-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
WAR AND HUMAN RIGHTS
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February 16, 2000
N 149
Interregional Human Rights Network Group
Ryazan Memorial Human Rights Society
www.hro.org/war
subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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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.
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Refugees Lost Hope to Return Home
Oleg Kusov, Radio Liberty's correspondent in the North Caucasus,
reports: "Grozny remains a city forbidden for civilians still. The
military declare that they would need not less than two weeks for mine
clearing. Various obstacles don't stop the sappers. The thoroughly
mined objects are blown up. Most likely, the sappers will destroy
everything that has survived the three months of bombing and shelling
in the next two weeks. Thousands of refugees have virtually lost hope
to return to their homes in Grozny. In these days refugees from Grozny
are flowing towards the towns of Mozdok and Mineralnye Vody. From
there the Migration Service is sending them to various towns of
Russia. But there are not many towns remaining that are willing to
accept Chechen refugees. This is what refugees from Grozny, with whom
I spoke yesterday at railroad station of Mineralnye Vody of Stavropol
Region tell: (A female refugee speaks): "Now they propose Altay
Region, we've got no relatives, that's why they propose Altay Region.
They say there's a provisional accommodation center there, and, as I
understood, it's three months of way there." Many people say that they
don't care where to die of diseases and despair already."
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Situation with Refugees in Ingushetia
According to the government of Ingushetia, on February 15 there were
277,135 forced re-settlers from the Chechen Republic and 16,272
refugees from North Ossetia in the republic, Gazeta.ru reports. In
particular, there are 80,104 Chechen refugees and 6,302 re-settlers
from North Ossetia in Sunzhensky district and, accordingly, 49,545 and
7,390 people in Maglobeksky district. In Nazran there are 32,240
families of forced re-settlers from Chechnya.
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Situation in Filtration Camps of Chechnya
Chief of the Main Department for Execution of Punishments (MDEP) of
Russia's Justice Ministry Vladimir Yelunin in his interview to Radio
Liberty denies that unallowed methods of keeping and investigation are
used in filtration camps in the territory of Chechnya. "In
Chernokozovo two units are on guard. Or, no, there are three special
units already there. They serve on contract. They don't enter the
territory of the holdover at all. That's the main thing, I think.
There are examples of some outcries, heard at the distance of 500
meters from some cellars... Our people are specially trained and don't
react on such provocation articles at all - I'm 100% sure..." The only
thing recognized by MDEP chief Yelunin is that "it's dark and damp
there" (in the facilities of the filtration camp). The representative
of the Main Department of General Prosecutor's Office at the North
Caucasus Sergey Prokopov told in his interview to ITAR-TASS that after
the seizure of Grozny "the holdovers have been replenished with a
large amount of prisoners."
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The Developments around Andrey Babitsky
For 32 days already there is no reliable news about the whereabouts of
Andrey Babitsky of Radio Liberty, who has been detained on January 16
when leaving Grozny. Radio Liberty reports that today the Acting
President of Russia Vladimir Putin declared that Babitsky was "alive
and in good health." The president of the leading American human
rights organization Freedom House Adrian Karatnitsky considers that
the missing of Andrey Babitsky of Radio Liberty is not just a single
incident. In his interview yesterday Karatnitsky emphasized that the
situation with Babitsky is rising serious questions about the
direction of development of Russian policy and the society in general.
Vladimir Dolin of Radio Liberty declared today that the journalists
are able to find their colleague Andrey Babitsky themselves. The only
aid of the authorities they need for that is allowing them moving
across the territory of the Chechen Republic for searching for the
missing correspondent freely. But the aid to the Acting President
Sergey Yastrzhembsky refused to give such document to Radio Liberty's
correspondent.
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"You've Turned Antiterrorist Operation into Endless Line of Murders"
Human rights and charitable society "Right for life and citizen
dignity" (Moscow) has addressed the Acting President of Russia Putin
with a letter about the illegal holding of Andrey Babitsky of Radio
Liberty. The declaration, in particular, says: "From the point of view
of our state policy, the main thing happened not in the moment when
Babitsky was detained, but when the supreme state structures and high
officials have post factum accepted the full responsibility for this
arbitrariness. That was the moment when the real political persecution
started. Our state structures and your closest aids have considered as
their main duty to protect somebody's esprit de corps and to
demonstrate to the whole world that the officer in the war conditions
in Chechnya and the whole our state are really one and the same.
"Such method of state governing - Aslan Maskhadov's hushing up any
measure of banditism committed by his subordinates - has turned the
Chechen Republic into the what it became to late 1990s. This is the
what you have done to whole Russia, when turned antiterrorist
operation into an endless line of murders. That's not you who suffer
from that, but old people, women, children and fellows who haven't
turned 19 yet..."
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Missing in Action
Independent information center "Glasnost - North Caucasus" (Moscow)
has reported that the Stavropol-based newspaper "Mestnoye Vremya" is
holding an action "Searching for Soldiers Missing in Chechnya".
Relatives are searching for Viktor Ivanovich Lopatin from town of
Novoaleksandrovsk of Stavropol Region. He was enlisted to military
unit # 74818 in the town of Budennovsk. The Dergunovs from village of
Krasnogvardeyskoye of Stavropol Region are searching for their elder
son Yuri Dergunov, who served by contract in Chelyabinsk Region in
military unit # 52683-B. There's been no news about him since December
1998. He failed to arrive for funeral of his brother, enlisted soldier
who was killed in last October near Goragorsk. Lyudmila Skachkova from
town of Izobilny of Stavropol Region is searching for soldier of
military unit # 34605 Stanislav Sapronov. Any information about the
missing soldiers would be gratefully received at phone/fax: (8652)
941274.
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Leaders of Gazprom Put Pressure over NTV
The independent NTV is, likely, the only Russian TV channel today
broadcasting TV reports about the Chechen war based on various
viewpoints. The representatives of authorities have repeatedly
expressed their sharp dissatisfaction with NTV after its telling truth
about the war. Now it looks like the supporters of censorship are have
found a possibility to put pressure over the last isle of Glasnost on
Russian TV. Rem Vyakhirev, chair of governing body of Gazprom, which
owns 30 percent of stock of NTV, has declared that he is "not sharing
the company's position about Chechnya", Interfax reported. "To my
point of view the federal forces' actions in Chechnya are absolutely
adequate to the circumstances and the "protrusion" of negative moments
in their struggle against the bandits is just inappropriate",
Vyakhirev emphasized. According to him, the way NTV covers the
military operation in Chechnya gives "a serious reason for the Gazprom
leaders to start meditating on the question - where do we invest funds
to and how do we control their use with regard to our interests,
which, of course, can't conflict with the interests of the state."
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"Developments in Chechnya are Direct Consequence of War in Kosovo"
Inopressa.ru has published an article by Louis Matias Lopes of El Pais
about the attitude of Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of Yabloko block,
to the war in Chechnya: Grigory Yavlinsky describes the war as
criminal, unheralded and large-scaled. "The military actions in
Chechnya were accompanied with manipulation of public opinion and mass
media... Blood of thousands of people is placed as a stake. They
recruit children who than die not knowing what for. Supposing the army
seizes Grozny, than what? A partisan warfare would begin, and again
soldiers and civilians would be dyeing..." Yavlinsky considers the
Chechen developments are the direct consequence of the war in Kosovo.
"If one is possible, the other is possible, too. After Yeltsin's order
to shoot the parliament with tanks, to which the whole world
applauded, the first Chechen war began. Now the illegal, not
sanctioned by the U. N. use of force in Yugoslavia caused the new war
in the Caucasus..."
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"To Start Searching for Means of Conflict Resolution"
Deutsche Welle reports that the foreign minister of Germany Joschka
Fischer, speaking of the situation in the North Caucasus, has demanded
Russian government to allow international humanitarian organizations
and foreign observers in Chechnya, and also to cancel military actions
and to begin seriously searching for means of political resolution of
the conflict.
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"The What Is Going on in Chechnya Is Unbearable"
Russian Deadline reports that Dominique Voynet, French minister of
environment and territorial development, has spoken in favor of
canceling European Union's aid to Russia because of its actions in
Chechnya. "The what is going on in Chechnya is unbearable", she said,
speaking at Radio France-Inter. According to her, "the behavior of
Russian authorities has no justification." That is why, the minister
said, "time has come to question our direct economic aid to this
country, which for many years is enjoying considerable connivance of
the European Union and, especially, France."
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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
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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.
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Sincerely,
ANDREI BLINUSHOV
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Karta/Memorial/Human Rigts Network,
Ryazan, Russia
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Stop war in Russia:
www.hro.org/war
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--------- * ENWL (English) * --------
Ecological North-West Line * St.Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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