Russia Intensifies Efforts on Chechen Refugees' Repatriation

(Tbilisi, September 29, 2003, Civil Georgia) - The Russian delegation led by Minister for Chechen Affairs Stanislav Iliasov will arrive in Tbilisi on September 29.

The delegation will bring 20 tons of humanitarian aid to the Chechen refugees living in the Pankisi Gorge and will try to convince them to return to Chechnya on a voluntary basis.

The delegation visited the Pankisi Gorge in early September. However, its efforts over Chechens' repatriation yielded no results.

Up to 3,700 Chechen refugees, who fled the second Chechen war in 1999, live in the Pankisi Gorge presently.

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RF delegation to Georgia to discuss return of Chechen refugees

29.09.2003

By Tengiz Pachkoria

TBILISI, September 29 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian delegation headed by Russian Minister for Chechen Affairs Stanislav Ilyasov will arrive to Georgia on Monday to discuss the return of Chechen refugees, the Main department for emergency situations of the Georgian Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass.

It is Ilyasov's second visit in Tbilisi for the past month. He discussed the return of Chechen refugees from Georgia to the homeland on August 31- September 2 in the Georgian capital. A protocol on preparatory measures was signed.

According to the Georgian authorities about 3,800 refugees from Chechnya are accommodated in Georgia now. The overwhelming majority of them live in the Pankisi Gorge. It is still unclear how many of them want to return to the homeland.

Channel One TV 29 September 2003

Council on human rights discusses attacks at Chechens, calls for stability

[Presenter] Security issues as well as reconstruction of the Chechen Republic were main subjects of discussion by the Council on Human Rights [in Chechnya]. Politicians, teachers, lawyers and businessmen discussed what should be done to ensure stability in the republic. Pavel Pchelkin has the details.

[Correspondent] Attacks at ethnic Chechens and even pogroms which became more frequent lately in some Russian regions were the main topic on the agenda of the Council on Human Rights in Chechnya. Akhmat Kadyrov, head of the Chechen administration, took part in the session. The Russian president's special representative for human rights in Chechnya, Abdul-Khakim Sultygov, who heads the council, has brought together representatives of Chechen communities in many Russian regions in it. Present at the session were lawyers, teachers and businessmen, and all of them had something to tell about attacks by fascist youths, bribes demanded by police and other ways of oppression [of Chechens]. Kadyrov said that he had discussed the recent attacks on Chechens in Kabarda-Balkaria and in Krasnodar Territory during his meeting with the president [Vladimir Putin] on board the plane flying back from New York to Moscow.

[Kadyrov] I am not even thinking of accusing our people. They are not guilty. They are not guilty at all, but other people have been setting them up and try to continue setting them up. We should think about it at last, we should forget our grudges, if someone has any grudges against someone else, and to forgive just for once.

[Correspondent] Kadyrov said that Putin and himself also talked about paying compensations to Chechen residents for lost housing and property. Kadyrov intends to see the matter through.

[Passage omitted]

[Correspondent] Speaking to Chechen members of the Council on Human Rights, Kadyrov said that the republic needs stability today. It has a constitution already and it will have a legitimate president soon. He called on all his election rivals to consolidate around the winner and to help him. He promised to help the winner in case he loses the election, for the sake of stability Chechnya needs so much. However, he believes that he will win, and representatives of Chechen communities in Russia present at the session supported Kadyrov.

[Kadyrov] We shall change a lot, again with your help, again if nobody puts spokes in our wheel. [They say that] Kadyrov is a mullah, Kadyrov is a former militant, and he is illiterate. If you are so much literate, help me then

CPJ and CJES call on President Bush to raise press freedom at meeting with President Putin

September 24, 2003

President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500

Via Facsimile: 202-456-2461

Dear President Bush:

In advance of your September 26-27 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Camp David, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent organization of journalists dedicated to defending our colleagues worldwide, and the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situation (CJES), a Moscow-based press freedom organization, would like to draw your attention to the deterioration of press freedom conditions in Russia. Of particular concern are new pressures on the media as Russia heads into December parliamentary elections and March presidential elections.

Since taking office in December 1999, President Putin has overseen an alarming assault on Russia’s independent press that has limited media pluralism and curtailed direct criticism of the president and his policies. These developments jeopardize Russia’s future stability and prosperity, because without a free press to promote accountability, the country’s weak judiciary, corrupt bureaucracy, unaccountable police and security forces, quasi-democratic elections, and politicized media regulators are unlikely to be reformed.

In advance of the elections, the Kremlin has tightened already stringent controls over the domestic press. In particular, we would like to draw your attention to the following government policies:

Impunity—Independent journalists continue to be murdered with complete impunity because police, prosecutors, and courts have failed to properly investigate and prosecute these crimes. One of the few cases that has gone to trial during the last decade, the October 1994 assassination of Dmitry Kholodov, a reporter for the independent newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets who had investigated corruption in the Defense Ministry, took six years to go before the courts and has yet to produce a conviction. Police have also not reported any progress in investigating the July 4 abduction of Agence France-Presse correspondent Ali Astamirov in the southern republic of Ingushetia.

There have been a dozen journalists killed in Russia between 2000 and 2003 (see attached list). In each case, the murderer has not been brought to justice. This culture of impunity sends a shocking message to the world of Russia’s indifference to press freedom.

Broadcast Media—The Kremlin and its allies have closed or taken control of all independent national television stations that had previously provided Russia’s citizens with alternative sources of news. Most recently, the Media Ministry pulled the independent television station TVS off the air on June 21 without obtaining a court order and replaced it with Sport TV, a state-run sports channel. Media Minister Mikhail Lesin ordered TV-6 off the air in January 2002 following a legal battle between the television network and the oil giant LUKOIL, a Kremlin ally. The government-controlled gas giant Gazprom took over NTV from media tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky in an April 2001 boardroom coup.

Criminal Defamation—Russia’s Criminal Code contains criminal defamation laws that are used to stifle critical news reporting. German Galkin, the publisher of Rabochaya Gazeta and deputy chief editor of Vecherny Chelyabinsk, both opposition newspapers in the southern Urals city of Chelyabinsk, was convicted of criminal defamation on August 15, 2003, in a trial that was closed to the public. Galkin was sentenced to one year in a labor camp for allegedly writing anonymous articles that were published in Rabochaya Gazeta about government misspending in the Chelyabinsk regional administration.

Chechnya—The Kremlin continues to maintain a tight information blockade on Chechnya by restricting journalists’ access to the region and limiting reporting on the conflict, all the while claiming that life in the republic is returning to normal. During the last nine months, the Kremlin has pressed neighboring countries to shut down the pro-independence Chechen Web site KavkazCenter (www.kavkazcenter.com), and the Media Ministry issued an official warning to the Moscow-based ultra-nationalist weekly Zavtra on February 26 for publishing an interview with an exiled Chechen separatist leader.

Military—The government continues to persecute journalists for exposing corruption and wrongdoing in the country’s powerful military, police, and security ministries. Grigory Pasko, a former military journalist for the Pacific Fleet’s newspaper Boyevaya Vakhta, served two and a half years in prison after being wrongfully convicted for treason in December 2001. He was imprisoned in retaliation for exposing environmental abuses committed by the military. Pasko was released in January 2003, but authorities denied him a travel passport in March 2003. In August, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal challenging his criminal conviction.

Police—Police officers continue to abuse journalists investigating police activities or criticizing law enforcement officials. Among examples in recent months: On February 16, an Interior Ministry unit in the Chechen capital of Grozny detained and assaulted Zamid Ayubov, a journalist for the local pro-Russian administration’s thrice weekly Vozrozhdeniye Chechni, while he was researching the activities of police units during evening patrols. On May 6, some 40 police officers fired tear gas and stormed the temporary office of the opposition radio station Krasnaya Armiya in the city of Noyabrsk, in the central Ural Region, which had supported an opposition candidate in the May 4 elections. Police officers handcuffed, assaulted, and detained staff members for several hours.

Media Restrictions—The Duma passed media legislation in June, signed into law by President Putin in July, granting broad, excessive, and arbitrary authority to the Media Ministry, Central Election Commissions, and regional electoral commissions to shutter media outlets for printing or broadcasting “biased” political commentary during the forthcoming elections. These restrictions severely hamper news coverage.

All of the previous cases contravene international standards of freedom of expression, as guaranteed under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, which Russia ratified in 1976. They also violate domestic Russian law, including the constitution and the Criminal Code.

Putin’s administration has demonstrated some sensitivity to international public opinion when dealing with the country’s independent national broadcasters, resulting in a shift from blatant pressure to more subtle and covert tactics. While the closure of TVS and TV-6 and the takeover of NTV during the last two-and-a-half years demonstrate the Kremlin’s intolerance for criticism in the national broadcast media, it also highlights the Kremlin’s willingness to paint outright repression as seemingly apolitical business disputes that are settled through the selective enforcement of laws. The recently enacted media restrictions are yet another legal tool to encourage self-censorship in the independent media.

These policies have a tremendous impact on Russian society. In the short term, coverage and debate will be hindered in these important elections. And in the long term, these policies threaten progress toward the free and open dialogue that democratic societies need in order to grapple with problems confronting Russia such as the war in Chechnya and high-level government corruption.

We hope that you will realize the importance of speaking out forcefully against ongoing press freedom abuses in Russia and will communicate your concerns about criminal defamation, impunity, and media restrictions to President Putin during your meeting.

Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you would like further information. Thank you for your attention to this important matter; we await your response.

Sincerely,

Ann K. Cooper, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists Oleg Panfilov, Director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations

Appendix: Journalists Killed in Russia 2000-2003

Source: CPJ/CJES

[29.09.2003 17:14] The Chechen Committee of National Salvation

Belorussian TV 29 September 2003

Polish entry ban strands Chechens on Belarusian border

[Presenter] An international incident has occurred on the Belarusian- Polish border, just two days before the introduction of visa requirements [between Belarus and Poland]. The Polish authorities have been denying entry to Russian citizens, ethnic Chechens, despite the fact that their papers are in order. Belarus has once again been left to deal with other countries' problems. By the way, a similar situation was observed in Brest last year, when several dozen Chechens were barred from entering Poland, massing at the Brest train station. It was not until the head of state intervened and all diplomatic strings pulled that the problem was solved. Svyatlana Vyachorka reports from the border.

[Correspondent] Belarus as a transit country has once again been forced to solve other countries' problems. Ethnicity has become the obstacle stopping several dozen Chechens crossing the Polish border. They have been massing at the Brest train station over the last few days. In the increased overall influx of migrants in Brest ahead of the introduction of visa requirements, the number of people from the Caucasus has risen notably there. As a rule, all their attempts to cross into Poland end in their being turned back without any explanation.

[Male Chechen, in Russian] A certain percentage, maybe some 10 per cent, do go through, but the others get outright rejection. [Female Chechen, in Russian] They would not even talk to you. They round you up like sheep and tell you to go back. I wish they said the reason why.

[Correspondent] The refugees have found no understanding either in the Russian or the Polish consulates.

[Female Chechen, in Russian] We talked to the Russian consul at the Russian consulate. He said: you have the wrong address here. You need to go to the Polish consulate and talk to the consul there. We got the same treatment there. He came and said: go to the Russian state. You are Russian citizens, go to your own consulate. So, they do not wish to listen to us anywhere.

[Correspondent] Meanwhile, Belarusian border guards have no complaints about the documents of the migrants who reside in Chechnya.

[Border guard, in Russian] They cross the border with valid documents. We have no complaints and there are no reasons for us to detain them.

[Correspondent] No-one can give the exact number of Chechens stranded in Brest, but it is obvious that there are increasingly more of them at the train station.

[Border guard, in Russian] No offences have been registered involving them. They have committed no crime. They have caused no problems.

[Correspondent] Tomorrow a group of Chechen refugees intends to make another attempt at crossing the Belarusian-Polish border.