-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- WAR AND HUMAN RIGHTS -------------------------------------------- February 7, 2000 N 139 Interregional Human Rights Network Group Ryazan Memorial Human Rights Society www.hro.org/war subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------- Our work is not politically partisan. Our digest neither duplicates the Russian federal government's position nor advocates the positions of Chechen militants. Rather, our purpose is to present as many news sources as possible so that readers may form their own judgement. We seek to attract the world's attention to the mass violations of human rights in the conflict. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Civilians Executed Independent information center "Glasnost - North Caucasus" reports that "in the first days of February, the army and interior troops have held another "clean-up" in Staropromyslovsky district along the Derzhavin Street in Grozny. In one house the soldiers saw 74-year-old man Tangiev, shot him and were going to leave, but heard Tangiev's wife and her sister crying. The federals returned and shot the women cold-bloodedly, and than burned their corpses. The same scheme - shooting and than burning - was used upon their neighbors, the Archakov family: a mother and three daughters." ------------------------------- Moscow's Not Going to Restore Ruined Grozny On last Sunday the plenipotentiary representative of RF government in the Chechen Republic Nikolay Koshman declared that Gudermes would be a provisional capital of Chechnya, ITAR-TASS reports. According to Koshman, restoring Grozny is irrational, because "we've got no money for that." Russian representative in Chechnya said also that "it's nothing terrible if Gudermes becomes Chechnya's main city." ---------------------------------- Situation with Refugees NGOs report that a considerable part of refugees are returning to Chechnya because of very bad conditions in the provisional camps. Besides, facts of Russian authorities' premeditately counteracting ethnic Chechens who want to receive refugee status have been proved. The federal authorities are hard in their desire to return the re-settlers to Chechnya in spite of the continuing military actions in the republic, servicemen and militiamen's oppression of the local dwellers, much-destroyed housings in populated areas and lack of foodstuffs. Over 102,000 forced re-settlers have returned to Chechnya, the Emergencies Ministry's press-service told RIA Novosti. 99,600 of those returned have arrived back from Ingushetia. Some forced re-settlers are located in the territory of Chechnya. According to the Federal Migration Service, almost 60,000 refugees live in private houses in Znamenskaya, Sernovodsk and Assinovskaya. 10,500 people are placed in provisional camp-towns deployed by the Emergencies Ministry. One more provisional camp-town for re-settlers is being built in the Chechen village of Tolstoy-Yurt. -------------------------------------------------- No News about Andrey Babitsky The office of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, Andrey Babitsky's colleagues, relatives and friends still have no news about the journalist, who, according to Russian authorities, has been given to Chechen commanders in exchange for two Russian POWs last Thursday. The information from official sources, such as Russian command and special services high officials, was extremely discrepant. According to the head of the Interior Ministry Vladimir Rushaylo, the case of the Radio Liberty's correspondent "was solved correctly and in coordination with the Prosecutor's bodies." Aid to the Acting President of Russia Sergey Yastrzhembsky declared that Russian authorities are no more responsible for the journalist's fate. The Yabloko block has expressed indignation with the situation with Andrey Babitsky of Radio Liberty and demanded the Acting President of Russia Vladimir Putin to investigate what happened to the journalist immediately. -------------------------------------------------- Mockery at Common Sense Today's subpoena of Andrey Babitsky to come to the General Prosecutor's Office for interrogation looks like a complete mockery. The Prosecutor's Office has given (sold?) the journalist to unknown persons, possibly bandits, on February 3, and today "warns that if Babitsky does not appear for interrogation, he would be declared wanted and his arrest sanctioned." ------------------------------------ Russian Counterespionage Knows Andrey Babitsky's Fate? Radio Liberty reported today that the director of FSB of Russia Nikolay Patrushev has declared, that Babitsky is alive, but the special services do not know his whereabouts. So it looks like the counterespionage of Russia knows about Andrey Babitsky's fate? --------------------------------- Human Rights Activists - Against Policy of Browbeating and Repressions The Human Rights Society of Nizhny Novgorod has addressed the Acting President of Russia Putin with a telegram, saying, in particular, the following: "We assure you that the policy of browbeating and repressions against the press, independent from Kremlin's "Ministry of Truth", which you have chosen, is inducing us to even more active work on objective coverage of the developments in Chechnya. We demand you categorically to take urgent measures for ensuring guarantees of life and freedom for journalist Andrey Babitsky." ----------------------------------------------------- "Russia Keeping Journalists out of Chechnya" "Russia is keeping international and local journalists out of Chechnya through arbitrary and obstructive regulations", Jean-Paul Marthoz, European press director of Human Rights Watch said. "Journalists have a right to report on this conflict, and the obstacles placed in their path by the Russian authorities are unacceptable. By keeping journalists out, Russia is trying to hide the evidence of its brutal campaign in Chechnya from the eyes of the international community." -------------------------------------- Journalists Will Be Kept in Hankala and Gudermes? Addressing a press-conference in Rosinformcenter today, the aid to the Acting President of Russia Sergey Yastrzhembsky declared that "the first group of journalists has departed for Chechnya today, they have received new unified accreditation papers and will work in Gudermes and Hankala." Commentators ask, if Yastrzhemsky's declaration means that the journalists would not be allowed to exit Hankala and Gudermes and will be again dosed with press-releases fabricated in military HQs? --------------------------------------------- Refugees Have No Bread According to the refugees from Chechnya who have received provisional registration in the territory of Logovaz settlement in Nazran, since February 1 they have been denied to receive free bread in local stations of distribution of humanitarian aid, independent information center "Glasnost - North Caucasus" reports today. There still is no news about other unexampled cases like this in other places. But it is not much better in other places, too. In the town of Karabulak 1,735 refugees from Chechnya live in 70 carriages. Of them 507 are women, 653 children and over 300 old people. 98 per cent of the refugees are infected with grippe, some - with tuberculosis. Lousiness and other diseases are widespread, too. People are catastrophically shot of medical supplies, foodstuffs, especially infant food - that does not arrive at all. They have no opportunity of washing themselves and laundering their clothes, because neither bathhouse nor laundry have been built. According to reliable sources, the head of the Emergencies Ministry of the Republic of Ingushetia Colonel Kuksa has privately ordered his officers to feed the refugees with hot meals at least once per day. In Karabulak's official quarts, this place is called "dump camp". There, really, is the town's dump nearby. Today, when it is still cold outside, it is endurable. But when it becomes warmer, it would be impossible to live there, epidemic is quite possible and there is no guarantee that the people of not only Ingushetia, but also of other neighboring regions would suffer if it. Recently 13 lorries of humanitarian aid arrived to Ingushetia from the Danish Council for Refugees. UK humanitarian organization Islamic Relief has sent 5,000 bags with foodstuffs for refugees from Chechnya. The humanitarian cargo that arrived to Ingushetia is rated for 25,000 persons. A representative of the Islamic Relief Muhammad Alla Amar reported that they are going to sent humanitarian aid to Ingushetia every week for 6 months. ------------------------------------- Antiwar Pickets in Moscow Not all support Russian authorities' actions in the North Caucasus, said a member of Antiwar Action Committee Sergey Smirnov. On Sunday, February 6 the Committee held a picket against the war in Chechnya in Moscow. The picket began at 12:00 near the subway station Arbatskaya (near the "Hudozhestvenny" cinema and not far from the Russian Defense Ministry building). About 100 people with placards saying "War kills liberty", "Let's stop war not for Europe but for ourselves", "War ruins the country", etc., gathered for expressing their protest. For an hour the people on picket were giving those passing by leaflets explaining their position. "Combating terrorism does not justify deaths of thousands of civilians and soldiers; massive bombings are not acceptable in the modern society", the leaflet says. The Antiwar Action Committee consists of representatives of public (mainly - human rights) organizations. The committee plans another picket on February 13 and a protest march in the center of Russia's capital on February 19. Contact e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . ------------------------------------------------------------ War Pay to Be Increased Russian Deadline reports that, according to the first vice-premier of Russian government Mr. Kasyanov, the Defense Ministry's current expenses for the military operations in Chechnya would be increased in February. ------------------------------------------------ "Moscow's War against Independent Journalists and Independent Information" This is the title of influential Le Monde's article about the new tendencies of Kremlin's policy in the North Caucasus. "Russian special services are shadowing foreign journalists in Ingushetia, on the border of which there are barriers of barbed wire, minefields and powerful checkpoints, a journalist from Christian Science Monitor, who has visited Nazran, reports. Journalists working in these districts have to make their trips only with drivers working for the local militia. But these armed guards are appointed to the foreign journalists not for securing their safety but rather as a means of observing the journalists, their movements and the sources and kind of the information they receive. This system of escort has also become a wonderful source of incomes for Russian law-enforcing bodies: a guard receives an average sum of $ 100 per day." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------- See "War and Human Rights" on the Web: www.hro.org/war Information digest prepared by the Interregional Human Rights Network Group and Ryazan Memorial Human Rights Society Edited by Andrey Blinushov Technical Editor - Julia Sereda Translated by Oleg V. Martynov ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------- With use of information from: Radio Liberty, Radio Echo of Moscow, Deutsche Welle, BBC, newspapers: Express-Chronicle, Le Monde, ANP-RUSNET, Web-sites Lenta. ru, Russian DEADLINE, Kavkaz-center, Gazeta. ru, Inopressa. ru, agencies: Associated Press, Interfax, ITAR-TASS, Netherlands Press Agency, Agency of Social Information, RIA Novosti, Reuters, Rosinformcenter, TV companies: NTV, ORT, RTR, CNN, Amnesty International, Memorial Society, Human Rights Watch, Civic Cooperation Society, Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers, Glasnost Defense Foundation, own information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------- Sincerely, ANDREI BLINUSHOV ------------------- Karta/Memorial/Human Rigts Network, Ryazan, Russia -------------------- Stop war in Russia: www.hro.org/war -- ------------- * ENWL (English) * -------- Ecological North West Line * St.Petersburg, Russia E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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