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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 147, Part I, 4 August 2004 Chechens in Georgia protest arrests Chechens living in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge have complained to human-rights organizations and the UN High Commission for Refugees following the arrest by armed and masked Georgian State Security Ministry personnel on 3 August of at least 12 Chechens, Caucasus Press reported. Some of those arrested are displaced persons who fled the war in Chechnya; the others are Kists (Georgian-born Chechens). The Georgian State Security Ministry claims the aim of the operation was to identify and apprehend persons who entered Georgia illegally; a ministry spokesman said 11 persons were detained, of whom four were subsequently released. The Chechen website chechenpress.info claimed on 4 August that Russian security personnel also participated in the raid. LF Kavkaz-Center Georgia: Saakashvili attacks Chechen women Most likely, after Georgian president Saakashvili did not get too lucky in South Ossetia, he decided to show how tough he is by sending Georgian troops against Chechen women and children. Representatives of human rights organizations were outraged with the actions of Georgian law enforcement during the punitive operation that they conducted in the Pankisi Gorge, Northern Georgia, where Chechen refugees are living. Chechen human rights activist Aslanbek Abdurzakov said, ‘Men with masks on were breaking into the homes of the refugees with no explanations whatsoever.’ He said that at least 12 people had been detained. With the assistance of UN Refugee Committee and a number of Georgian human rights organizations, their relatives are now trying to find out what the reasons for their detention were and where they are currently being held. Human rights activists reported that during the searches in the homes, ‘there were cases when refugees were insulted, as far as assault and battery of women.’ Meanwhile, chief of human rights organization «Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights», Nana Kakabadze, told reporters that the police detained about 20 people on Tuesday, and only four of them have now been released. Ms. Kakabadze said that ‘several women were brutally beaten during the searches’ by the men in masks. Kavkaz Center’s source reported that the punitive raid started at four o’clock in the morning almost in all villages of Pankisi. Georgian power structures were involved (some reports say that it was a joint operation with Russian secret services). About twenty people have been taken hostage. All of them are natives of Chechnya. So far Kavkaz Center has managed to establish the identities of the following detainees: Hasan Akuyev (village of Duisi), Aslanbek Umarov (village of Khalatsan), Lechi Musikhanov, Zainuddi Saidov (village of Jokolo), Aliko Borchashvili, Yusup Borchashvili (brothers from Jokolo), Abumuslim Ahmedov (village of Khalatsan), Magomed Aziyev (village of Duisi), Salamu Yahiyev (village of Duisi), Aslanbek Musikhanov and Daud Morgashvili. The raids were accompanied by brutal beatings of members of their families. Thus, ten women were beaten with nightsticks. Four women are now in serious condition. One of them is pregnant. There is a danger that she may have a miscarriage. Moreover, the raiders with masks on were sadistically kicking women with their feet. All raiders were cowardly hiding their faces behind the masks. There is a noticeable fact that the punitive raid against Chechen displaced settlers was conducted right after Saakashvili came back from Israel. Besides, these days Georgian president is going to take a trip to the US as well. Kavkaz Center’s source also found out that the information about the punitive raid that the Georgian troops conducted against Chechens was forwarded to State Defense Council 'Majlis al-Shura' of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Department of Strategic Information, Kavkaz-Center 2004-08-03 eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 4/8/2004 Security agencies practice abductions, Chechen Deputy PM asserts Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen Government Ramzan Kadyrov stated on August 3 that abductions of people in Chechnya are committed by officers of security agencies. In the evening of August 3, Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov made a number of statements in his interview with a local TV station. According to him, officers of security agencies practice extortion of money and kidnapping. "People say officers of the security service and of the Russian Defense Ministry's special operations battalions Zapad (under the command of Major Said-Magomed Kakiyev) and Vostok (under the command of Sulim Yamadayev) take away compensations and abduct people. These are our structures. It must be stopped. The battalions Zapad, Vostok and others are to be withdrawn from the town. They all are interested in appropriating as much money as possible, but we will not let them do it. They all are to be expelled. We will work otherwise now," the Deputy Prime Minister said. Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent Source: Caucasian Knot August 4th 2004 · Prague Watchdog Three men kidnapped in the Shalinsky district Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus - Yesterday a group of masked men armed with automatic weapons attacked the village of Chiri-Yurt in the Shalinsky district and kidnapped three men: Mr. Kanuyev, his son and their fellow villager Ramzan Demelkhanov. The PW correspondent received this information via the Interior Ministry of the Chechen Republic. The three kidnapped men were employees of the local cement factory, and had no apparent ties with either side of the ongoing conflict in Chechnya. Although the incident is being investigated, there is little hope for a successful conclusion. In the meantime, in the district center Shali, unknown insurgents opened fire at a group of Russian soldiers on Groznenskaya street, wounding two of them. Later, during a routine mine check of that area, a land mine was found on the road.