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Will the UN Commission on Human Rights Ignore Chechnya, the Worst Human Rights Crisis in Europe? Release of a new report by the IHF "Chechnya: More of the Same. Extrajudicial killings, Enforced "Disappearances", Illegal Arrests, Torture" Vienna, Geneva, 30 March 2005. During the current session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and the International League for Human Rights (ILHR) called the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation "undoubtedly the worst human rights and humanitarian crisis in Europe". In their joint statement for the Commission the human rights groups urged: ". all members of this Commission who still believe that civilians in Chechnya should enjoy the same protection against torture and other massive human rights violations as individuals in other parts of the world, to table a resolution before the deadline of 11 April." They recalled the demands made upon the Russian Federation in 2001, when a resolution was last adopted by the Human Rights Commission on the catastrophic human rights situation in the Chechen Republic, and stressed that: ". given the nearly total absence of compliance of the Russian authorities with this resolution, and in reason of the failure by the Commission to adopt resolutions in the three years that followed, our organisations find it very disturbing that no resolution has been tabled this year on the situation in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation during the session under item 9." At a briefing entitled "Human Rights Abuses in Chechnya: No End in Sight" - organized in the framework of the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights by the IHF, the ILHR and the FIDH - the IHF released its new report on the human rights situation in Chechnya. The report is based on the findings of field missions carried out between November 2004 and January 2005. The 33-page report documents cases of "disappearances", extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests and torture, which clearly illustrates the pattern of never ending violations of HR in Chechnya, to which the international community has failed to provide an adequate response. The report calls upon the intergovernmental organizations and their member-states to urge the Government of the Russian Federation to take additional measures to eliminate the climate of impunity prevailing in the Chechen Republic, including: · Vigorously investigating and prosecuting all violations of human rights, · Sending a clear signal from the highest political level that all security and law enforcement officials must respect human rights in the execution of their duties, · Providing reparation, including compensation, to victims of human rights abuses, · Enabling systematic monitoring by national and international human rights organizations of human rights violations, · Fully co-operating with all Council of Europe and UN mechanisms, in particular with the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, and the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Commission, and · Facilitating access to the region to national and international news media. The IHF urges all national governments to call for the establishment of a broad-based and independent commission of inquiry into violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Chechen Republic. For further information: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights: Brigitte Dufour, Deputy Executive Director, cell: +43- (0) 676- 690 24 57; Henriette Schroeder, Press Officer, cell: +43- (0) 676-725 48 29 or +43 - (0) 1 - 408 88 22; Eliza Moussaeva, Researcher +43- (0) 1-408 88 22 In Geneva: Tanya Lokshina and Joachim Frank, +43- (0) 676-312 23 48 The report can be found under http://www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=3&d_id=4036 __________________________________________ Joachim Frank, Project Coordinator International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Wickenburggasse 14/7 A-1080 Vienna Tel. +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 22 Fax: +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 50 Web: http://www.ihf-hr.org ______________________________________ 4.4.2005 14 Chechen refugees detained in Transcarpathia UKRAINE, Svalyava, Transcarpathian region. Border service officers stopped a car in the village of Solomonovo near Ukrainian-Slovak border, which was regularly used by a local man to transport Chechen refugees. 14 of them, including a woman and two children, were arrested in the home of the man who arranged transportations in the town of Svalyava. Moukachevo border guard unit told PRIMA-News correspondent on 1 April that the refugees arrived to Transcarpathia via Kiev and Odessa. They didn’t want to remain at home due to difficult economic situation and lack of security. A network of guides operates in Ukraine who for a fee help Chechens move to Slovakia. The refugee trafficking route is now controlled by militia and border guards. Translated by Olga Sharp PRIMA-News Agency [2005-04-01-Ukr-03] http://www.newsru.com/russia/04apr2005/chehc.html (my quick tr) The president's aide: No one knows a precise number of kidnapped people in Chechnya No one knows a  precise number of the kidnapped people in the Chechen republic: neither  the republic's  authorities nor the law-enforcement agencies nor the human rights activists, stated today at the press conference in Moscow Aslanbek Aslakhanov, the aide of the president of Russia. He did not exclude, that in the hostage taking can participate the representatives of the federal siloviki structures, which act in the republic, and also some local siloviki, ITAR-TASS reports. One of the reasons for taking of hostages Aslakhanov named  money, which these criminals demand as ransom for those abducted. According to the data of the procuratorship of Chechnya, since 1999 through 2004 1814 criminal cases for the fact of disappearance of 2540 people have been opened. At the same time, in recent years a significant reduction of numbers of similar crimes has been observed. Thus, according to the data of republic MVD, in 2003 404 people were kidnapped, and in 2004 - 168. But Aslakhanov expressed his bewilderment by some facts from these criminal cases - "on the basis of  materials of  investigation of hostage taking, it follows that all kidnappers were dressed the same (in  camouflage uniform), they were armed with the same weaponry and moved practically by the same vehicle transportation". "This is a mystery for me" - noted the president's aide . Meanwhile as stated the previously president of Chechnya Alu Akhanov, for him and other leaders of  the republic, and also for  the chiefs of law-enforcement agencies, there is "no reason for any complacency, until there is at least one case of disappearance of a man. "For each similar case we must undertake operational measures, and the main thing - completely eradicate this crime -  emphasized the head of  the republic. http://www.24hours.ge/index.php?n=227&r=3&id=1493 N227 (56)  Thursday, March 31st, 2005 Ombudsman Confirms Violation of Human Rights Ethnic Kists illegally tossed from Georgia and other issues The Office of Public Defender of Georgia for the last two weeks has studied the issue of the illegal deportation of three ethnic Kist brothers by the family name of Tsatiashvili. At the time of their deportation the Kists held Russian citizenship and had fled from Grozny as refugees. Twenty-Four Saati (Hours) learned that employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs later took three Kist brothers who had previously approached the Ministry of Refugees and Placement and then illegally deported them; this was done in secret and without proper registration or legal process; they were taken to the neutral zone between the Georgian and Azerbaijan border and forced from Georgian territory. A representative of the Ombudsman's Office confirm that the oldest of the brothers, Shengeli Tsatiashvili, was previously provided a refugee's document confirming that he was seeking legal status. The date on the document was December 18, 2004, which would give him legal protection under Georgian and international refugee law, and this fact adds creditability to the claim that his deportation was a blatant violation of the law and norms of human rights. Representatives of the Georgian Border Guard Department and the Anti-terrorist Centre did nothing to assist the Public Defender's Office in preventing an illegal act from being carried out. A request had been made to intervene in keeping this from happening but it was ignored. The Tsatiashvili brothers illegally made their way back to Georgia several days ago; they subsequently had a meeting with Beka Mindiashvili, head of the Freedom and Equality Sector of the Ombudsman's Office, to request assistance and protection; they also had a joint meeting with the Minister of Refugees and Placement, Eter Astemirova. According to the information obtained by 24 Saati (Hours), Levan Kakhiani, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, also attended this meeting. It is the same person, who had participated in the illegal deportation of the Tsatiashvili brothers. The Georgian Minister of Refugees and Placement declared as being illegal the action of the representatives of the Internal Affairs Ministry. Regardless, it is clear, “for security reasons, that the Ministry of Internal Affairs legally controls the activities of Russian citizens who cross the border from the side of Chechnya, however, the Ombudsman's Office thinks that using forceful means, or threatening them in such a manner is totally unacceptable, stated the representatives of the Ombudsman's Office. Moreover, in regard to refugee issues, the Office of Public Defender explained that information regarding refugees is confidential, and it is inappropriate for law enforcement representatiaves to closely monitor those persons who seek help from the Ministry of Refugees and Placement, and how they then detain some of the people who went there for assistance. Another case that raises suspicions but had a better ending for the victim, thanks to the efforts of the Office of Public Defender’s interference, involved the case of Nugzar Chalatashvili. The Public Defender became the advocate of Chatalashvili, Gurjaani local, who was implicated in an investigation of killing one person in the car accident that occurred on August 28, 2004. This case took on special meaning and drew the attention of the Ombudsman's Office when Manana Chalatashvili, Nugzar Chalatashvili's wife, filed a suit. Manana Chalatashvili asserts that in the evening of March 4 police officers of Gurjaani and Sagarejo region dressed as civilians broke into their house. She claims that policemen illegally searched her home and threatened her and family members with the waving of weapons and verbal threats  they were looking for Nugzar Chalatashvili. The daughter of Nugzar Chalatashvili was so frightened that she lost the ability to speak and even now she has not been able to regain it. The Public Defender's Office understands based on its information that there had been a car accident, and as a result a motorcycle rider died. The family of this person did not appeal to court, because Chalatashvili is not guilty for what happened. Nevertheless regional investigator requested a bribe of 500 USD for himself and 1,000 UD for a local judge. The Public Defender Sozar Subari thinks that perhaps the investigator and the judge wanted to apply some pressure on Chalatashvili to pay up and that is why they sent policemen to their family as a show of force. Subari studied the circumstances of Chalatashvili's case at the office and accompanied him to the police office on March 28. As a result bail was granted by Sagarejo region's court. The Public Defender believes that Chalatashvili will not run during the investigation and will actively cooperate with them in investigating the case. 24 Saati (Hours) 5.4.2005 Russian persecution of Muslims increases RUSSIA, Moscow. Any Islamic literature can now be used as material evidence of guilt in court trials against Muslims. In the fall of 2004, this process occurred in many regions of Russia, noted Memorial Human Rights Center representative Vitalius Ponomarev at a press conference called " The Violation of Muslim Rights in Russia". According to Memorial, persecutions of the followers of Islam are increasing and getting worse. In the middle of March in Almetevsk (Tatarstan), in a picketing action against Muslims, several men there were detained and beaten. Law enforcement agencies found it impossible to prove that they were members of the forbidden party "Khizb ut-Takhrir", and they let the detainees go after taking their money. Ponomarev reported that according to information provided by Ayrat Vakhitov, in Tatarstan, he and other former prisoners of Guantanamo were put under extreme pressure. On April 1, in Bugulme, Timur Ishmuradov was detained. He spent five days under administrative arrest for speaking out in a mosque. In Naberezhnye Chelny a UBOP officer demanded that Ravil Gumerov not assemble humanitarian assistance for Muslims detained in investigation areas. On April 2nd, Gumerov was arrested and charged with terrorism. Furthermore, Vakhitov reported that his brother (not a former prisoner of Guantanamo) was arrested in Nefteyuganske and charged with threatening to blow up a gas pipe, according to Ponomarev. The Director of the Islamic Human Rights Center, the mufti of the Orenburg Region, Ismail -Xazrat Shangareyev, reported that in October 2004, law enforcement authorities threw a grenade into a madrassa in Buguruslane. In November of the same year, OBR representatives searched and degraded students and trampled on the Koran. Shangareyev described that his brother, who lives in the Astrakhan province, was arrested with planted narcotics and a grenade. In the opinion of Mufti Shangareyev, unconscientious journalists are turning society against Islam. Translated by OM Kenney PRIMA-News Agency [2005-04-03-Rus-31] April 4th 2005 · Prague Watchdog Three people kidnapped during the past twenty-four hours in Chechnya By Ruslan Isayev CHECHNYA - A local resident was abducted by unknown assailants from his home in Argun, the local police announced. The kidnappers were carrying firearms and drove off in the victim‘s car. And last night a local resident was also abducted in the village of Gekhi in the Urus-Martanovsky district. In the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny, a group of armed men in several cars kidnapped a young man from his home while severely beating his mother during the capture. The location of all these victims and the identities of the attackers are unknown. Translated by Mindaugas Kojelis.