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WAR AND HUMAN RIGHTS
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March 3, 2000
N 166
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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Grozny Will Be Closed for Another Month and a Half
On Friday, the Special Presidential Envoy for Human Rights in
Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, said that Grozny would be closed for
another month and a half. He said that there were about six thousand
civilians in the city. Kalamanov explains the closure of Grozny as
"measures for insuring security for the civilians."
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Refugees from Chechnya Are Being Refused in Registration
Aide to Ingush Vice-Prime Minister Isa Vyshegurov, following the
order of the Migration Service of Russia, on March 3, Ingush
authorities stopped registering refugees from the Chechen Republic.
The agency Rosbiznesconsulting reported that Vyshegurov said that
the Federal Migration Service motivated its decision that there was
no mass leaving of civilians from Chechnya. The Ingush authorities do
not agree with this statement. "If we do not register the people,
they will not be able to get a financial help from the center,"
Vyshegurov said. Today, there are more than 279 thousand Chechen
refugees officially registered in Ingushetia.
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UN Humanitarian Aid
Gazeta.ru said on March 3 that with the growing number of people
returning to Chechnya, increases the flow of humanitarian aid for
the civilians there. Operative assistant to the Russian Emergency
Ministry mobile territorial department stationed in Mozdok said that
Emergency Minister's transport had delivered 42 tones of UN
humanitarian aid to Grozny. The aid contains mainly food products
and bed sets. About 24 tones of baby food meant for the regions were
also delivered there on March 1. On March 3, an Emergency Ministry
plane was expected to bring 23 thousand dry rations and 500 kilos of
medicaments from Moscow to Mozdok.
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Will a Mass Burial Place in Chechnya Be Examined?
The Special Presidential Envoy for Human Rights in Chechnya, Vladimir
Kalamanov, said that Military Prosecutor-General Yury Demin assured
his office that all bodies of killed Chechens that are lying in the
mass burial paces in Chechnya will be examined.Servicemen Are
Accused in LootingThe independent news center Glasnost - North
Caucasus reported on March 2 that the office of the military
prosecutor of the Vladikavkaz unit had initiated the first criminal
case against Russian soldiers accused in looting in Chechnya. The
proceedings were launched against the servicemen of the 22 special
Interior Ministry unit based in the city of Kalach-na-Dony of the
Volgograd region. According to the press-office of the Interior
Ministry of the North Ossetia, while controlling a unit's column of
trucks by the North Ossetian Interior servicemen, in one of the
trucks, they had found carpets, video facilities, gold and silver
articles worth about 100 thousand dollars. An investigation has
revealed that the load belonged to one of the commanders of the unit,
although he said "he was slandered".
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Daniyev Denies His Involvement in Kidnapping Andrei Babitsky
Lenta.ru reported on March 3 that Adam Deniyev, leader of the
pro-Moscow Chechen unit Admalla, denounced claims by Andrei Babitsky
that after he had been exchanged for Russian soldiers, he got into
the hands of Deniyev's people. Andrei Babitsky believes that
Deniyev is closely connected with Russian special services.
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The Case of Andrei Babitsky: Unprofessionalism Through All Layers of
Power
Petr Vail, assent to director of Radio Liberty's news programs, gave
an exact evaluation to the case of Andrei Babitsky:"There is an
ultimate disorder in the actions of those, who should act
efficiently. The belief of Russian people in the efficiency of
special services is based on almost 50 years of experience of fair:
ChK, GPU, NKVD, MGB, KGB. Millions of victims by their quantity
remove doubts in their professional quality. Nowadays, luckily, times
are different, as Akhmatava would say "vegetarian". If you listen to
absurd words of top state leaders, to unclear explanations by
special services heads, one will be astonished not only by the fact
that they say deliberate lies but also by how they unskillfully do
that. One will be surprised to see how they get tangled facing
cameras or microphones, how they contradict themselves during one
day.Babistky told how a mask used to moved from the face of one of
the men accompanying him, how this guy failed to remember his legend
mentioning different places of his birth as he was constantly drunk.
Right after this terrible, although funny story, Justice Minister
Chaika claimed that Babitsky accomplished a number of crimes. Even a
fist-year law student knows that only the court finds the accused if
they are guilty or not. If the Justice Minister does not know that,
he is not a lawyer. One could be really amazed by the concentration
of these unprofessional actions, but better not. Footwear industry,
roads, animal breeding, social benefits, everything is in quite a bad
shape. How one could expect high professionalism from vertical powers
and their special services?"
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Will Tortures in Chernokozovo End?
The filtration camp Chernokozovo in Chehcnya has become known to all
the word, known due to evidences of those who was there. Human Rights
organizations and journalists have a great number of stories by the
victims, who reported about beatings, humiliation, tortures and
raping executed in the camp. Russian powers, as during the first
as well as during the second Chechen war, absolutely denounce facts
about alleged tortures in filtration camps. Moreover, they refused
to use words "a filtration camp" or "filtration points". They call
these places exceptionally as "investigation isolation wards".
Interior Ministry forces took all victims of torture away from
Chernokozovo. They painted the walls, gave out white gowns to cooks
and food distributors, changed chief warders and guards.Then, they
allowed journalists into the camp. They saw "the detained" dressed in
good leather coats and fur hats, who told that there they "were fed
three times a day including meet". And of course, there were not
treated badly. This play can be commented by any unlucky man, who
happened to be in any Russian investigation prison. We cannot bring
these commentaries for moral and ethical reasons. However, the
authorities, who organized the show of this "three-star hotel" in
Chernokozovo, could not take into account everything. A crowd of
Chechen women, who wished to tell about what was going on in the
camp over the last months, surrounded the bus that brought Russian
and foreign journalists. Television viewers in many countries of the
world could witness how Russian paratroopers did not let the
journalists out of the bus, how they twisted women's' hands making
them silent. However, some Chechen women managed to pass on letters
to foreign journalists through opened windows. The women in their
letters said that the detained had been taken away from the camp
several days before journalists' arrival. Radio Liberty reporter
Andrei Babitsky freed from the arrest several days ago, said that
during his stay in the Chernokozovo camp, he witnessed mass beatings
and humiliations of the detained by guards. We can only hope that
after such a big scandal, the situation in the camp will change. The
government agency ITAR-TASS, for example, reported that "journalists
would be allowed into the investigation isolation ward Chernokozovo
approximately once per week". The Special Presidential Envoy for Human
Rights in Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, said on March 3 that a
representative from his office will also pay regular visits to the
camp.He also said that "the representative will come there and
question the detained in Chernokozovo and in other places." First of
all, he would inspect the time of detention and the conditions in
what the people are kept. "The criteria during this inspection will
only one: reports by the detained that later will be investigated,"
Kalamanov said. He claimed that the conditions in the camps in the
North Caucasus "will be at least not worse than in such places in
other regions".
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The Migration Service Began its Work In Grozny
The news agency Rosbiznessconsulting reported that Federal Migration
officials began working in Grozny. At preset, they are registering
the civilians, who expressed their will to leave the city for other
regions in Russia.
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A Picket Against the War
On March 4, from 13.00-14.00, a picket against the war in Chechnya
will be staged in Moscow, at the Pushkin square. The Anti-War Actions
Committee that comprises about 20 Russian NGOs organizers the action.
Its goal will be to manifest that not all Russian society supports
the war and the governmental policy in the North Caucasus.
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A Mass Anti-War Protest Action Is Planned in Moscow
On March 19, at 12.00, the Anti-War Actions Committee plans to stage
a mass protest action preliminary named "A Common Wave". It is
planned that such actions will be held in other cities of Russia and
abroad at the same day. We ask our colleagues and simply people, who
support the idea of ending the war and violence, to connect us by
the following e-mail address [EMAIL PROTECTED] in order to discuss the
preparation of the action. Please, follow the news of the Anti-War
Actions Committee at http://www.hro.org/war.
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Twenty Two Percent Consider That the War Should Be Stopped
The agency Rosbiznesconculting reported about the results of the poll
by the Agency of Regional and Political Research.The polls show that
29% of the questioned consider that the toll of victims among the
civilians is too high and that this war in Chechnya should be
stopped, while 17% could not answer the question.The residents of big
cities and the regions of Volgo-Vyatsk, Centralno-Chernozyomsky,
Uralsk, West-Siberia most often voted against the war. This opinion
was most often expressed by women, low-income civilians, people over
60 years old, electorate of Yavlinsky and Zyuganov.
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There will Be More Than 50 Thousand Military
The Russian NTV channel reported that when the "anti-terrorist
operation" is finished, 25 thousand federal military will stay in
Chechnya on a permanent basis. Some sources in the Russian military
said on March 2 that a 16-thousand-soldier mobile unit of the Defense
Ministry will be placed in Chechnya. In addition, two Interior
Ministry units of eight thousand manpower and about five thousand
border guards will be also dislocated there. Moreover, there will be
about 25 thousand servicemen of other military structures. On the
whole, there will be about 50 thousand soldiers present in Chechnya.
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Diplomatic Attempts Concerning Chechnya
BBC reported that Chechnya is a key issue in the negotiations between
US State Secretary Madeline Albright and Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov, and their colleagues from EU countries.The meeting is
held in Lisbon. The Americans claimed that they would insist on
ending the military operation in Chechnya. Russian officials say that
the military phase in this operation is finished and that Russia
will focus on restoring normal conditions of life in the Chechen
republic. Moscow is under rising pressure to allow international
observers into the country. It has been already announced that two
experts of the Council of Europe will be allowed to join the Russian
delegation that is investigating violations of human rights in
Chechnya.
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"Odyssey of Andrei Babitsky"
The German newspaper Die Welt writes that now "after Andrei
Babistky's Odyssey nobody will believe that Russia moves towards
creation of a constitutional state.One can recollect Vladimir
Mayakovsky's lines: "One is just nothing, one is just zero." We would
like to remind you that during the first Chechen war, Andrei Babistky
refused a medal "Defender of Free Russia" that former Russian
President Boris Yeltsin awareded him. Who asks awkward questions is
considered to be betrayer of his Motherland. Babitsky not only asked
awkward question but also showed the bombings of civilians in Grozny
and fighters, Die Welt says. Russia is divided on the case of
Babitsky. There are patriots, who wish he is dead and consider that
the war will "restore the great nation". There are liberals, who say
less and less loudly about human rights. However, the fact that
Babitsky is alive is a sign of new times, the German newspaper
concludes.
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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 Inese Lukoshiavichene
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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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Ecological North West Line * St.Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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