Civilians continue to go missing in Chechnya, the Chechen government reports.
"According to our information, 245 people have gone missing in Chechnya
in January-May 2003," Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Mavsur Khamidov, who
is responsible for relations with law enforcement agencies, told Interfax
on Sunday.
"In January-March, 171 people were kidnapped in Chechnya, in April - 62, and on
May 1-7 - 12 people," Khamidov said. "Not all people go missing through the fault
of the federal structures. Many are kidnapped by rebels and we find their bodies,"
he said.
During the two military campaigns (the first was from 1994-1996, and the second
began in 1999), some 2,500 people have gone missing in Chechnya, he said.
The Chechen government's information on missing people differs from the information
provided by the republic's prosecutor's office, Khamidov said.
"The human rights situation in Chechnya has somewhat improved since the Mach 23
referendum, although not as much as we would like it to," he said.
In a recent meeting between Chechnya's federal and civil authorities, a decision
was made to crack down on kidnappings, he said. The Russian law enforcement agencies
have said that all missing people cases are being investigated. "We are doing
everything to investigate every case. Teams of investigators are formed and the
reasons and circumstances are determined," said Col. General Rashid Nurgaliyev,
deputy interior minister and chief of the Russian Criminal Police Service.
Nurgaliyev said that every kidnapping in which individuals dressed in Russian
uniforms are believed to have been involved is investigated for the possible involvement
of Russian army or Interior Ministry units. However, one possible scenario in
such cases is that the kidnappers are rebels dressed as Russian soldiers, he said.