special badges would have all roads open for them. The newspaper reported that criminal prosecution cases have been filed in the Prosecutor's Offices of Elbrus and Chegem Districts of Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria (Article 126, Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, on kidnapping). The Gazette of the South ('Gazeta Yuga') reported that all these cases have been forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office of Kabardino-Balkaria, where they will be combined in one file. At the same time an anonymous source inside the police department told journalist that this crime is unlikely to ever be solved. Department of Cooperation and Mass Media, Kavkaz-Center
2004-04-21 MosNews Military prosecutors have launched a criminal case into manslaughter in connection with the deaths of six civilians in Chechnya last week, Interfax reported, citing Chechen prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko. A missile destroyed the house of Maidat Tsintsayeva, 29, killing her and her five children on April 8. The pro-Russian Chechen administration, headed by President Akhmad Kadyrov, earlier blamed Russian federal forces for the deaths. He said the investigation was being conducted jointly with military prosecutors, and prosecutors of the internal Russian republic of Chechnya. "Preliminary results show that these deaths were not the result of planned actions," Kravchenko told the news agency. "We are probably dealing with an accident, a tragedy." However, the prosecutor emphasized that conclusions can only be drawn after the investigation has been completed. Criminal and judicial expertise is involved in the investigation, and the bodies of those killed have been exhumed to determine the cause of death, Interfax quoted the prosecutor as saying.
eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 21/4/2004 Authorities keep on 'extruding' refugees out of Ingushetia to Chechnya The press conference titled "Chechnya, Ingushetia: the Safety of the Population and State of IDPs [internally displaced persons]" was held at the Independent Press Center in Moscow on April 20. Its participants were Svetlana Gannushkina, a member of the Presidential Human Rights Commission, and Aleksandr Cherkasov of the Memorial Society. They repeatedly stressed during the press conference that the state of the Chechen refugees in Ingushetia kept on worsening. They are being "extruded" to Chechnya in fact. Such a return can be called free-will nowise: strongest psychological pressure is being put on the people, they are being blackmailed and threatened. According to Svetlana Gannushkina and Aleksandr Cherkasov, being not able to provide security in Chechnya and to settle the problem of refugees, the government is just trying to remove its visible part - to close refugee camps. The case is that the people are just afraid of returning to their homeland since it is impossible to talk about peace in the Chechen Republic for the time present. Crying facts were presented at the press conference as evidence. The village of Rigakhoy was bombed from the air on April 8. A woman and five children were killed as a result. But the air force command referred to the prosecutor's office and reported there had been no bombardment of the village. Nine bodies with signs of violent death were found in the area of the Serzhen-Yurt village on April 9. These reports are confirmed by the footage shot in Chechnya. And it was shown to the journalists. Aleksandr Cherkasov commented of these facts, "I don't understand what those who kill people think about. In such a way, they cause a new wave of terror." Author: Ksenia Ladygina Source: Own correspondent Family receive compensation, then die 3 members of the Israilov family and an officer of the Chechen interior ministry were shot dead by armed men in masks and camouflage uniform in the Zavodskoy district of Grozny on the night of April 18-19. Relatives of the killed people told the Caucasian correspondent that the Israilov family received compensation for lost housing and property on April 18. To all appearances, the murder was committed for the purpose of robbery. "The killed people are 52-year-old Gelani Israilov, his wife Kokka, and their 25-year-old son Timur. The name of the policeman has not been established exactly so far. He lived next door to the Israilov family, and went out having heard a noise and shots. The criminals have not been identified," a duty officer at the interior ministry said. Author: Sultan Abubakarov Source: Own correspondent Those suspected of terror are sentenced to destruction CHECHNYA, Grozny. According to the “Chechen Committee for nationalsalvation” on April 16 in the village of Sogunti, in the Nozhai-Yurtdistrict, security forces in the employ of Kadyrov robbed in theTemiramiev family, evicted their relatives, and burn their home to theground. In front of the residents’ eyes they abused a woman cruelly anddemanded that she inform them where her husband Mukharbi Tamiraev couldbe found. Witnesses believe that this event was done in revenge for the murder ofAslambek Illyasov, head of the police in the Nozhai-Yurt district.However, employees of Kadyrov’s so-called security forces said that theywere acting under orders from Moscow which instructed them to destroyanyone suspected of terrorism. After this came a new wave of “cleansings” (zachistki) in theNozhai-Yurt district, carried out this time by representatives of theRussian federal forces. The soldiers acted with particularly crueltytowards the family members of those who were related to someonesuspected of terrorism. Translated by Rebecca Gould
21.04.2004, 15.46 MOSCOW, April 21 (Itar-Tass) - Most of abductions of people last year were in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. A total of 707 people were kidnapped in the three regions in 2003, a Russian Interior Ministry official told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. He said the figures were 605 people in Chechnya, 66 in Dagestan and 36 in Ingushetia. Law enforcement agencies freed 105 hostages during the year, including 42 in Chechnya, 48 in Dagestan and 15 in Ingushetia, the official said. A total of 1,766 people still remain in captivity in the three republics, including 1,699 in Chechnya. Most of abduction in the North Caucasus, where the unemployment rate is high, were for ransom. Blood feud and political motives are rare reasons for kidnaps. In most of cases, criminal groups with rigid hierarchies and subordination kidnap people in the region. A source in the peacemaking mission of the late General Alexander Lebed, which works for freeing captive servicemen of federal troops, said about 600 missing are known to the Defence Ministry alone. There are 1,500 to 3,000 graves of army servicemen and local residents on the territory of Chechnya. The graves are especially numerous in Grozny suburbs, near the villages of Chernorechye, Komsomolskoye and Bamut and in woodlands near Samashki in the grounds of former rebel bases. |