SRChF/CP: Press release No. 414, May 12, 2003

Report from the Chechen Republic

Grozny

Civil people suffered as a consequence of undermining land mines.

On April 29,.2003 at 15.40 in Oktyabrsky district of Grozny there was three powerful explosions in the park situated behind the building of the military headquarters in Lisitsin Street. As it became known, soldiers of the federal forces were making land mines safe by undermining. Unfortunately, there were victims among civil population as representatives of military forces had not informed the local inhabitants about their plans to undermine. According with the information received from the employees of the police office of Oktyabrsky district of the Chechen capital, Nasakhov Magomed Nozhaevich (born in 1969) and Elmurzaev Abubakar Skamsutdinovich (born in 1971) were wounded by shrapnel. The blast wave destroyed the windows and door frames in houses in the neighbourhood.

An explosion in the basement of the village police office

On April 29, 2002 at about 10 am in the village of Michurin in Oktyabrsky district of Grozny undetermined people set off charges in the building of the village police office (there used to be a hostel of the technical college No. 13 in it) in Albogachiev Street. The explosion was in the basement. Nobody suffered but the basement was greatly damaged. The law action has been instituted by this fact. The fire training in the Chechen capital and people deaths caused by them has incresed in
Grozny. As a result of it, fire trainings are being held at establishments where there can gather a lot of people in all the districts of Grozny. The trainings are organised by combined efforts of fire brigades and representatives of the staff and administration of the establishments. Similar trainings are being held in different settlements of the Chechen republic. (From our correspondent).

Shali district

Some other unidentified corpses are found

On April 28, 2003 in the forest between the village of Mesker-Yurt and the town of Argun not far from the territory of the state farm "Yuzhny" some inhabitants of Mesker-Yurt came across two unidentified corpses. The remains were at a high level of putrefication, the clothes remained partly. The remains were buried at the cemetery of Mesker-Yurt as a special territory is set aside there to bury unidentified people. Such practice is usual now of cemeteries of all the other settlements of the Chechen Republic. The remains of the clothes are turned over to the mosque for identification. According with the tradition that appeared not long ago, the imam appealed to people to help in identification at the service on Friday.

Report from Ingushetia

An explosive device is being searched for at the central market in Karabulac

Today, on May 6th, 2003 in the town of Karabulac, Nazran district of Ingushetia Republic, all the people - both sellers and purchasers - were evacuated from the territory of the central market. The police claim that they got the information about an explosive device set at the market. At 4.15 pm the market was completely blocked by the police forces. A number of sappers are working there. (From our correspondent).


The explosion in the building of the administration in Znamenskoye: more than forty people killed.

On May 12, 2003 between 9 and 10 am in the village of Znamenskoye, Nadterechny district, a building of the district administration was undermined. There were a lot of victims among civil population, the employees of the administration, the guards and military men - at present moment there is information about forty six people killed, 73 wounded people are taken to hospitals, and thirty people who were slightly wounded rejected from hospitalization. The explosion was very powerful: not only the building of the administration but also a number of houses in the neighborhood were damaged. All due safety measures have been taken - the level of control at block posts has become stricter, there are helicopters controlling all the roads. (From our correspondent).

Shali district

Two innocent people have been freed thanks to human rights defenders' efforts

On May 11, 2003 the Khasmogamodovs, who come from the village of Germenchuk, appealed for help to the chairman of the regional branch of the Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship Imran Ezhiev for help when he was in Shali. That very day at 9.55 am representatives of the federal force structures arrived by bus at their house situated in Shali, 3 Lenin Lane, and took the brothers Ismail (born in 1970) and Ismyail (born in 1972) threatening them with guns. Ezhiev managed to inquire the deputy chief of the Shali police office Valery Luzganov and learn that the Khasmogamodovs brothers were arrested on suspicion of murder of Musaev Said-Khusein (born in 1976) who was an inhabitant of Shali. The murder was committed on May 10, 2003, between 10 and 11 pm in Musaev's house, 30 Suvorov Street.

According to Luzganov, they were arrested in accordance with the district court decision. Meantime, as the employees of the SRCF managed to learn, at the time of the crime commitment, the Khasmogamodovs were in the native village of Germenchuc and there were a lot of witnesses to that among the people living in that village. It took Imran Ezhiev a day to collect a lot of appeals to the Shali police office and Shali district court from the inhabitants of Germenchuc in which they confirmed the Khasmogamodovs brothers alibi. On handing the collected documents over to the Shali police office at about 7.30 pm, Ismail and Ismyail Khasmogamodovs were released. The Khasmogamodovs brothers are builders and they have not been involved into the armed resistance.

The police cannot cope with drunken military men

On May 11, 2003 the members of the Chechen police detained four Russian soldiers who were threatening people with guns in the state of alcohol intoxication at the central market of the town of Shali. According to eye-witnesses, the drunken soldiers, who were serving at the Shali police office, came to the area of jewelry stalls. One of them took out a grenade and holding it by the cotter started threatening and insulting sellers and purchasers. People called the police that disarmed them and delivered them to the Shali police office to which those soldiers were enrolled. As the police members tell, they didn't make a report about the detention as they are not permitted to arrest military men belonging to the federal forces. After a short conversation to the deputy chief of the Shali police office Valery Luzganov "the hooligans" were released and kept on their service. The Chechen police members complained to the employee of the SRCF that their possibilities to struggle with criminals with shoulder-straps are limited; that they lack communication devices and that there is a regular delay in their salaries payment. According to the police members, their main occupation is guarding of their colleagues from different regions of Russia. (From our correspondent).

Editor in chief Stanislav Dmitriyevsky. Editor of this edition Oksana Chelysheva. This edition has been put out with the support of The National Endowment for Democracy, as part of their "Russian-Chechen Information Partnership".

INFORMATION CENTER OF THE SOCIETY FOR RUSSIAN-CHECHEN FRIENDSHIP

Press release No. 414, May 12, 2003