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April 27th 2004 · Prague Watchdog Protestors clamor against Russian soldiers arbitrary behaviour in Starye Atagi Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus – Several hundred people from the Starye Atagi village stood on the road from Grozny to Shatoi on Monday to protest the highhandedness of Russian soldiers and members of other forces operating in the republic. The reason behind this demonstration was an armed incident that took place last Friday between Russian soldiers and the police or some security forces on the outskirts of the village. After the incident, the soldiers shot eight cows, loaded them onto a truck and before driving away, arrested two Dagestani shepherds. However, it is not entirely clear what actually triggered this incident. The protestors clogged the road and shouted anti-Russian slogans before local officials finally appeared an hour later and promised to investigate the matter. 28 April 2004, Volume V, Issue 17 CHECHNYA WEEKLY: News and Analysis on the Crisis in Chechnya The Jamestown Foundation News 28.04.2004 Germany earmarks 475,000 euros for aid to refugees in the North Caucasus Germany has earmarked 475,000 euros to render assistance for refugees in the North Caucasus, an adviser to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) mission in the Russian Federation Vera Soboleva said on Tuesday. «The German government’s decision to provide the funds for UNHCR actions in that region in southern Russia this year will essentially enlarge humanitarian capabilities of the mission," Soboleva said. The UNHCR plans to spend more than eight million U.S. dollars on assistance to refugees this year. «The organisation plans to render material aid and legal support," Soboleva said. «A major part of these funds will be used to hold humanitarian operations in the North Caucasus. The UNHCR has local missions in both Ingushetia and Ossetia." «UNCHR jointly with other UN agencies will provide targeted assistance to children and adults in Chechnya and in other republics of the region," Soboleva said. The Chechen Times 28 April 2004, Volume V, Issue 17 CHECHNYA WEEKLY: News and Analysis on the Crisis in Chechnya The Jamestown Foundation Some German states deporting Chechen refugees The German human rights organization Gesellschaft fuer bedrohte Voelker ("Society for Threatened Peoples;" website www.gfbv.de) warned in an April 22 statement that the authorities in several German states are moving to deport Chechen refugees back to Russia. Chechens living in the states of Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Bavaria face the threat of being "delivered to their persecutors in the Russian Federation," said the statement. The organization called on the authorities to recognize that there is not an "interior refuge alternative" for Chechens - as is shown by the fact that five refugees deported from Germany to Moscow in recent months were arrested as soon as they arrived in Russia, and have yet to resurface. 28 April 2004, Volume V, Issue 17 CHECHNYA WEEKLY: News and Analysis on the Crisis in Chechnya The Jamestown Foundation Reports question death of Chechen prisoner Lecha Islamov, a Chechen gangster and former rebel guerrilla commander now serving a ten-year prison sentence, died on April 21 after having been hospitalized in Volgograd with a mysterious illness, the Gzt.ru website reported on April 23. Sources close to the convict told the online newspaper Vremya novostei that they suspect he may have been poisoned by Russia's security agencies. During the Soviet period Islamov headed a criminal gang in Moscow. In 1995 he returned to Chechnya to take part in the war for independence; the FSB captured him four years ago. According to the April 21 Vremya novostei account, it is thought that Islamov may have been in possession of sensitive information about the relations between the Chechen criminal world and the Russian police. For example, it was said during his trial that an official of Ingushetia's interior ministry visited a place where Islamov's gang was holding kidnap victims. Islamov's symptoms - including hair loss and massive blisters - were said to be inexplicable to the doctors who have been trying to treat him. According to Vremya novostei, the symptoms resembled those that were seen in the Duma deputy Yury Shchekochikhin shortly before his mysterious death last year. As Gzt.ru reminded its readers, Islamov is not the first rebel field commander to have died in captivity. For example, Salman Raduev and Turpal-Ali Atgeriev died mysteriously while in prison in 2002. Vyacheslav Izmailov, military correspondent for Novaya gazeta, wrote in an April 26 article for that newspaper that the FSB tried several times while Islamov was in prison to recruit him as an agent. The last of those attempts apparently took place just last month, on March 12, when three FSB officers visited him in prison and offered him immediate release if he would agree to cooperate. He refused this offer just as he had rejected previous attempts. According to an April 23 account on the Grani.ru website, unnamed relatives of Islamov said that he had told them his jailers summoned him several days before his death for an "informal conversation," during which he was given a snack with tea. By the relatives' account, he began to feel ill within five minutes, as he was being taken back to his cell. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice insisted that Islamov died of purely natural causes. eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 28/4/2004 New houses for refugees to be built in Ingushetia The Swiss Government will continue to finance the project on the construction of houses for Ingush refugees from the Chechen Republic, Humanitarian Program Coordinator for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Hans Peter Lenz said during his meeting with President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov. The delegation of the Swiss Government arrived in Ingushetia on April 26. "Today I visited the village of Barsuki, where the first part of the joint program on the construction of houses for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Chechnya had been launched. It pleased us to see that the construction of 15 houses in this settlement had been almost completed and people would be able to live in the new houses very soon," Mr Lenz said to the local press. Another 35 brick houses will be built in Ingushetia under the program this year, he added. Author: Malika Suleymanova Source: Own correspondent Some 1,500 refugees remain in Ingushetia's last tent city Interfax. Wednesday, Apr. 28, 2004, 7:37 PM Moscow Time MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Some 1,500 people remain in Ingushetia's last tent city of Satsita, which is located near the republic's capital of Ordzhonikidze. Over 300 people have left Satsita over the past month, Igor Yunash, first deputy head of the Russian Federal Migration Service, told Interfax on Wednesday. "From five to six families leave the tent city for Chechnya each day," he said. Refugees returning to Chechnya continue to receive humanitarian aid and social benefits, Yunash said. He stressed that refugees are not being forced to return. Commenting on the intention of the Chechen authorities to close the tent city by the end of April, Yunash said: "We are not giving ourselves or the refugees any deadlines." "According to our information, people will be leaving the tent city more actively at the end of May. This is for objective human reasons: children will finish their school year, and it's also more convenient to move in the summer," he said. Commenting on human rights activists' criticism of the situation in the tent city, Yunash said: "We are not avoiding human rights activists' visits. On the contrary, we welcome them. After visiting the tent city in person, they often become convinced that their conclusions were based on incorrect information." April 28th 2004 · Prague Watchdog United Nations to continue its activities in Chechnya Timur Aliyev, North Caucasus- The United Nations will continue their activities in Chechnya and nearby countries this year as they’ve done in the past, stated Marcel Vaessen, field adviser in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to him, providing assistance to the Chechens, Ingushetians and Dagestanis affected by the conflict remains the key issue. As before, aid in these regions will include food distribution, winter preparation and improving living conditions in refugee camps and temporary settlements for displaced persons. They will also provide medical assistance as well as instructions on land mine safety measures. The UN has already allocated 62 million dollars for these projects. However, Vaessen added that the UN will not transfer its activities fully into Chechnya just yet due to the lack of safety guarantees for their employees. He also mentioned that, according to the UN, the number of Chechen refugees in Ingushetia has declined and there are now only about 60,000 people living there. 28-04-2004 ICRC News 04/58 Russian Federation / Chechnya: Beware of mines! "My brother and I went from Gudermes to the Vedensky region to find out what had happened to our house. We took the short cut to the village that we had used before. My brother saw an object on the ground and picked it up. It exploded. He died and I lost my hand and eyesight. I underwent several operations in Moscow but could not get my eyesight back". Islam Gazimagomaev tells his story in one of the four TV spots produced by the ICRC to help people avoid mine accidents. One hears such stories in Chechnya almost every day: "I decided to use a different road and the absence of vehicles didn't stop me - I didn't realize this was telling me that the road was mined"; "I picked up a flashlight and it exploded in my hand"; "I found some strange object and decided to see what was inside"; "I went inside a destroyed building and stepped on a mine." Carelessness and curiosity in mine-affected Chechnya cost lives. Ignoring clear signs of danger, using overgrown paths or abandoned roads, or picking up unknown objects can lead to tragedy. The ICRC mine-awareness programme tells children and adults about the risks they face when taking a short cut, collecting firewood or grazing livestock. Visual images in TV spots and on billboards not only tell people about the danger but also remind them of the practical need to keep it in mind every day. The Chechen Ministry of Emergency Situations has already put up 25 ICRC-produced billboards on the main roads in Chechnya and will have another nine in place by the end of April. The double-sided billboards advise drivers to avoid deserted side roads and dirt tracks, and urge children to stay away from short cuts on their way to school or to meet with friends: "Keep on the safe roads, beware of mines!" For further information, please contact: Annick Bouvier, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 24 58 Anastasia Isyuk, ICRC Moscow, tel. ++7 095 926 54 26 Flore Blancpain, ICRC Nalchik, tel. ++7 866 295 45 74 |