| South
Russia Region Evicts Mother of Beslan Hostage-Taker Created: 04.10.2004 14:41 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:41 MSK, MosNews A people's gathering in the village of Elkhotovo in the Russian internal republic of North Ossetia, has ruled that Aleksandra Samoshkina, the mother of Vladimir Khodov, must leave the village where she lives as well as the republic, the Itar-Tass news agency reports. Russian media reported earlier that Vladimir Khodov had been among the gunmen who held children and parents hostage in the town of Beslan in early September. Aleksandra Samoshkina moved to North Ossetia from the Russian city of Voronezh in 1979 after marrying local resident Anatoly Khodov. Her son Vladimir was put on the wanted list in 1998 after being accused of rape in nearby Krasnodar Region. In February 2004 Vladimir Khodov was charged with taking part in a terrorist attack in North Ossetia's capital of Vladikavkaz. After the end of the Beslan hostage crisis, some Russian media reported that Khodov was among the gunmen who had seized the school. Dozens of armed militants stormed a school in the North Ossetian town on the first school day of September 1, wiring the building with explosives. As many as 1,200 people — many of them children — were held for almost three days without food or water. The subsequent storming of the school claimed the lives of 331 people, half of them children. 2004-10-04 19:36 Chechen administration receives 25 human rights cpmplaints in 2004 MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - In 2004, the Chechen administration received 25 complaints about human rights violations, Ziad Sabsabi, the Russian president's envoy to Chechnya, said live on the Ekho Moskvy radio station. "We have a database on human rights violations in the republic. Some 23-25 human rights complaints have been filed this year," he said. According to Sabsabi, many complaints were received in 1999-2002. He remarked that as a solution, the Chechen administration had suggested that citizens go to court if there is a culprit. "We know more than 300 facts of human rights violations that are being under investigation," said Sabsabi. "We agree that the human rights situation leaves much to be desired," said Sabsabi. In his words, there are violations on behalf of militants, servicemen and law-enforcers. "In the past ten days three representatives of the Interior Ministry have been brought to book for human rights violations," said Sabsabi. He also said that a group of violators had been exposed in the president's security service, and they will also be held responsible. Sabsabi noted that 90% of the Chechen people believed themselves to be Russians and saw themselves only as part of Russia, "and those few who are pushing people to death pursue an unclear goal." Sabsabi believes the fact that the European community sees Chechnya as Russia's integral part is a positive trend. "Everybody who wants peace should say that Chechnya is Russia's integral part, and then we will maintain a dialogue," said Sabsabi. He said that Chechnya's President Alu Alkhanov would visit Strasbourg. "Alkhanov will go to Strasbourg to attend the discussion of the report of the Council of Europe on human rights observance in Chechnya," he said live on the Ekho Moskvy radio station. Sabsabi stressed the amiable attitude of the neighbouring regions to Chechnya. "Everybody understands that neither the Chechen people nor the government are to blame for the Beslan tragedy. Moreover, nearly all leaders of the neighbouring republics and regions have expressed their willingness to attend Alkhanov's inauguration," said Sabsabi. Russian Supreme Court Rejects Claims for Moral Compensation to Nord- Ost Victims Created: 05.10.2004 13:21 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:21 MSK, MosNews The Moscow city government is not obliged to pay compensation for moral damage to the victims of the 2002 theater siege, the Supreme Court of Russia has ruled. The decision was taken on September 21, the victims' lawyer Igor Trunov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. The Supreme Court refused to accept the appeal against a decision by the Tverskoi court of Moscow not to pay compensation. On Jan. 23, 2003 the lower court refused to back claims for compensation to relatives of those killed. Later, the Moscow City Court upheld that decision. The chairman of the Moscow City Court and the panel of judges at the Supreme Court refused to accept the appeal, Trunov said. The first instance court explained its rejection of the claim by saying the law on terrorism stipulates that only terrorists have to pay compensation for moral damages. The final decision of the Supreme Court "means that victims of all terror attacks are deprived of the right to receive moral compensation from the state or municipal authorities," Trunov was quoted by the agency as saying. He said he will launch an appeal with the chairman of the Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev. "We have also prepared a request to the Constitutional Court," he said. Trunov is to ask the court whether parts of the law referring to compensation correspond with the Constitution. "According to these decisions, a child's life is worth nothing because compensation for a child's death comes under [the definition] of moral damage," Trunov said. 130 people were killed and over 700 injured after the Dubrovka theater siege in October 2002. Most people died because of the gas used by special forces against Chechen terrorists during the assault. Several claims for compensation of material damage were satisfied by the Tverskoi court. Russia Is Backsliding on Democracy — EU Commissioner Created: 05.10.2004 14:31 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:31 MSK, MosNews Russia is "backsliding" on democracy and the European Union must speak to Moscow frankly about it as an equal partner, the bloc's incoming eternal relations commissioner said on Tuesday. "It's quite obvious, let me be quite clear on that, that we are seeing a backsliding in democracy in Russia at the moment," Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the outgoing Austrian foreign minister, told a confirmation hearing in the European Parliament. "We need to speak frankly, and you know what that means in diplomatic jargon, with each other about this, but also as equal partners," she said. Ferrero-Waldner said she had discussed Russia's war against separatist rebels in the southern republic of Chechnya with President Vladimir Putin. Moscow had not always handled the war in the right way and a political solution was indispensible. "Russia is a very proud nation. Russia by way of principle doesn't want a hand-out from us, it doesn't want development aid. What we can do is help strengthen civil society there," she said. "Apart from the important political interest Russia represents for us, it's also important for us that human rights be respected there, it's important that democracy put down strong and healthy roots there." Several deputies asked Ferrero-Waldner about EU policy towards the bloc's new neighbours since it expanded to the borders of the former Soviet Union in May, and she said she intended to prevent countries like Ukraine returning to Moscow's sphere of influence. "I will do everything in my powers to keep Ukraine on our side at least," she said, adding that it would be more difficult to work with Belarus, an authoritarian state which shared few of the EU's values on democracy, freedom and human rights. CE human rights chief to revisit Russia's North Caucasus MOSCOW/STRASBOURG. Oct 5 (Interfax) - The Council of Europe human rights commissioner, who visited the Russian North Caucasus recently, plans another trip to the region soon, during which he will visit Ingushetia and Chechnya, the Ingush president said on Tuesday. Ingush President Murat Zyazikov told Interfax in Strasbourg, the French city where the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly is holding a session, that he met with the commissioner, Alvaro Gil-Robles, on Tuesday and that it was Gil-Robles's own desire that underlay his plan to return to the North Caucasus October 5th 2004 · Prague Watchdog Ingushetian severely beaten in North Ossetia Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus - A young Ingush man, Magomed Khamkhoyev, from the village of Mayskoye in North Ossetia, was badly beaten by what may have been North Ossetian law enforcement officers. On October 2, several men dressed in military uniforms arrived in Mayskoye and ordered him to get into their car where they started beating him. They drove to a nearby forest and after further beatings, he was told to plead guilty to participating in the hostage-taking crisis in Beslan. Khamkhoyev was also ordered to sign several documents, the contents of which were not shown to him, and to tell them about any Wahhabis who lived in the village. The beating went on for more than an hour and only then was he finally released. He is now undergoing medical treatment in a state hospital in Nazran. “People in the village are very nervous and I know that this assault was planned in order to provoke clashes between Ingushetians and Ossetians. I asked my family and friends not to do anything about my ordeal so as not to further aggravate the situation,“ Khamkhoyev said. Helsinki Commission Speaks out on HR Violation in Russia 04.10.2004 MosNews The Helsinki Commission has released a report on violations of human rights in OSCE member states that are taking part in the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation meeting that starts in Warsaw on Monday. In particular, the authors of the report surveyed the plight of people from the Caucasus region and the Romany minority in Russia. The report said that people from the Caucasus region and gypsies have of late been considered to be potential terrorists in Russia. The United Nations Helsinki Commission held a briefing on September 23 to examine the plight of the Romany in Russia. It revealed that they were frequently the victims of racially motivated attacks and have been targeted by law enforcement agents on the basis of their ethnic identity. The current report also spoke on killings of journalists in Russia, preventing independent media coverage of the Beslan school siege. It mentioned that 13 human rights activists were killed in Chechnya during the last four years; 141 were mistreated by the authorities. Illegal arrests, torture and murders of citizens are witnessed across Chechnya. The situation is also getting worse in neighboring Ingushetia, the report said. The gathering in Warsaw will finish on Oct. 15. Chechenpress Appeal of the Parliament of Chechen Republic Ichkeria to the PACE Ladies and Gentlemen! At the forthcoming session of the PACE in October 2004 you intend to discuss a question concerning the situation in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The Parliament of Chechnya addresses you concerning our vision of this question that will help you, in our opinion, to come nearer to the very essence of the problem. Today, the point of view that Chechnya is part of the Russian Federation – Russia, thrust by the Kremlin without adducing any proof, is carried into effect at an official level in the world, although this allegation has neither legal nor moral grounds. Since the very beginning of Russian aggression against our country on 26 November 1994, we have been declaring that the leadership of Russia is experiencing a crisis with respect to principles of democracy, contrary to the existing bases of the constitution of this country. We always observed these processes of restoration of the Kremlin’s totalitarian authority, and this authority has took the path of unleashing war and aggression against Chechnya in 1994. The Chechen people have never had any aggressive intentions against the neighbor peoples. We declare that our people firmly adhere to the idea that uninvited guest should be expelled from our country, and we have to revive the society in accordance with the Constitution of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria, which is based on norms of the modern international law. The President and Parliament of the Chechen republic Ichkeria have repeatedly adduced proofs showing that the actions of the Chechen people aimed at restoration of the country’s statehood in 1991 were legal, that follows from all legal and juridical documents of that period on restoration of our statehood. Dear Deputies of the PACE, the contradiction between our countries – Chechnya and Russian Federation – Russia is the turning point assumed as a basis of the ongoing war against the Chechen people. If we hush up the question, it will make all of us share the heavy responsibility for the situation in Chechnya. Therefore, the discussion of the question concerning the situation in the Chechen Republic Ichkeria, in our opinion, should be carried out with respect to the Chechen-Russian relations, based on the international law and taking into consideration that Chechnya is considered an independent State after the collapse of the Russian empire – USSR. The territory of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria has become a firing ground for the last ten years, and at the same time, it has become a symbol of steadfastness for the whole world. It sends a signal of approaching danger to the rest of the world. The Chechens are not fighting with the Russian people; they are not against the statehood of Russia, as the Kremlin alleges it. The Chechens are fighting against the aggression of the Kremlin’s totalitarian regime towards our country. About 250 thousand people have been killed in this war, i.e. almost a fourth of the civilian population of Chechnya. The cities and villages of our country have been turned into ruins. The apartment houses were blown up in Russia; people were seized and held as hostages in Nord-Ost and Beslan. There is no end to the punitive ethnic mopping-up actions, and now it has a tendency to exaggerate and embrace the entire region of the Caucasus and the rest of Russia’s territory. Consequently, the number of refugees is increasing, in an endless stream making their way for Europe, now from every corner of the North Caucasus. The Kremlin deliberately makes no distinctions between the legal authority of Chechnya and those who are not squeamish about this occupation. Since the very beginning of Russia’s aggression against our country we have been against the methods of terror. The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria condemns terrorism and urges to punish the terrorists. Our suggestions submitted to the European Union and Russian Federation on establishment of the international tribunal in Europe through the UN is in force. In our opinion, we fail to use the major lever of combating terrorism. Having rejected this suggestion of the Chechen leadership, Moscow made it clear that it is the ultimate aim of Russia to overthrow the legitimate authority of the Chechen Republic and colonize Chechnya by using force. And all this happens in the 21st century! The representatives of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria abroad have been trying to settle the problem through political negotiations, based on the international law. Now Moscow declares them accomplices of international terrorists. The representatives of the Chechen people do not have an opportunity to defend the interests of their people in the UN, PACE, European Parliament and other international organizations. It is Moscow that is “allowed to speak” for Chechnya. That is inadmissible, in our opinion. And only the military reports from Chechnya can be used as a tribune by the Chechen people to communicate with the rest of the world, and it is abnormal. Besides that there is an opinion actively lobbied through by the Kremlin concerning the legalization of Chechnya’s puppet government at the international level. Such course of events, in our opinion, cannot lead to resolution of the problem – it will only aggravate the situation. You will have to consider the problem of peace and war in Chechnya, and we call upon you not to miss the key moment of this question – do it with dignity and honor. The Chechen people believe that the West can help them to settle the problem and establish just peace with the Russian Federation. On behalf of the Parliament of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria Akhyad Idigov Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Relations of the Parliament of CRI, Representative of the Parliament of CRI Abroad 01 October 2004 Chechenpress, Department of Governmental Information, 2 October 2004. 06.10.04 http://www.chechenpress.info/english/news/2004/10/06/01.shtml |