| Moscow Police Disperse Rally by Relatives
of Policemen Killed in Chechnya Created: 02.03.2005 12:21 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:21 MSK, MosNews Moscow police on Tuesday refused to allow relatives of Russian policemen killed in Chechnya to enter Red Square, the Ekho Moskvy radio station reports. The relatives intended to lay down medals awarded to the dead servicemen on the pavement as a sign of protest against the authorities' handling of the investigation into the deaths. However, by the time they approached the square the site had been cordoned off by police. Police officers at the scene said that they had been ordered to prevent the demonstration, the radio station reported. On March 2, 2000, 22 servicemen of the OMON police unit from Sergiyev Posad, near Moscow, were killed and 31 injured in the vicinity of the Chechen capital of Grozny. The investigation into the incident revealed that the deaths were caused by "friendly fire" which was the result of a lack of coordination by senior officers. During the investigation the North-Caucasian department of the Prosecutor General's Office established that an OMON unit from Podolsk, which at the time of the incident was stationed near Grozny, had attacked the OMON unit from Sergiyev Posad. Two commanders of the Podolsk unit have each been sentenced to four years in prison for criminal negligence, but in December 2004 they were both amnestied. The tragic incident took place just three weeks before the presidential elections in Russia in 2000 and initially the authorities tried to prevent the disturbing news from spreading. However, independent journalists covered the story and eventually prosecutors and the Interior Ministry had to admit that the death of the Sergiyev Posad policemen was the result of a mistake and not hostile activities by Chechen rebels. Mar 2 2005 2:42PM Moscow cautions EU against "speculating" on Chechnya MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Russian officials have warned the European Union against "speculating" on human rights problems in Chechnya. The first round of consultations on human rights between Russia and the European Union were held in Luxembourg on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a release circulated on Wednesday. "European Union officials were provided with detailed information about the human rights situation in Russia. Our European partners were warned once again that attempts to speculate on the human rights situation in Chechnya are counterproductive and senseless," the ministry said. Special emphasis was laid on the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Commission, to be held in March-April 2005. "At Russia's initiative, the parties discussed the position of ethnic Russians in Latvia and Estonia," the ministry said. 2.03.2005 Prosecutor’s visit Russia’s prosecutor general arrived in Chechnya. Of course, this is not his first visit to the republic, but for some reason mass media have decided “to make a stress” on it. Most probably, the goal of the visit is what really matters. Russia’s prosecutor general Vladimir Ustinov described it clearly and unambiguously: I am going to Chechnya to listen to a report on the investigation (attention, a quote!) into “the abductions of the so-called civilians”… Such frank statement surprises and raises hopes simultaneously. From the one hand, the prosecutor (who urged to legalize taking “counter hostages”) as if admits the fact of disappearances, from the other hand, he clearly states that he cannot be certain whether wrong people disappear… For example, relatives of the Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov. It is unknown how many people “have disappeared” during “the counterterrorist” cleaning up operation in Chechnya. The puppet structures give different “official figures.” Some of them say about 1,500 people have disappeared since 1999, others say – 1,500 disappeared only last year… Human rights activists say about at least 5,000 cases, noting these are only documented figures and cannot be considered full. And if judging by reports of the same human rights activists monitoring about 25% of the territory of the republic, the dynamics of abductions hasn’t changed for years. The most interesting fact is that federal troops and puppet force structures are said to be behind most “abductions.” Of course, they deny all such charges, but what about numerous facts and witnesses? It is much easier to deal with human rights activists (they “have disappeared” regularly in Chechnya). But this method does not always work. “Official” human rights activists, whose work is to monitor the situation with human rights and to tell stories “about the great progress in this sphere” to political tourists from Europe, failed to deal with relatives trying to find out the fate of their family members, and now their role has become episodic and insignificant. For example, if previously the names of these “human rights champions” were well known (Kalamanov, then Sultygov), now only experts can say who is “in charge” of this sensitive (to Moscow) issue. The situation has come out of control and Ramzan Kadyrov (his gangs are said to be behind most abductions) has recently threatened to suit human rights activists. Of course, the situation is unlikely to end in court: a trial (even in the Basman court) means investigation and publicity. Moscow cannot allow it. And now Ustinov is in Chechnya. Why now and only because of the sensational relatives of Aslan Maskhadov? We know that Ustinov held an unpleasant meeting with “vice-premier” Kadyrov on this issue. Mass media reported that even his “place of living” had been checked. The result of such examination was quite peculiar: “nothing was found in a boiler-house.” However, everyone on Chechnya knows about a personal prison of the clan of Kadyrovs. The “previously abducted” and those who managed to break free can provide more details on this issue. Will Ustinov talk to them? Unlikely. His tasks are different. His main goal is to document “great concerns about the issue” and later, at “the March round-table on Chechnya,” to proudly announce that “certain job has been done in this direction.” It may be that Ustinov’s visit is the beginning of a serious attack on Ramzan Kadyrov whose actions have begun to worry Moscow. Another variant, more customary to the Kremlin, is possible: Ustinov will spend some time at the Russian military base at Khankala, will listen “to a court human rights activist” and will blame rebel fighters for all the abductions. And then the idea to legalize taking “counter-hostages” among “relatives of terrorists” will become topical again. All that will allow the Hero of Russia Ramzan Kadyrov to take breath and calm down. The Chechen Times http://www.chechentimes.org/en/comments/?id=26760 eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 1/3/2005 Antiwar picket banned in Saint Petersburg The picket of the Antiwar Committee "against the policy of Russian authorities in the North Caucasus" scheduled for February 27 was not held, like a similar action scheduled for February 20, Petr Raush, an activist of the committee, has announced. According to Mr Raush, it happened because of the opposition on the part of Saint Petersburg's Central district administration. It has refused to authorize the committee's actions several times recently on far-fetched and illegal grounds, as the activists think. The notification filed with the district administration did not have signatures of two of the three organizers of the action. And it became a ground for the refusal, though the federal law stipulates that a signature of only one of the men is required. "Participants and organizers of the picket are going to appeal the actions of Central district administration head Ms Shtukova in court." Petr Raush said. Russia Angry With U.S. Human Rights Report By Associated Press March 2, 2005, 5:39 PM EST MOSCOW -- Russia accused the United States of double standards Wednesday in an angry response to a U.S. State Department report that criticized Moscow's human rights record. The State Department's annual report on human rights, published Monday, cited what it said were credible reports that Russian law enforcement officers engaged in torture, violence and other brutal or humiliating treatment, particularly in Russia's conflict against rebels in Chechnya. The U.S. report also cited evidence of increased media restrictions, shortcomings in recent national elections, police corruption and political pressure on the judiciary. The U.S criticism "once again gives us grounds to say that double standards are characteristic of the American approach to this important topic," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The entire report smacks of political bias," the statement said. The ministry said the U.S. report ignored Moscow's concerns about the treatment of ethnic Russian minorities in the former Soviet Baltic states. It said the United States was itself guilty of human rights violations, including ill-treatment of Iraqi detainees, racial discrimination and disputed presidential elections -- an apparent reference to President George Bush's victory in the 2000 election, which was marred by a lengthy legal battle over the results in the decisive state of Florida. "These conclusions concerning our country can in no way be described as objective. They are based on the distortion of facts and sometimes on rumors," the ministry said. The U.S. study was issued four days after Bush raised Russia's democracy and human rights record with President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Slovakia. Chechen Committee condemns persecutions of refugees In its statement the Chechen Committee strongly condemned the pressure that the police have been putting on the community of Chechen refugees in France for the past several months. The Committee mentions the brutalities perpetrated by the French police against the Chechen refugees: “There is suspicion towards anything Chechen in the heads of some authorities, especially the police. In their opinion, once you deal with a Chechen, it means that you must increase your suspicions about terrorist activities. Thereby they do a service to the Russian state and to Putin, who is looking for any opportunities to substantiate his claim, according to which there is no war for independence or Resistance in Chechnya, but there are only ‘gangs of terrorists’.” Chechen Committee and human rights organizations of France refer to the flagrant fact of arrest of two peaceful Chechen refugees in the city of Orleans by French “antiterrorist police” (DDSP), which took place on February 15. The refugees are two brothers from Jokhar (Chechen capital, former Grozny). One is a dentist and another is a student at teacher's training college. They both came to France in January 2004. During the arrest for a minor brawl dozens of armed “antiterrorist” policemen were involved, who opened fire for intimidation purposes. The Chechens are still being held in jail, even though suspects in such minor offences would normally get released on their own recognizance to wait for a trial, Le Monde writes. Kavkaz Center 2005-03-03 eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 2/3/2005 Six bodies found in Grozny Bodies of several people have been found in two abandoned cars in the capital of Chechnya, Grozny, republican law enforcers told Interfax news agency today. Bodies of a man and a woman shot dead from automatic rifles were found in a car in the Leninsky district of Grozny on 1 March. A source at the Chechen interior ministry said the car with the bodies of victims of extrajudicial execution had been found by local people. "The victims have already been identified. The woman is a resident of Grozny, and the man lived in Astrakhan Region," the officer added. A car with four bodies, of two Grozny residents and two men who have not been identified, was found in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny the same day. http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/773680.html |