Miriam Lanskoy
Program Officer
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The National Endowment for Democracy
1101 Fifteenth St. NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20005
Tel. (202) 293-9072 x 633
Fax. (202) 223-6042
miriaml@ned.org
www.ned.org

Invite to Chechnya vigil at UN in NY Sept. 25 9-11 am

You are invited to protest human rights violations in Chechnya on Thursday, September 25th, as President Vladimir Putin addresses the United National General Assembly!

Help deliver a giant movie ticket to Mr. Putin inviting him to attend a Chechnya film festival to face the violations occurring in his country. The vigil is organized by Amnesty International USA and Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders)


Thursday, Sept. 25
Dag Hammarskjold Park
47th Street and 1st Ave, New York City
Time:  9:00 am ?11:00 am

The vigil's aim is to urge President Putin to:

*     End Russian government pressure on internally displaced Chechens to leave camps and other locations in neighboring Ingushetia

*     Investigate the thousands of cases of "disappearances", including pressing for the safe release of Doctors Without Borders volunteer Arjan Erkel, who was kidnapped in August 2002

*     Break the cycle of impunity for violations by all parties

*     Bring Chechen perpetrations of human rights violations to account

We will parade a giant movie ticket to invite President Putin to attend a nearby Chechnya film festival co-sponsored by AIUSA.  After the vigil, we will march to deliver the movie ticket to the Russia UN Mission.

For the NY Chechnya film festival schedule see www.chechnyafilmfestival.org/ny.htm

If you have any questions please contact Paige Morgan at campaign1intern@aiusa.org.


Background Information on the Closure of Internally Displaced Camps

As a result of the conflict in the Chechen Republic, at least 12,000 Chechens are found displaced in tent camps in neighboring Ingushetia. The Russian Government has pledged to close all the tent camps by October 1, which could force thousands of people into unsafe conditions. If sent back to Chechnya most of these people will find not only their homes destroyed, but they will be at risk of torture, "disappearance", ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, and even extrajudicial execution. Amnesty International is seriously concerned that the internally displaced persons in Ingushetia are being involuntarily returned to the Chechen Republic. For more information on Amnesty's Russia Campaign, please visit www.amnestyusa.org

Background Information on Arjan Erkel

Arjan Erkel, head of Mission in Dagestan for Doctors Without Borders, was abducted in Makhachkala on August 12, 2002. Arjan remains missing. So far, all efforts by Russian and Dagestani authorities to solve the case have yielded no results.  For more information on Arjan Erkel, please visit www.msf.org


Maureen Greenwood

Advocacy Director for Europe and Eurasia, Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Ste. 500, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 544-0200 ext. 222, (202) 546-7142 fax
mgreenwood@aiusa.org, www.amnestyusa.org
part-time schedule: Mon, Wed, Thurs