June 24th 2003 · Prague Watchdog

Arrests in Chechnya based on latest terrorist acts few return home

Ruslan Isayev, Northern Caucasus

The situation in Chechnya has become much worse following the recent terrorist acts. Chechen authorities have intensified their efforts to arrest anyone they think is connected to the suicide bombers, and many innocent people are frequently caught in their nets.

An arrest constitutes being related, even remotely, to someone who carried out a suicidal attack. But as is often the case, very few ever return home and those who do, are rarely in good physical condition.

These days only the women search for their missing relatives in Chechnya – it s life threatening for men to do so. Yet even the women encounter resistance from the military and Chechen officials. “Your son is probably already buried somewhere, so there s no use in searching for him,  are the unfeeling responses frequently hurled at them.

Sadly, nothing has changed. People still continue to disappear in Chechnya at the hands of soldiers, and no one knows the total number of those who have vanished since the beginning of the military campaign.

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