Home

Up

Worsening Humanitarian Situation in Chechnya Murad Batal Al-Shishani, Arab News Friday, 16, September, 2005 The conflict between Russians and Chechens has been going on for the last two and a half centuries. The Chechen struggle is the _expression of a people’s indomitable urge for freedom. The two wars in the past decade, the latest of a seemingly endless series of devastating confrontations, have hurled the Chechens into one of the greatest human tragedies. Several human rights organizations point out that with 100,000 dead and 250,000 fleeing their homes in the latest war that broke out in 1999 Chechen population has fallen by 35 percent. The pro-Russian Chechen administration, though, claims an increase of 300,000 in Chechen population between 1999 and 2002. Some reliable NGOs estimated the Chechen population in 1998 at 800,000 after the war claimed 100,000 lives and forced many more (between 150,000 and 200,000) to flee to neighboring countries. These reports, despite the discrepancies in the figures given by various agencies, challenge the pro-Russian claim about the growth of Chechen population in the years of war. In the past years the Russian authorities have been following a mopping-up policy to wipe out the resistance to occupation by arresting every Chechen male, old or adolescent, capable of carrying weapons. This they do at routine checks made in towns and villages. The inhuman policy, aggravated by the reluctance of the Russian judiciary to investigate complaints against the army’s abuses, prompted the European Parliament to propose the setting up of a war tribunal in Chechnya in February 2003. The Russian courts are used to dismiss most of the complaints from Chechen victims about atrocities by the Russian forces on the ground of “insufficient evidence.” The Institute of War and Peace in the Northern Caucasus has charged that only 97 cases among the thousands of complaints involving Russian war crimes in Chechnya in 2002 were investigated. Of this, 40 cases were dropped for want of evidence. The Chechen refugees estimated between 200,000 and 250,000 at the camps in neighboring Ingushetia are under mounting pressure from the Russian Army and the pro-Russian Chechen government to return home. The authorities have adopted tactics such as closing down the camps in order to make the people in the outside world believe that Chechnya has returned to normalcy. They have also stopped supplying food, medicines and other essential supplies at the camps. The refugees are, however, not convinced and so refuse to return. The refugees who sought shelter in Georgia are also facing pressure to go back to their homes. Apart from inadequate supply of food and relief materials there is police harassment too. The refugees are, therefore, staging demonstrations in those areas demanding better conditions and treatment. An estimated 100,000 Chechen refugees were given citizenship in Kazakhstan since 1944 following Stalin’s repressive policies. However in 2002 Kazakh President Nur Sultan Nazarbayev denied 10,000 applications for refugee status from Chechens fleeing the Russian oppression. The condition of the Chechens in Azerbaijan is no different. They have been charged with “international terrorism”. Meanwhile, Chechens suffer from countless health problems because Russians attack them with weapons containing highly toxic substances. It has been established that 86 percent of the Chechens suffer from psychological disturbances; this is 30 percent more than the number of people suffering from mental problems in the areas around the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine following the 1984 explosion. Medical experts find the entire Chechen region too hazardous for health. Out of 521 babies born in the capital city of Grozny in 2002, 20 died and 80 percent of the pregnant women were suffering from various pregnancy-related ailments while the mortality rate of children below 12 years is on the increase. The number of those suffering heart attacks at an early age is also far higher than is the case in other regions. While the percentage of tuberculosis in Russia is 0.0086, it is as high as three in Chechnya. The World Health Organization has earmarked $3 million to fight the disease in Chechnya, but its activities are limited to the refugees in Ingushetia. Inside the region virtually no medical facilities to fight the disease are available as the war has destroyed hospitals, undermined medical supplies and killed or driven away qualified doctors and paramedics. The treatment and rehabilitation of rapidly increasing number of disabled and maimed people (victims of incessant bombings and exploding land mines planted by the Russian Army) is another pressing problem. There are 33,000 disabled people in the region according to the pro-Russian administration in Chechnya. As future becomes more and more bleak with no end in sight to the miseries, increasing number of Chechens are becoming drug addicts. It is officially estimated that there are about 10,000 heroin addicts in the region. Increased drug-trafficking has, in turn, led to the rapid spread of AIDS among them. More than 10 percent of them have tested HIV-positive. Complicating the situation further are crimes linked to drug trafficking. This is the shocking picture of the Chechens living under the shadow of Russian war. Some 30-35 percent of the population has either perished or fled Chechnya. Health problems and general corruption are also on the increase. The situation is exacerbated by the brutal Russian policies that violate the most basic human rights. Youngsters, who account for 30 percent of the Chechen population, will have no other option but resorting to guns and bombs. The struggle will continue and the human tragedy will aggravate as long as Russia fails to understand the consequences of its war on freedom and humanity in Chechnya. Murad Batal al-Shishani Political Analyst/ Isalmist Movements/Chechnya P.O BOX: 2660 Amman 11910 Jordan Phone: + (962) (6) 51 61 686 Fax: + (962) (6) 51 61 677 Mobile: + (962) (77) 7 22 18 12 Alternative e-mail: muradbatal@hotmail.com, muradbatal@cyberia.jo eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 7/9/2005 Abduction in N Ossetia At about 2.30 last night, four armed unidentified persons in a UAZ and a Zhiguli vehicles stopped a car driven by a local resident, a retired officer of Chechnya's Internal Affairs Ministry, in Mozdok, North Ossetia, a source with law enforcement agencies in the South federal district told RIA Novosti. The criminals stabbed him in the chest four times, then pushed the pensioner and his passenger, a resident of Chechnya's Nadterechnaia district, into their cars and brought them to the capital of Chechnya, Grozny. In the city's Leninskii district, they tied up the pensioner and threw him down in the river from a bridge. They next drove away with the second abducted man. In spite of the wounds he had sustained, the man managed to get out to the bank. He was found at about 5.00 am. 13 people kidnapped in Noviye Atagi According to local residents at night on 13 September in Noviye Atagi village of Shali district of CRI, 6 young men were kidnapped and drove away in the unknown direction by the Russian raiders, Marsho.dk reports. In the next morning 7 more people have been taken hostage. Among the hostages were two Aguyev brothers, two Abayev brothers, Elikhanov and a few Khaliyev brothers?. Surnames of the others are being specified. As it became known, a few days ago Russian terrorists took 15-years nephew of Khaladov. After severe beatings and tortures including with application of a current, he has been released. Now, Russian raiders have kidnapped 13 more young men. Their whereabouts and the further destiny are not known. On the morning of September 16 residents of the village of Novye Atagi blocked the “Kavkaz” federal highway near the bridge across the Argun river in the neighbourhood of the village of Chechen-Aul. More than 100 women stood on the bridge itself, blocking the traffic. They are demanding that the leaders of the republic put an end to the cruelty being wrought in the Chechen Republic by law enforcement officials. The women participating in the protest action say they do not intend to unblock the road until their sons are returned. Meanwhile, the Russian terrorists together with Kadirov collaborators continue to carry out retaliatory raids towards CRI citizens, causing fierce hatred from local population. Retaliatory raids in the Chechen Republic have amplified before occupational sabbath under the name of "parliamentary elections" with the help of which the Russian invaders wish to legalize the presence on the Chechen ground. Kavkaz Center 2005-09-17 Urgent Alert: Chechen Refugees on Hunger Strike in Poland 12 September 2005 The Save Chechnya Campaign is deeply concerned about the plight of Chechen refugees residing in Lublin, Poland who have just come off a three week hunger strike in protest at their ill-treatment by the Polish authorities. The following alert has been published by the Islamic Human Rights Commission and outlines ways in which you can help. ------------------------------------------------ Islamic Human Rights Commission --------------------------------------------- 12 September 2005 Action Alert: Chechen Refugees on Hunger Strike in Poland IHRC is deeply concerned about the plight of Chechen refugees residing in Lublin, Poland who have just come off a three week hunger strike in protest at their ill-treatment by the Polish authorities. The hunger strikers aimed to get an appointment with the Representative of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Poland, Dr. Jaime Ruiz de Santiago, on the question of their rights as refugees under international law, and on the adoption of an integration programme for refugees, or even integration into a third country. The strike was finally called off on 9 September after the management agreed to introduce improved systems for providing health care, for assigning clothes to those who most need them and providing more suitable food for small children. IHRC is calling on all campaigners to request Mr Jaime Ruiz de Santiago to meet with the refugees’ representative body, the Refugee Union for the Protection of Rights, to discuss these issues. IHRC also urges campaigners to contact the Polish embassy in their country to request that Poland honours the rights of refugees within their borders in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Refugee Convention of and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. 1. Background [For full background briefing on the situation of Chechen refugees, please see the IHRC briefing, ‘The Plight of Chechen Refugees Revisited’, at http://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=1290 ] Chechen refugee families languish in isolated Polish asylum camps under decrepit conditions, deliberately isolated from main Polish population centres. Three to four families are accommodated in one room. Often, there is one lavatory, one shower and one kitchen on each floor for all the families living on the same floor. In protest at their poor living conditions, 200 Chechen refugees at the Dembak asylum-centre reportedly held a hunger strike in December 2004. However, Chechen refugees report no change or improvement in their living conditions. Health conditions amongst Chechen refugees in Polish camps are poor. Chechen refugees report that no doctors visit the camps to examine Chechen refugees. Many Chechen refugees have injuries sustained during the Russian war campaign against the Chechen populous and report that even bandages are often not available at Polish asylum camps. Disease is rampant amongst Chechen refugees, especially amongst children. Dyspepsia is extremely prevalent owing to the poor food served by the Polish authorities in the camps. Chechen refugees often refer to the food as ‘rotten’. Chechen refugees are barred from accessing social welfare provisions. Further, despite their entitlement to a small monthly stipend, over half of Chechen refugees do not receive such a stipendiary. Not only this, but the Polish government has seemingly seen it fit to prevent Chechen refuges from realising their full rights as refugee persons. For example, Polish authorities have issued Chechen refuges with temporary permits to live in Poland as opposed to asylum status. It is also reported that nearly all the children of Chechen refugees are without any form of schooling. As a result, many Chechen refugee children are illiterate. 2. Suggested Action Please write to the following people. Sample letters may be found below for you to modify and use. 1. Contact the UN High Commission for Refugees and request that Dr. Jaime Ruiz de Santiago meet with the Refugee Union for the Protection of Rights to discuss the refugees’ problems. Mr Antonio Guterres United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Case Postale 2500 CH-1211 Genčve 2 Dépôt Switzerland. Tel. +41 22 739 8111 (automatic switchboard). 2. Contact the Polish embassy in your country and request that Poland honour the right of all refugees within its borders in line with international law. You can contact the Polish embassy in London at the address below. H.E. Zbigniew Matuszewski Embassy of the Republic of Poland 47 Portland Place London W1B 1JH Tel : 0870 774 2700 Fax : 020 7291 3575; 0870 774 2755 E-mail : polishembassy@polishembassy.org.uk 3. Contact the Foreign Secretary of your country and request him to raise these points with his Polish counterpart. Rt. Hon. Jack Straw MP Foreign & Commonwealth Office King Charles Street London SW1A 2AH Fax: +44 20 7839 2417 Email private.office@fco.gov.uk [Your name] [Your address] [Date] Mr Antonio Guterres United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Case Postale 2500 CH-1211 Genčve 2 Dépôt Switzerland Dear Mr Guterres Re: Chechen Refugees in Poland I am writing to you regarding the plight of refugees, and in particular Chechen refugees, in Poland. It has come to my attention that 200 refugees recently came off an almost three week hunger strike to protest against the brutal living conditions they were being kept in. Their demands included holding a meeting with the Polish Representative of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Poland, Dr. Jaime Ruiz de Santiago. To my knowledge, this has not yet been granted. Chechen refugees are living in terrible conditions in isolated asylum camps, with three to four families often being accommodated in one room with one lavatory, one shower and one kitchen on each floor for all the families living on the same floor. Such conditions have lead to very poor health problems among the refugees. Chechen refugees report that no doctors visit the camps to examine them. Disease is rampant amongst Chechen refugees, especially amongst children. Chechen refugees are also barred from accessing social welfare provisions. Additionally, the Polish government has seemingly seen it fit to prevent Chechen refuges from realising their full rights as refugee persons. For example, Polish authorities have issued Chechen refuges with temporary permits to live in Poland as opposed to asylum status. It is also reported that nearly all the children of Chechen refugees are without any form of schooling. Such treatment of refugees falls foul of Poland’s obligations under international law, notably the Geneva Refugee Convention and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. I urge you to take immediate action to redress this very grave problem and arrange a meeting with the Refugee Union for the Protection of Rights. I look forward to hearing from you shortly regarding the immediate action you have taken in this matter. Yours sincerely [Your signature] [Your name] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Your name] [Your address] [Date] H.E. Zbigniew Matuszewski Embassy of the Republic of Poland 47 Portland Place London W1B 1JH Tel : 0870 774 2700 Fax : 020 7291 3575; 0870 774 2755 E-mail : polishembassy@polishembassy.org.uk Dear Mr Matuszewski Re: Chechen Refugees in Poland I am writing to you regarding the plight of refugees, and in particular Chechen refugees, in Poland. It has come to my attention that 200 refugees recently came off an almost three week hunger strike to protest against the brutal living conditions they were being kept in. Chechen refugees are living in terrible conditions in isolated asylum camps, with three to four families often being accommodated in one room with one lavatory, one shower and one kitchen on each floor for all the families living on the same floor. Such conditions have lead to very poor health problems among the refugees. Chechen refugees report that no doctors visit the camps to examine them. Disease is rampant amongst Chechen refugees, especially amongst children. Chechen refugees are also barred from accessing social welfare provisions. Additionally, the Polish government has seemingly seen it fit to prevent Chechen refuges from realising their full rights as refugee persons. For example, Polish authorities have issued Chechen refuges with temporary permits to live in Poland as opposed to asylum status. It is also reported that nearly all the children of Chechen refugees are without any form of schooling. Such treatment of refugees falls foul of Poland’s obligations under international law, notably the Geneva Refugee Convention and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. If Poland is to be a fully fledged and respected EU member, then it is advised to honour the rights of refugees, including Chechens, within its borders. I urge you to take immediate action to redress this very grave problem. I look forward to hearing from you shortly regarding the immediate action you have taken in this matter. Yours sincerely [Your signature] [Your name] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Your name] [Your address] [Date] Rt Hon Jack Straw MP Foreign and Commonwealth Office King Charles Street London SW1A 2AH, Fax: +44 20 7839 2417 Email private.office@fco.gov.uk Dear Mr. Straw Re: Chechen Refugees in Poland I am writing to you regarding the plight of refugees, and in particular Chechen refugees, in Poland. It has come to my attention that 200 refugees recently came off an almost three week hunger strike to protest against the brutal living conditions they were being kept in. Chechen refugees are living in terrible conditions in isolated asylum camps, with three to four families often being accommodated in one room with one lavatory, one shower and one kitchen on each floor for all the families living on the same floor. Such conditions have lead to very poor health problems among the refugees. Chechen refugees report that no doctors visit the camps to examine them. Disease is rampant amongst Chechen refugees, especially amongst children. Chechen refugees are also barred from accessing social welfare provisions. Additionally, the Polish government has seemingly seen it fit to prevent Chechen refuges from realising their full rights as refugee persons. For example, Polish authorities have issued Chechen refuges with temporary permits to live in Poland as opposed to asylum status. It is also reported that nearly all the children of Chechen refugees are without any form of schooling. Such treatment of refugees falls foul of Poland’s obligations under international law, notably the Geneva Refugee Convention and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. If Poland is to be a fully fledged and respected EU member, then it is advised to honour the rights of refugees, including Chechens, within its borders. I urge you to take immediate action to redress this very grave problem and raise these issues with your Polish counterpart. I look forward to hearing from you shortly regarding the immediate action you have taken in this matter. Yours sincerely [Your signature] [Your name] ------------------------- ALERT published by: Islamic Human Rights Commission PO Box 598 Wembley HA9 7XH United Kingdom T (44) 20 8904 4222 F (44) 20 8904 5183 E info@ihrc.org W www.ihrc.org.uk Save Chechnya Campaign Exposing the Killing the fields of Europe www.savechechnya.org info@savechechnya.org For 7 months the Polish frontier guards have detained more than 200 Chechen refugees For the first 7 months in 2005 the Polish frontier guards have detained in total 236 persons with passports issued in Russia, basically on the Polish-German border when they illegally tried to get across to Germany. This is higher, than for the similar period of the last year. Almost all detained are Chechens, informs German newspaper Die Welt. Chechenpress, 17.09.05 RCIA: Various reports (not ordered) Shalinskiy district. Chechen Republic Report # 669 Three combatants killed in the clash in Agun have been identified 15 September 2005. Three of the five combatants who were killed yesterday in the armed clash that took place yesterday in the town of Argun of the Chechen Shali district have been identified. There are Muskiev Shamil Lom-Alievich (born 1977) who lived at the address 2 Engels St., Argun town, Arsamikov Khizir Aslanbekovich (born 1985) who lived in the town of Argun at then address 3 Gudermesskaya Street and Bakiev Ismail Guseynoivch, a native of the village of Tsotsin-Yurt of the Chechen Kurchaloy district. The Moscow-backed force agencies also suffered casualties in the clash. Arsalkhanov Syp’an Shirvanievich (born 1979), a militiaman of the 1st company of PPSM-2 at the Interior Ministry of the Chechen Republic, Jabrailov Abubakar Ibragimovich (born 1970), a platoon leader at the Argun town militia office as well as three servicemen of the Anti-terror Center at the Interior Ministry were killed. Three other servicemen of the force agencies were wounded in the clash. It is reported that the service personnel of Argun town obtained information about the whereabouts of a group of Chechen combatants at about 11.30 pm on September 13, 2005. At 7 am the following day they rounded up some blocks of houses in Lugovaya Street. In the clash five combatants and five servicemen of the force agencies were killed. The militia seized five submachine guns, two pistols and a large quantity of live cartridges at the site of the combat. (From our correspondent) Shelkovskoy district. Chechen Republic Report # 668 Male corpse is found near the village of Chervlyonnaya On September 13, 2005, a male corpse is discovered in the forested area situated three kilometers away from the village of Chervlyonnaya of the Chechen Shelkovskoy district. The corpse was buried in the forest and it didn’t bear any evident signs of violent death. The corpse remains unidentified. (From our correspondent) Nizniy Novgorod Report # 667 RCFS: the “Kremlin” TV station can know who is behind the threats that human rights people receive On 13 September 2005 at 5 pm the TV Company “Kremlin” stated in the news program that the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society connects the threats that its staffers had received with the National Bolshevik Party. Meanwhile, an editor of the Russian-Chechen Information Agency Oksana Chelysheva stated the opposite in the television interview to the “Kremlin” TV company. According to the RCFS, this TV company “is acting in favor” of the perpetrators of the crime. In addition, in the off-screen commentary they mentioned with reference to the prosecutor’s office that destruction of the human rights people web page and leaflets containing threats are “part of the criminal prosecution”. At 3 pm a correspondent of “Kremlin” TV station Natalya Bessarabova interviewed Oksana Chelysheva in the office of the RCFS. The TV Company came to the human rights people on their own initiative and they were interested in receiving information about the threatening leaflets distributed by unidentified people in the house where the managing director of the RCFS Stanislav Dmitirevsky lives last Friday. Chelysheva told that there were real telephone numbers of activists of Nizhny Novgorod branch of the NBP in the leaflet but she pointed to the fact that the RCFS didn’t connect the threats with national Bolsheviks She added that the RCFS considered it as a clear provocation aimed at causing clash between the RCFS and the NBP and at setting the investigation at a wrong track. When the journalist asked Chelysheva whether the RCFS shared the opinion expressed by a representative of the NBP that distribution of the leaflets must have been organized by some special agencies, Chelysheva affirmed it However, all these statements were not included into the newscast and the off-screen commentary stated that it was the national Bolsheviks that the RCFS suspects of threatening them. The managing director of the RCFS called the station program editor Tatiana Ivanova and asked her to explain why the position stated by the RCFS had been distorted by them. Ivanova didn’t manage to give any definite answer (see the verbatim report of the conversation that follows). Dmitrievsky thinks that the most logical explanation of the accident is an assumption that this TV company is directly involved into this provocation. He demanded from Ivanova to refute the false information. “The leaflets are aimed at organizing a quarrel between us and national bolshevics and at setting the investigation at the wrong track. However, we stated that the NPB could not be involved into distribution of the slanderous leaflets the same evening when they were distributed. We repeated it in the interview to the “Kremlin” TV company. However, the TV company made the decision to misinterpret the situation in the way it was advantageous to the provocateurs. Thus, the conclusion arises that the organizers of this wretched and cowardly attempt to intimidate us and those who gave the order to broadcast this TV lie are the same people. I think that Mrs. Ivanova must know these people pretty well. And I can’t but come to an opinion that these are people from the prosecutor’s office whose interesting commentaries were used to prepare the off-screen commentary”. In the TV commentary there was also a scandalous statement made with reference to the prosecutor’s office of Nizhny Novgorod Region that the recent destruction of the web page of the RCFS and distribution of the leaflets are “details of the criminal prosecution” commenced against the RCFS. It follows from this that the leaflets with the murder threats and the hackers’ attack have been organized by the prosecutor’s office. “In my opinion, the prosecutors have become too indiscreet with their tame journalists who just blabbed everything out”, Dmitrievsky commented on the statements made by the authors of the program. As the RCIA reported earlier, the prosecutorship of Nizhny Novgorod region has not undertaken any actions to commence investigation into the threats the RCIA staffers received on September 9, 2005 although the threats were reported the same day. The evidences of the crime have not been fixed and victims and witnesses to the crime have not been questioned. We are reminding that on 9 September the members of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society were subjected to threatening with murder again. The leaflets were glued onto the walls of the house section in which the managing director of the RCFS Stanislav Dmitrievsky lives and onto the door of his flat. Some time before, on March 14, similar leaflets were distributed in the neighborhood where the editor of the RCIA Oksana Chelysheva lives. The criminal case was suspended on September 6, 2005 by the prosecutorship of Kanavinsky district of Nizhny Novgorod because “it is impossible to establish people that must be called to account for committing a crime Verbatim The verbatim report of the telephone conversation between the editor-in-chief of the RCIA Stanislav Dmitrievsky and the “Kremlin” company program editor Tatiana Ivanova. Dmitrievsky: Could I speak to the station program editor? Ivanova: It’s me. My name is Tatiana Ivanova. Dmitrievsky: Tatiana, I have a direct question to you. I consider yesterday’s newscast as continuation of the same provocation with the leaflets. . Ivanova: Why? Dmitrievsky: Because you stated that we allegedly accuse the National Bolsheviks Party for distributing the leaflets. It’s nonsense! Ivanova: I want to tell you to be careful with words. Well, we act according to the facts. Do you know this word? Dmitrievsky: Well. Ivanova: The fact is that…if you saw the newscast… Dmitrievsky: Yes. Even recorded it. Ivanova: Well, the young man who represented the NBP told me personally that he was the first one who you called up. Dmitrievsky: It’s true. Ivanova: That’s why we told that you suspected them at first. You have been in conflict with them for quite a time. Dmitrievsky: Nothing of the kind! Let’s speak about what Oksana Chelysheva told and you have this record on the original tape. We dialed these numbers and we confirmed in our opinion that they had nothing to do with it. We have no grounds to suspect the NBP in that situation because their attitude to the war in Chechnya is almost the same. We also stated that see it as a provocation of some special services. It was stated in front of your camera. Why have you distorted our words? Ivanova: These words have not been distorted. This is the first thing. Secondly, a source within the prosecutorship told that it was not inconceivable (I’m citing the text) “that it must be part of the criminal prosecution”. Dmitrievsky: What! Do you mean the erasing of our site? Ivanova: We meant everything. That it must be part of the criminal prosecution. Dmitrievsky: Thus, distribution of the leaflets is also…, so the prosecutorship has admitted that it is them who distributed all that? Ivanova: No. Firstly, I haven’t told you that. Dmitrievsky: What agency carries out criminal prosecution? The prosecutorship agencies! Ivanova: Nevertheless, we have information that the erasing of the site is part of the criminal prosecution. Dmitrievsky: It’s another thing. Thus, the prosecutorship has admitted that they erased our database.. Ivanova: I think that it is not them who erased you site. Dmitrievsky: Well, their hackers if it is part of the criminal prosecution and the prosecutorship is responsible for the criminal prosecution in our country. I’d like to know why you have distorted our position regarding distribution of the leaflets. We plainly stated that we don’t connect it with the NBP, that it is a provocation aimed at both organizations. It was definitely stated. Do you understand that I have grounds to suspect that this newscast was ordered by those who distributed the leaflets? This person, this organization want us to come into conflict with the NBP by distributing these leaflets. We tell your journalists in front of the camera that no, it isn’t so, it’s not the NBP. You repeat this nonsense again. I’m preparing another appeal to the prosecutorship in which I’m stating all these details and I demand to interrogate you as a witness to the case because all that is false... It is meanly of you. Ivanova: We are going to expect commencing a criminal case against us after your criminal case. Let’s wait. Dmitrievsky: No, not a criminal case. I just want the prosecutor’s office to interrogate you as a witness who gave you the order to distort the facts in such a way. I think, from the same people who distributed the leaflets. Ivanova: How dare you… Dmitrievsky: Thus, the newscast is prepared by order. It is absolutely loathsome, distorting our position. Ivanova: Well, it is your position. What do you want to hear from me now? Dmitrievsky: I want you to refute your information. . Ivanova: What should I refute? Dmitrievsky: I want to hear over TV that the RCFS has never suspected the NBP of distributing these leaflets. Ivanova: I’ll consider such possibility Dmitrievsky: Today! Ivanova: I’ll consider such possibility. Dmitrievsky: I’ll wait until tomorrow! Ivanova: Thank you. Dmitrievsky: Well. Good bye. (From our correspondent) Nizniy Novgorod Report # 664 The arbitrage court made a decision to suspend the decision of the tax inspection to bring the RCFS for the tax accountability On 14 September 2005 the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the Vneshtorg bank in which the RCFS keeps their accounts received the decision made by the Arbitrage Court of Nizhny Novgorod Region to undertake security measures necessary to consider the suit brought by the RCFS against the tax inspection. According to this decision, the accounts of the RCFS will have to be released in the nearest future. On 12 September 2005 a judge of the Arbitrage Court of Nizhny Novgorod Region Evgenia Belyanina made a decision according to which the decision made by the tax inspection of Nizhegorodsky district of Nizhny Novgorod to bring the RCFS to tax accountability has to be suspended. This decision is going to prevail until the suit that has been brought by the RCFS against the tax inspection is considered at the arbitrage court and the court decision gets its legal force. The decision has been sent by mail to the tax inspection from the arbitrage court and it will have to recall its collection orders from the bank as soon as it receives it. The funds from the ruble accounts of the RCFS have been withdrawn and its dollar and Euro accounts have been blocked since the bank received these collection orders. As we reported before, the RCFS appealed to the arbitrage court with the request to reverse the decision of the tax inspection of Nizhegorodsky district of Nizhny Novgorod. The preliminary consideration of the RCFS suit is to take place on September 21 this year. (From our correspondent) Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 663 Arbitrary search in Karabulak On 13 September 2005, in Ingushetia’s Karabulak town unidentified people who reportedly were servicemen of the federal force bodies subjected to arbitrarily searching the household of a disabled woman Galaeva Ferdous Alautdinovna (aged 70) situated at the address 101 Oskanov Street. The household was searched twice during the same day. According to Galaeva, on September 13 at about 3.45 am some unknown people knocked at her door. Ferdous came up to the door and asked, “Who is here?” They answered in the Russian language, “Open the door or we’ll blow up the gates!” After Galaeva opened the door in the gate, some twenty people in camouflage and masks burst into the yard. At the time of the assault Galaeva’s daughter-in-law Fatima Merzhoeva was in the house too. When she heard noise in the yard, she went out of the house. The Russian military aimed their submachine guns at the woman and ordered her to keep silent. Then they started searching the household. The elderly owner of the house made an attempt to ask about the reason for the search but the Russian military told the woman, “We ask questions here!” According to the woman, all the military were wearing masks and speaking Russian without any accent. The search lasted for more than four hours. The military examined every bush, every tree, walls, floor and the attic. They examined the territory of the yard and kitchen garden several times with the help of a mine-detector. At about 8 am the military went away. They didn’t find anything illegal in the search. Both women were scared and they had to call an ambulance. It was the only misfortune Ferdous Galaeva and Fatima Merzhoeva had that day. At about 4.10 pm the same people burst into their household the second time. However, there were more military that time as there were military with dogs among them. Galaeva’s household was subjected to thorough searching again. The military didn’t show any identifying documents or search warrants either. During the search Ferdous and her daughter-in-law were sitting at a table in the yard keeping silent. At about 8.30 pm the service personnel of Karabulak town police office made an attempt to enter the territory of the household. However, the Russian military didn’t let them in. Some time later Ferdous’s nephews came to her house after her neighbors had told them about the search. The military made them stand at the wall with their hands up and subjected them to searching. According to eye-witnesses, the Russian military were treating the people in a very rude way. Ferdous felt bad as she got frightened and concerned about her nephews’ safety. An ambulance was called to her once again. At about 8.10 pm the Russian military left Galaeva’s house. They drove away in two “Gazel” vehicles, an armored UAZ car and a “Zhiguli” car of the 7th model. No car had a state license plate. Galaeva Ferdous Alautdinovna is a native of Grozny. She fled the territory of the Chechen Republic when the war started. Ferdous Galaeva is a widow of the past Il’yas Deniev who was one of the spiritual leaders of Chechnya and Ingushetia. He was a son of a famous sheikh Deni Arsanov who was considered by his contemporaries as a guarantee of the unity of the North Caucasus and Russia. (From our correspondent) Nizniy Novgorod Report # 662 There is no reaction of the prosecutorship to the threats addressed at the human rights people September 14, 2005. The prosecutor’s office of Nizhny Novgorod region has not undertaken any steps to fix the evidence of the crime and to question the victims and eye-witnesses after the RCFS staffers handed in their statement about the threats On September 9 the staffers of the RCFS were again threatened with murder. Some 15 leaflets were glued to the walls of the section of the apartment building where the managing director of the RCFS Stanislav Dmitrievsky lives as well as to the door of his flat. According to Article 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, “a patrol investigator, an investigation agency, an investigator and a prosecutor have to accept and to check information about a perpetrated or an intended crime and to make a decision within the term not later than three days”. Earlier, on March 14, 2005 similar leaflets were distributed in the neighborhood where the editor of the Russian-Chechen Information Agency Oksana Chelysheva lives. Meanwhile, it became known that the criminal case commences regarding the threats Oksana Chelysheva received was suspended on September 6, 2005 by the prosecutorship of Kanavinsky district of Nizhny Novgorod “because of the impossibility to establish a person who has to be charged of committing a crime”. The complainant has not been notified about the taken decision in the way provided by the law. (From our correspondent) Ingushetia Report # 652 Mass grave is discovered at the outskirts of Surkhakhi village On 12 September 2005 a mass burial place was discovered at the outskirts of the village of Surkhakhi of Ingushetia’s Nazran district. There were reportedly male corpses in the grave. According to the information obtained from a source within the law-enforcement agencies of the republic, all the corpses are being examined by forensic medics and they are being identified. There are assumptions that these are corpses of the Chechen combatants annihilated in the assault at Ingushetia that took place on September 21 and 22, 2004. However, among the local people the view prevails that these are remains of people who were abducted or went missing in so-called special operations that are regularly carried in Ingushetia. (From our correspondent) Shalinskiy district. Chechen Republic Report # 651 Resident of Shali district is robbed of his car At night from September 10 to September 11, 2005, unidentified people wearing masks stole a VAZ 21 099 car belonging to a resident of Shali district center A. Akhmetov. The car was hijacked from the territory of the Akhmetov’s household situated at the address 95 Suvorov Street. (From our correspondent) Shatoy district. Chechen Republic Report # 650 Shatoy district is again shelled 12.09.2005. The outskirts of the settlements of Pamyatoy and Urdukhoy of the Chechen Shatoy district have been regularly shelled by the Russian artillery since the beginning of September. They are shelled from the direction of the sites where the Russian forces are stationed, mostly at nighttime. On September 1 this area was subjected to shelling that lasted from 11 pm until 11.30 pm. On September 2 it was shelled again at about the same time. On September 4 the vicinity of Pamyatoy and Urdukhoy villages were shelled from 10 till 11 pm. On September 6 the same area was shelled again at the same time. On September 7 shelling started at about 6 am. There has been no information about the casualties and damage caused by this regular shelling. (From our correspondent) Nizniy Novgorod Report # 646 RCIA web page has been erased On 11 September 2005, hackers attacked the web page of the Russian-Chechen Information Agency. All the database of this Internet media outlet was destroyed at the server of the provider. It is the first time when the web page of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society has been destroyed. As of the present moment, specialists of the RCFS are trying to restore the web page of the agency. The web page was destroyed after all the materials of the criminal case commenced by the prosecutorship of Nizhny Novgorod Region against the editor-in-chief of the “Pravozaschita” newspaper were put on it. Yesterday the texts of the conclusions made by the linguistic expert were published on the web page. That expert stated in her conclusions that appeals made by Maskhadov and Zakaev and published in the “Pravozaschita” newspaper have to be classified as “inciting to animosity on ethnic, religious or social signs” whereas both appeals called to peaceful reconciliation to the armed conflict in Chechnya and were full of tough critics of Putin’s regime. The RCFS consider these conclusions as absurd and politically motivated. The day before yesterday the editors of the RCIA Stanislav Dmitirevsky and Oksana Chelysheva were threatened with death when unidentified people glued slanderous leaflets to the walls and doors in the house where Dmitirevsky lives. On September 2, 2005 the prosecutorship charged Dmitrievsky with “incitement to animosity” according to part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Some time before that the tax inspection began unauthorized withdrawing of the funds from the bank accounts of the RCFS whereas the Main Registration Department at the Ministry of Justice brought a suit aimed at closing the organization down. The Russian-Chechen Information Agency is a project run by the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society that is financially backed by the European Commission and the National Endowment for Democracy Foundation (the USA). It is aimed at information covering the situation with human rights in the area of the Chechen conflict. (From our correspondent) http://www.ria.hrnnov.ru/eng/index.php Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 666 Ecological situation in Zavodskoy district of Grozny is considered catastrophic On 14 September 2005, the State Council of the Chechen Republic discussed the ecological situation in Grozny. It was pointed to the fact that the ecological situation in Zavodskoy district of the Chechen capital must be considered catastrophic as the air is especially polluted there with hydrogen sulphide that is sent off as a result of the process of illegal oil refining. The State Council and the Government of the Chechen Republic came to the agreement to establish a special committee on ecology at the Government. (From our correspondent) Shalinskiy district. Chechen Republic Report # 665 Clash in the town of Argun On 14 September 2005, from 1 until 3 pm an armed clash in the town of Argun of the Chechen Shali district lasted. The clash was between a group of the Chechen combatants from one side and the service personnel of the federal forces and the Chechen militia, from the other side. In the clash five Chechen combatants were blocked up in one of the private houses in Argun and later all of them were annihilated, including Shamil Muskiev who a source within the Ministry of the Interior of the republic called the deputy of the president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Abdul-Khakim Sadulaev. According to the same source, two militia servicemen were killed in the clash. (From our correspondent) Ingushetia Report # 661 UAZ car is undermined in the village of Gamurzievo. There have been no victims 13.09.2005. At about 1 pm there was an explosion in the village of Gamurzievo situated not far from Ingushetia’s town of Nazran. An unidentified explosive device blasted when two militia UAZ vehicles were riding along the Rostov-Baku highway. There were the patrol service personnel of Sunzha district militia office riding in the vehicles. None of the militiamen were injured, one of the cars was slightly damaged. (From our correspondent) Kurchaloy district. Chechen Republic Report # 660 Drug substance is found in a house of a resident of Bachi-Yurt village On 12 September 2005, the service personnel of the Chechen Kurchaloy district police office carried an operative and search actions in the village of Bachi-Yurt of the Chechen Kurchaloy district and discovered four paper bags containing approximately 1 kg of some vegetal matter and 18 hemp plants. The drug substance was discovered in the attic of the house belonging to Bukhashery Kusamov (born 1957). The law-enforcement agencies are carrying additional checking of the circumstances of the case. (From our correspondent) Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 659 Two corpses are discovered in Katayama On 8 September 2005, two unidentified corpses of a man and a woman were discovered in the settlement of Katayama situated within the precincts of Grozny in the territory of the pipe storehouse, according to a source within the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic. As of the present moment, the law-enforcement agencies are trying to identify the corpses. (From our correspondent) Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 658 Ammunition cache is disclosed in Leninsky district of Grozny On 12 September 2005, the service personnel of Grozny Leninsky district police office discovered an ammunition cache in the forested area situated along the Petropavlovsk highway. It contained three grenades, a mine, and a large quantity of live cartridges, one artillery shell and 1600 kg of the trotyl explosive substance. The information was obtained from the Ministry of the Interior of the republic. (From our correspondent) Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 657 Twelve people are wounded in a result of the fire at the building of the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic 13.09.2005. 14:52. As a result of the fire at the building of the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic that happened today at about 12 o’clock, twelve people were wounded. Five of them are civilians. Some servicemen of the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic are wounded including the police colonel Abdulkakhirov Musa (born 1960), Aliev Muslim (born 1974), Vaykhanov Sayd-Khasan (born 1973), Abubakarov Sapar (born 1962), Aliev Rokhman (born 1981), Arsaliev Akhmar (born 1968) and Chaldaev Ruslan (born 1965). The particulars of other people injured in the accident are being established. The RCIA reported before that today on 13 September 2005, at about noon unidentified people fired on the building of the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic situated in Altayskaya Street in Grozny. The fire was delivered from grenade cup discharges (see our release No1488 from 13.09.2005). According to the testimonies of some eye-witnesses, the assaulters were moving around in a vehicle which make has not been established yet. Fifteen charges were reportedly delivered. (From our correspondent) Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 656 The Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic in Grozny is fired on On 13 September 2005, at about noon unidentified people fired on the building of the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic situated in Altayskaya Street in Grozny. The fire was delivered from grenade cup discharges. The details are going to be published in our next newsletters. (From our correspondent) Vedeno district. Chechen Republic Report # 655 Shelling of the vicinity of Elistanzhi village On 10 September 2005 at about 11 pm the forested area situated in the vicinity of the village of Elistanzhi of the Chechen Vedeno district was subjected to shelling by the Russian artillery. It lasted for approximately half an hour. There has been information about the casualties in the shelling. (From our correspondent) Vedeno district. Chechen Republic Report # 654 Crossfire in the Vedeno district center On 11 September 2005 at night time there was crossfire between the service personnel of the federal forces and a group of unidentified armed people. According to some eye-witnesses from among the local people, the crossfire started not far from the market place that is situated in the very center of the Vedeno village. To all appearances, there were some wounded and killed people on both sides as there were numerous blood marks at the scene of the accident. (From our correspondent) Vedeno district. Chechen Republic Report # 653 Release of a resident of Argun town after his detention On 11 September 2005 a resident of the town of Argun of the Chechen Shali district Akhtaev Zelim (born 1980) was released after his detention in the so-called passport checking carried by the police in the Chechen district center of Vedeno. According to the released man, he had to spend the night in the local police office where he was subjected to constant beating. Akhtaev was detained because he is officially registered as a resident of Argun town. (From our correspondent) Grozny rural district. Chechen Republic Report # 649 Abduction of a disabled person in Starye Atagi On 9 September 2005 at 11.30 am a group of unidentifiable armed people moving around in a “UAZ” (“tabletka”) vehicle abducted Khamzatov Emmedi in the center of the village of Starye Atagi in front of the building of the village administration. The abducted man is disabled from his childhood. According to eye-witnesses’ testimonies, the perpetrators must have been members of the service personnel of the Security Service of the president of the Chechen Republic stationed in the village of Chechen-Aul of the Chechen Grozny rural district. A correspondent of the RCIA reports the witnesses as stating that the perpetrators fired into the air at the time while they were dragging the disabled man into the car. The perpetrators didn’t pay any attention to the fact that there is a school near the scene of the accident. Many of the pupils were intimidated. (From our correspondent) Grozny rural district. Chechen Republic Report # 648 Unidentified masked people abducted a female resident of Starye Atagi village On 11 September 2005 at about 6 am a group of unidentified people in masks drove away a resident of the village of Starye Atagui of the Chechen Grozny rural district Mazaeva Zina (aged 55-60) from her house situated in Pochtovaya Street. As of the present moment, her relatives don’t know anything about the whereabouts of the abducted woman. Members of the Masaev family think that the woman must have been abducted either by representatives of the force agencies or by service personnel of the local police office. Mazaeva Zina lives together with her husband and they have several some adult sons. According to the woman’s relatives, none of Zina Mazaev’s sons have had any criminal past and they have never been involved into activities of the so-called unlawful armed formations. (From our correspondent) Grozny rural district. Chechen Republic Report # 647 Abduction of a resident of the village of Starye Atagi On 11 September 2005 at 6 am unidentified armed people apparently representing unidentified force agency abducted a resident of the village of Starye Atagi of the Chechen Grozny rural district Nataev Aslan Adlanovich. It is established that Aslan Nataev has been subjected to numerous detentions by force agents before. (From our correspondent) Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 639 Death of a man from a bullet wound in hospital #9 On 8 September 2005 a resident of Grozny Arsakhanov Ansor Akhmedovich (born 1981) was delivered to the casualty ward of the city hospital #9 where he died from a bullet wound at his belly. Arsakhanov lived in the settlement of Mayakovsky that is situated within Staropromyslovsaky district of the Chechen capital in the house #105. (From our correspondent) Grozny. Chechen Republic Report # 637 Murders of a taxi-driver and his passenger On 6 September 2005, a male corpse bearing signs of violent death was found in Plotoyagodnaya Street in the territory of the premises of the “Rodina” state farm in Leninsky district of Grozny. It was found not far from the half-destroyed bridge over the Neftyanka River. The law-enforcement agencies identified the killed man as Jautkhanov Khasan Musaevich (born 1957). The death was caused by a slash wound at the throat. Jautkhanov lived in the village of Nadterechnaya of the Chechen Nadterechny district at the address 17 Zavodskaya Street. The same day the corpse identified as Lechiev Musa Khozh-Akhmedovich (born 1970) was discovered not far from the filling station situated in Mayakovsky Street in Leninsky district of Grozny. He was stabbed at his chest. Lechiev was a native of the town of Mozdok of the Republic of the North Ossetia – Alania where he lived at the address 3 Voksalnaya Str., ap.35. Correspondents of the RCIA managed to establish that both men had been abducted by unidentified people at night from 5 to 6 September in the town of Mozdok. One of them was a taxi-driver and the other one was his passenger. (From our correspondent) Gudermes district. Chechen Republic Report # 636 Disclosure of corpses bearing signs of violent death On 6 September 2005, a male corpse bearing signs of violent death was disclosed seven hundreds meters away from the settlement of Novyy Engenoy of the Chechen Gudermes district on the bed of the dried up spring. The law-enforcement agencies identified the killed man as a resident of the village of Avtury of the Chechen Shali district Abdulvakhitov Adam Vakhitovich. The same day a male corpse identified as Ismailov Khuseyn Bagamovich (born 1982) was found not far from the settlement of Chervlyonnaya of the Chechen Shelkovskoy district at the crossroads of the highways Grozny – Mozdok – Kizlyar. Ismailov was a native of the village of Yalkhoy-Mokhk of the Chechen Kurchaloy district. According to a source within the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic, the corpse didn’t bear any signs of violent death. On 7 September 2005, a male corpse identified as Morosov Anatoly Aleksandrovich (born 1928) was found in his house situated at the address 9/2 Molodyozhnaya Street in the village of Naur of the Chechen Naur district. The corpse didn’t bear any signs of violent death. (From our correspondent) Urus-Martan district. Chechen Republic Report # 635 Release of an abducted resident of Shalazhi village On 6 September 2005, one of the residents of the village of Shalazhi of the Chechen Urus-Martan district was released. On 4 September 2005, unidentified people armed with submachine guns abducted a resident of the village of Shalazhi of the Chechen Urus-Martan district Khamzatov Minkail Khamidovich (born 1971). Khamzatov was seized in his house situated at the address 16 Gagarin Street. The abductors beat him up and drove away to an unknown destination. On 6 September Khamzatov was found by his relatives at the outskirts of the settlement of Gekhi. He was suffering from a deep shock. (From our correspondent) Shalinskiy district. Chechen Republic Report # 634 Abductions continue On 4 September 2005, six unidentified people armed with submachine guns abducted a resident of the Argun town of the Chechen Shali district Salataev Ibragim Salambekovich (born 1977). The man was dragged away from his own house situated at 15 Pervomayskaya Street. Besides, the perpetrators stole a computer and three thousand rubles. (From our correspondent) Gudermes district. Chechen Republic Report # 633 Abductions continue The Russian-Chechen Information Agency keeps receiving information about the never-ending cases of arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances of people in the Chechen Republic. Thus, on 1 September 2005, armed people in camouflage seized and drove away a resident of Gudermes town Soltakhanov Rustam Gilanievich (born 1974) where he lives at the address 7 Nekrasov Str., ap.21 (From our correspondent) http://www.ria.hrnnov.ru/eng/index.php