Georgia: Rights Groups
Say Chechnya Not Ready For Refugees' Safe Return
By Jean-Christophe Peuch
An estimated 300,000 civilians have fled Chechnya since Moscow ordered the first
of two military crackdowns on the breakaway republic nine years ago. Most have
migrated to neighboring Ingushetia, where they live in makeshift camps, often
in appalling conditions. Others have found shelter in Georgia, which has granted
them international refugee status. But now Russia wants to see them back in
Chechnya. Activists say it's Moscow's way of hiding its protracted and still-violent
conflict from international critics.
Prague, 19 June 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Authorities this week began conducting a new
census of Chechen migrants living on Georgian territory. The census, conducted
under the supervision of the Georgian Refugees Ministry, is the third such count
in the South Caucasus nation since the beginning of the second Chechen war in
1999.
Elders from Georgia's Chechen community are helping to monitor the registration
process. Representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and local rights groups are also participating. Results are expected
by the end of June.
Aslanbek Abdurzakov is an ethnic Chechen who heads the International Committee
to Protect Human Rights in the Chechen Republic, a nongovernmental organization
based in Georgia. Speaking by telephone from the city of Akhmeta, where the
main census count is being conducted, he said the registration has encountered
no major problems.
"Everything is going normally, without incident. Our organization issued a number
of recommendations for the census, which [Georgian authorities] have taken into
account. There have been no noticeable complications. People are coming here
[to Akhmeta]. Transportation has been arranged for them. They are being carefully
registered and there are almost no
problems," Abdurzakov said.
A previous census conducted in April of last year showed that 4,200 Chechen
refugees were living on Georgian territory, down from nearly 8,000 a year before.
This sharp decrease is partly explained by the introduction of tougher, UNHCR-monitored
registration rules, which helped expose a number of cases of fake documentation.
Georgian authorities now believe the number of Chechens may have increased slightly
over the past 14 months.
Abdurzakov said Chechen migrants currently living in Georgia are now believed
to number over 5,000. The Georgian government has issued most of them international
refugee documents. But an estimated 100 to 200 newcomers have yet to gain legal
status.
A handful of Chechen refugees live in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. But the
overwhelming majority of Georgia's Chechen refugees -- 3,800, according to the
most recent available data -- have settled in the Pankisi Gorge, a mountainous
area close to the Russian border.
Pankisi is mainly populated by ethnic Chechens known as Kists. Kists have lived
in the region for over two centuries and are believed to currently number around
7,000.
The new census comes on the heels of a visit by Russian government officials
looking to persuade Chechen refugees to return to Chechnya. But Georgian authorities
insist there is no connection between the two events, and say they are legally
bound to reregister refugees every year.
Russian Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Yurii Brazhnikov met last week
with a group of Chechen refugees near the Pankisi village of Duisi. He said
Moscow was committed to helping them return to their home country. "Helping
people return to their historical motherland is, without a doubt, the right
and important thing to do. [With this in mind], we are in consultation with
international organizations. It is a normal process that, strictly speaking,
must inevitably be carried out," Brazhnikov said.
Brazhnikov is a member of the commission created last year by Russian President
Vladimir Putin to organize the return of some of the 300,000 civilians believed
to have left Chechnya since the beginning of military operations there in 1994.
The Russian envoy said Moscow had already agreed with Georgian authorities that
candidates for repatriation would be transported by bus to Tbilisi and then
flown back to Chechnya. Brazhnikov also said those refugees who would prefer
to go back on their own would be given passes to cross the border without being
arrested.
Moscow's push to return refugees to Chechnya has raised many questions. Regional
experts and rights groups generally believe the move is in line with Russia's
official claim that -- despite continuing clashes with armed separatists --
its troops are in full control of Chechnya.
Chechen rights activist Abdurzakov does not believe Russia's attempt to lure
refugees back to Chechnya is motivated by humanitarian concerns. He said the
Russian delegation gave him no reason to think the refugees would be returning
to a safe and secure situation.
"Judging by the answers I got from [the Russians], I am inclined to believe
this amounts to a political farce. They want to hide from the international
community what the situation in Chechnya really is. They are trying to conceal
the ongoing chaos that prevails in Chechnya. They need those refugees back to
show the international community that the Chechen case is closed. This is made
all the more clear by the fact that we all know there is an information blackout
in Chechnya at the moment," Abdurzakov said.
The Kremlin recently conducted a controversial referendum in the breakaway republic,
in which 96 percent of voters appeared to favor keeping Chechnya as a subject
of the Russian Federation. The vote raised a wave of objections from separatist
leaders, rights groups, and liberal Russian politicians. They say the referendum,
which included votes from federal troops stationed in the republic, was a mockery
and did not represent the views of the population.
Earlier this month (6 June), the Russia State Duma approved an amnesty for Chechen
fighters who lay down their weapons by 1 September. Three previous amnesties
have failed; it is expected that this one will as well. Moscow says only a few
dozen separatists have surrendered so far.
The amnesty denies pardon to Chechen fighters suspected of committing "serious
crimes" against federal troops. Critics say this stipulation ultimately means
that any separatist guerrilla may be subject to prosecution regardless of his
role during the war.
Rights groups have also denounced the law as a covert attempt to amnesty Russian
soldiers suspected of atrocities committed against civilians. More than 100,000
civilians are believed to have died in Chechnya since 1994.
The refugees in Pankisi are reluctant to return to Chechnya unless Russia can
guarantee their safety. But Abdurzakov said Moscow has offered no such promises.
"I personally asked [the Russian delegation] to have Moscow guarantee the personal
safety of the returnees. Should they do that, I would personally actively support
the return of refugees. But we have received no such guarantees. Brazhnikov,
the head of the delegation, himself said no one is in a position to offer such
guarantees. We received no guarantees and were told it could not be otherwise.
We have people in and around Chechnya and the latest information from them shows
that the situation there remains unstable. Combat operations are under way,
notably in the mountains, and full-scale military operations could resume at
any moment in the 70 percent of Chechen territory that Russia claims is under
its control. People have absolutely no guarantee that they will be safe after
they return to Chechnya," he said.
The UNHCR also believes conditions have not been met to assure Chechen refugees
of a safe return. Catherine Bertrand, the UNHCR representative in Tbilisi, said
that as long as the situation in the war-torn republic does not improve, Georgia
remains bound by the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention. The convention prohibits
signatories from expelling or returning a refugee who does not pose any threat
to national security to a country "where his life could be threatened on account
of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group,
or political opinion."
"The position of the UNHCR is very clear. The repatriation of refugees should
be made on a voluntary basis and, as we generally say, should be performed in
safety and dignity. And we -- that is, the UNHCR as an institution -- does not
think that the safety of people can be guaranteed in Chechnya at the moment,"
Bertrand said.
Bertrand said only half-a-dozen Chechen refugees last week agreed to meet with
Russian envoy Brazhnikov to discuss the conditions of their possible return.
"As far as I know, none of them has said he wants to return home in the short
term. And as far as the Georgian authorities are concerned, I am pretty sure
they have no plans to repatriate them forcibly," the UNHCR official said.
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty