| May 24th
2004 · Prague Watchdog
Many Chechen children live below poverty line
Timur Aliyev, North Caucasus - Over 400,000 Chechen children live in families whose average income is below the republic's subsistence level, stated Abubakar Khusayenov, analytical section head of the Labour and Social Development Ministry of the Chechen Republic. "The state undertook to support needy families by paying them a monthly child allowance. Currently this is being given to 420,800 children in families where the income of one member does not exceed the republic's subsistence level," said Khusayenov.
And that level, according to him, is now 2,320 rubles for working people, 1,774 for pensioners and 2,120 for children. Although families with children represent the largest group, and the law requires that the size of social transfers be determined every year, the allowance for children has not changed in four years. So it still stands at 70 rubles per child and 140 for unwed mothers, said Khusayenov. And this represents only two or three percent of monies needed to assure that a child lives at least at or above the subsistence level, he added.
(1 dollar = 29 rubles)
Human rights leader denies political process in Chechnya
A book has been presented in Moscow titled Chechnya 2003: Political Process behind the Looking-Glass. The book has been prepared by the Moscow Helsinki Group in association with the Caucasian Knot Internet-based information and analysis media outlet and the Memorial Human Rights Center. It included the results of unique monitoring at the presidential election in the Chechen Republic carried out by Caucasian Knot and the Moscow Helsinki Group, a series of authorial articles, a chronicle of election-related events and a chronicle of violence and human rights violations providing the background for the so-called political process and peaceful settlement in Chechnya. Tatiana Lokshina, director of the expertise and analysis center at the Moscow Helsinki Group and one of the authors of the mentioned book, commented on its publication to Caucasian Knot. Tatiana Lokshina: For me, the publication of the book Chechnya 2003: Political Process behind the Looking-Glass is a sad event rather than pleasant. This is a book that says that there is no actual political process in Chechnya. After all, it is clear that Akhmat Kadyrov was not elected, he was appointed. Meanwhile, such government cannot be legitimate, because legitimate elections are not conducted in the situation of a military conflict. Kadyrov's death gives sad evidence that we are right, unfortunately. It is of interest here that the federal center has shown a somewhat strange reaction to this event, losing its chance after May 9 to declare a state of emergency and direct presidential rule in Chechnya. Government has once again pretended that nothing is going on instead of trying to launch an actual political process in the republic and searching for new ways to solve the problem. Another election is coming next. To the best of my knowledge, it is scheduled for late August: a candidate will emerge, and another show of an election campaign will start. Caucasian Knot: In this light, what do you think about Ramzan Kadyrov's chances? And overall, to what extent such continuity of power is typical for Chechnya?
Tatiana Lokshina: As far as the Chechen mentality is concerned, Ramzan Kadyrov's succession in power to Akhmat Kadyrov is unacceptable. Such dynasties are not typical for the Chechens at all. In this, Chechnya is much different from many other places in the former USSR. But there are some other factors of importance here, too. Two to four thousand well-armed people are now behind Ramzan Kadyrov, so he is difficult to sort out. Government may therefore believe it easier to favor him - as successor to the throne, probably. For some reason, though, they have forgotten that he will have even more armed people in a year because of that. Government does no strategic planning in present-day Russia. Prospects for the long-term are not considered: they do what is easier for the time being. Thus, for instance, it was once much easier to promote Akhmat Kadyrov to president than sort him out. Caucasian Knot: Will your book reach the hands of government representatives? Tatiana Lokshina: Yes, we will do our best for that. We will be sending this book to the presidential administration and members of the Commission on Human Rights for the Russian president and Duma members. Besides, we are going to make use of the resources provided by the Commissioner on Human Rights in the Russian Federation to promote and disseminate the book through government channels. This book is not only meant for civil servants, though. We would like journalists, members of human rights organizations and just people who are interested in this problem to read it. The book features many authorial articles, and it reads easily thanks to that. I will try to do my best, too, to see the book reach libraries. We will probably distribute it among Russian higher education institutions. Besides, the full-text version of the book has been included in another book about elections in Russia by the Moscow Helsinki Group. It seems to me, though, the former is to a significantly greater extent about what is going on in Chechnya now, not about elections as they are. Caucasian Knot: To the best of my knowledge, the book has been published in English, too? Tatiana Lokshina: Yes. Well, basically, the overall circulation is 1,000 copies in Russian and 500 copies in English. The English version was published about a month before the Russian one and was sold practically at once. Now I hope we will be able to find opportunities for an additional circulation. In late January this year, the book was presented to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in the form of a brochure. It was not in print by that moment. A presentation was conducted at the UN Commission of Human Rights, and the book was also distributed at several major international conferences and sent to members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - just to some of them, unfortunately.
Caucasian Knot: How do you think the Russian government representatives that will happen to have your book will respond to it? Tatiana Lokshina: I remember President Putin frowning very sternly when he happened to read one of the Memorial Human Rights Center’s reports about the situation in the Chechen Republic. I am afraid this book will cause a negative response, too. However, there is always some hope that government representatives will think about what is going on at least this time, after all. Because if our government had thought about some problems beforehand, the situation would be much better not only in Chechnya but also throughout Russia now.
Author: Ksenia Ladygina Source: Our own correspondent
May 25 2004 4:17PM
GROZNY. May 25 (Interfax) - The Chechen prosecutor's office has pledged to tighten its control over the way murders and abductions are being reported in the republic. "The prosecutor's office is responsible for compiling official statistical reports on crimes, including the gravest offenses such as murders and abductions, committed in the republic. This work is based on reports from residents and information made available by other law enforcement agencies. Nevertheless, the press, political leaders and incompetent people have cited absolutely unreal and exaggerated figures, which distort the actual picture and often lead to speculation, including political speculation," the republic's Prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko told Interfax on Tuesday. "For instance, 95 criminal cases have been opened on abductions this year. Of this figure, 44 cases are related to crimes committed in previous years. If we interpret these figures correctly, we will see that 51 people have been kidnapped in the republic this year, which is four times less than over the same period in 2003," Kravchenko said.
These estimates run counter to an unconfirmed report issued by the Chechen Interior Ministry, which puts the number of people abducted in the first quarter of 2004 at 109, including six Interior Ministry officials. Of this figure, 41 people went missing.
The Memorial human rights center has estimated the number of abductions this year at 173. Of them, 89 have been released, 13 have been found dead, and another 71 are still missing. "The republic's Interior Ministry has not provided us with these estimates. It is strange that they have emerged in the press," Kravchenko said.
"The prosecutor's office registered 42 abductions in April. Of them, 16 have already been found. An investigation has established that 12 people are in prisons, while reports on another 11 people are being checked at the moment," the prosecutor said.
http://www.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm? prd_id=61&msg_id=4360236&startrow=1&find=595 (my tr)
Almost 600 people have been
kidnapped last year in Chechnya
GROZNY, 25 May - RIA Novosti. 595 people have been kidnapped last year in Chechnya, reported to RIAN in the MVD of the Chechen republic.
In this case, according to the ministry's data, 127 citizens in 2003 have disappeared without a trace. 557 murders have been committed in a year, including of 176 employees of the MVD. 266 more policemen have been wounded, they reported in the republic's ministry.
<> According to data for the first quarter of 2004, in Chechnya 109 people have been abducted, including six employees of the MVD, 41 people have disappeared without a trace . In the same period 81 murders have been committed in the republic, they reported in the MVD. In that number there's 11 killed policemen were, 21 more policemen were wounded. May 25 2004 6:22PM TBILISI. May 25 (Interfax) - Representatives of Georgian non- government organizations conducted a protest rally outside the Georgian Interior Ministry on Tuesday demanding the torture of detainees in the country's prisons be stopped.
Nana Kakabadze, leader of a non-government organization campaigning for the rights of former political prisoners in Georgia, said her organization has information that some fifty people held in detention facilities have been subjected to torture over the past three months. "The Interior Ministry is now a much more closed structure than it was under Shevardnadze and it is practically impossible to get objective information from there," she said. Georgian Deputy Interior Minister Irakli Kadagishvili met with the rally participants and promised to pass the rights groups' information on torture to the Interior Ministry's general inspectorate and to see that strict measures are taken, down to criminal prosecution of any policemen involved in the abuse.
Georgia: Tbilisi Court Sentences Chechens Amid Visa-Regulation Talks With Moscow By Jean-Christophe Peuch Mutual steps to improve steps between Tbilisi and Moscow have been an increasing strain on the hundreds of Chechen refugees who have found shelter in Georgia since the start of Russia's second North Caucasus military campaign in 1999. As a court sentencing yesterday indicates, Georgia appears increasingly willing to crack down on Chechens alleged to be separatist fighters.
Prague, 25 May 2004 (RFE/RL) --
A Tbilisi court yesterday handed down four-year prison sentences to four Chechens alleged to be separatist fighters. The decision has sparked concern among Georgian rights campaigners and refugees from the war-torn North Caucasus region. The four -- identified as Aslanbek Khanchukaev, Akhmed Magomedov, Khamzat Isaev, and Khalid Aliev -- were convicted of initiating a brawl with Tbilisi prison guards in 2002. A fifth man -- identified as Giorgi Kushtanashvili, an ethnic Chechen from Georgia's Pankisi Gorge -- was also handed a four-year jail sentence under similar charges.
Nana Kakabadze chairs a Tbilisi-based nongovernmental organization known as Political Prisoners for Human rights. She told RFE/RL the accusations brought against the defendants were unfounded. "Obviously this sentence is unfair," she said. "I can assure you that these men never fought any prison warden. These accusations were made [then] only as a pretext to keep them in custody." The five men sentenced yesterday were among a group of 13 alleged separatist fighters who were arrested in August 2002 while entering Georgia from neighboring Chechnya. Five were soon extradited to Russia. On 18 February, a Russian court sentenced four of them to prison terms ranging from 18 months to 10 years. Georgian authorities charged the remaining eight with illegally entering the country with their weapons, claiming to be civilian refugees. But the charges were eventually dropped after Georgia's Supreme Court found they had identified themselves to Georgian border guards and had entered the country with peaceful intent. Three months ago, a Georgian court ruled that three of the eight detainees be released from custody. But after their release, two of them vanished under mysterious circumstances. Human rights activists say they were secretly transported to the Russian border -- a claim Georgian authorities deny. A Tbilisi-based Chechen refugee -- who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity -- said the pair has now been located, and are effectively being held hostage in a Russian prison. He said the situation is similar to his own several years ago, when he was held in Russian custody until his relatives paid $5,000 as a ransom for his release -- a common practice since the start of the second Chechen war. "[They] are now in Yessentuki [in Russia's Stavropol Krai]. Although this is a small town, there is a prison there. We'll see how soon the Russians will ask for money for their liberation. On 16 February, they were taken from the minibus that was taking them to the [Georgian] Refugees Ministry to get their refugee papers and brought to the headquarters of the [Georgian State Security Ministry]. Then, on [19 February], they were handed over [to the Russian authorities] at the Upper Lars border checkpoint. Their relatives say they may be released soon," the Chechen refugee said. Prior to Mikheil Saakashvili's election as Georgia's new head of state last January, Moscow had long been accusing President Eduard Shevardnadze of allowing Chechen fighters to use the Pankisi Gorge as a training field and a rear base of operations for attacks against Russian troops. Pankisi is home to some 7,000 ethnic Chechen Georgians known as Kists. It also hosts several hundreds Chechen refugees, the vast majority of whom were granted tentative legal status by the Shevardnadze administration. Eager to improve ties with Moscow, Saakashvili has promised Russian President Vladimir Putin to help in the fight against Chechen separatists. During a visit to Moscow in February, Saakashvili offered to join forces in enhancing security along the Russian-Georgian border in order to make it impenetrable to Chechen fighters. The heads of the Russian and Georgian border-guard administrations signed a formal cooperation agreement to that effect on 22 April in Tbilisi. Rights campaigner Kakabadze said Saakashvili's pledge to foster ties with Russia bodes ill for the future of Georgian-based Chechens. She fears the four non-Georgian Chechens who were sentenced yesterday may eventually meet a fate similar to that of their fellow countrymen who were extradited to Russia in February. "In light of the swift reactions sparked by [the recent extraditions] -- we gave a series of press briefings to protest this decision -- I suspect our government has probably decided to keep these Chechens in custody [for the time being]. I believe this was done purposely to hand them over to the Russian authorities through the channel of the penitentiary administration," Kakabadze said. No Georgian officials were immediately available for comment.
Georgia's Novosti-Gruziya news agency yesterday quoted Achiko Chopikashvili, a lawyer for the Chechen detainees, as saying he would appeal the sentence within the next two weeks. But Georgian-based Chechen refugees have little hope the move will bear fruit. They fear Tbilisi may be reluctant to release the four Chechens while it is trying to obtain a pledge from Moscow to lift its visa requirement imposed on Georgian citizens three years ago at the peak of the Pankisi dispute. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, currently on a visit to Moscow, today told the Tbilisi-based Mze private TV station that travel restrictions were on the agenda of his talks with Russian officials and that both sides have agreed to raise this issue again next month. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2004 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Practice of large-scale purges resumed in Chechnya
The Russian military start applying the practice of conducting large-scale operations in Chechnya again. They completely cordon off settlements and check all people in the course of these operations. On May 24, federal units encircled the village of Alkhan-Yurt, Chechnya's Urus-Martan district. They blocked all approaches to the settlement and conducted a so call large-scale "purge" in the village. The same day, the military entered the village of Samashki, Chechnya's Achkhoy-Martan district. They completely cordoned off the settlement.
In the morning of May 25, federal soldiers supported by armored vehicles blocked all roads leading to the village of Sernovodsk, which is situated in the Sunzha district of Chechnya several kilometers away from the border with Ingushetia.
A "purge" was also conducted by the military in the village of Khanbi-Irze, Chechnya's Achkhoy-Martan district. The renewal of the practice of "large-scale purges", which the Russian military command allegedly abandoned as early as the spring of the last year announcing a change in tactics and the start of "address operations", is most likely caused by the considerable increase in the number Chechen rebels' actions. Meanwhile, Chechen residents note one rule. Settlements situated in southwest Chechnya in the direction of the administrative border with Ingushetia were first subjected (and are being subjected) to large-scale "purges". Taking into consideration the fact that the outskirts of the Muzhichi village, Ingushetia's Sunzha district, were bombarded a few days ago, the conclusion can be made up that the federal command connects the worsening of the situation in the republic after the murder of Chechen president Akhmat Kadyrov with foothills somehow and takes a kind of preventive measures against villages traditionally used by Chechen separatists to move from the mountains to the plains. Author: Sultan Abubakarov Source: Our own correspondent |