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HR news |
FROM THE CONFLICT ZONE
Bulletin of Human Rights Center «Memorial»
October 2003
(the issue prepared by HRC «Memorial»
in Nazran)
Dear colleagues,
Human Rights Center «Memorial»
offers its ensuing information bulletin based on the results of monitoring the human rights situation in the Chechen Republic and the process of overcoming consequences of 1992 conflict in Prigorodny district of North Osetia.
Your questions and comments, please, send to:
386100 Republic Ingushetia, Nazran, Mutalieva, 46 Human Rights Centre «Memorial»
e-mail: memorial@southnet.ru
phone/fax + 7 (8732 ) 22 23 49
The Situation in the Chechen Republic and Republic Ingushetia: October 2003
On October 5, 2003 Chechnya voted in the presidential elections. Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of the temporary republican administration since June 12, 2000 became the president of the Republic. The elections of the president, as well as the Constitutional referendum held on March 23, 2003 constitute part of the plan for peaceful political settlement implemented in Chechnya by the leadership of the Russian Federation. However, peace is not coming to the Republic: disappearances, murder, illegal detainment of civilians as well as onslaughts on behalf of Chechen fighters continue.
- Statistics
According to the data of HRC «Memorial» (the center carries out monitoring in 5 out of 17 districts in Chechnya, thus, the data is obviously incomplete) in October 2003:
1. Killed: 26 citizens
For comparison, according to «Memorial» records:
- in October 2000 47 citizens were killed
- in October 2001 24 citizens were killed
- In October 2002 49 citizens were killed (including 21 persons killed in the terrorist attack in Zavodskoj ROVD of Grozny).
2. Detained: 15 civilians
subsequently disappeared - 5
3. kidnapped- 12 civilians
subsequently disappeared - 6
4. Subjected to artillery fire: 7 settlements
5. Traffic accidents resulting from the actions by military servicemen: 1
NB! Due to the specificity of human rights monitoring in the Chechen Republic, it is important to take into consideration the fact that data for the two most recent months are usually incomplete and then updated the following months. Therefore, unfortunately, the figures for murdered and disappeared in November 2003 are likely to grow.
- From «The Chronicle of Violence»
On October 2, at about noon, military servicemen subjected to artillery fire residential areas in Makhety village, Vedensky district of Chechnya, killing one and injuring several civilians.
A military column which moved along Tsentralnaya street in the direction of Selmentauzen village, stopped suddenly and opened fire at the private houses. The fire was multidirected and continued for almost 2 hours. Aset Sulejmanova, 75 y.o., /Tsentralnaya str., 123/ was shot dead by a splinter of an exploded projectile. Arbi Abdusalamov, 70 y. O., his daughter-in-law Khadizhat Akhmadova (Abdusalamova), 29, and his grandson Arbi Abdusalamov, 20, were heavily wounded. The neighbors moved the injured into the cellar, however, were unable to call for medical help due to the shooting continued. Several houses in the village were damaged during the attack.
After the fire was ceased the military servicemen broke into the yard of Akh’yadov family /Sadovaya street/, forced the owner Abu Akh’yadov, 80 y.o., his wife and their 15 y.o. granddaughter out of the house then the house was blown up. No one was allowed to approach the building until it burnt to the ground. The military servicemen filmed the burning house. Then the military servicemen entered the other house of Akhyadov family and took their TV set. Later they looted a few more houses, including the house of Abdulsalamova /Tsentralnaya street, 123/, where the corpse of Aset Sulejmanova remained in the yard. Threatening guns, they stole virtually all valuables from the house.
At the same time the other group of military servicemen subjected to fire the house of Madarov family /Rechnaya, 18/ , heavily injured Luiza Madarova (Yunosova), 32, and inflicted light injuries to her children: Liza Madarova, 6 y.o. and Abubakar Madarov, 2 y.o. A 7- month old baby was thrown out of the cradle by the explosion wave. For a few hours injured Luiza Madarova remained bleeding on the floor without medical aid. Now she has to undergo a complicated surgery and the doctors have no confidence that the wounded leg can be saved.
A group of military servicemen who shot at the house of Madarov family stayed for the night in the village. They occupied the house of Bagaev family (Bagaevs rebuilt the house after the first war, however, for some reason never moved back in). In the morning before leaving the military servicemen blew up the house and burnt a shed in the yard.
At night on October 8, in the village Ushkaloj Itum-Kalinsky district of Chechnya was killed Khumid Visantov, 82 y.o. the chair of the local Council of Elders. Kh. Visantov with his family temporarily resided in the village Prigorodnoye. Shortly before the murder he started to make order in his house in Ushkaloj and planned to return back there. The night before the event, Visantov came to the village and stayed overnight. The assassins, who knew for sure that Visantov stayed overnight, got into his yard and shot him dead through the window. At the site the assassins left a note threatening that everyone who actively supported the incumbent regime would follow Khumid Visantov fate.
On October, 13 at 4.30 p.m. unidentified persons made an attempt on the life of Vakha Arsamakov, the head of the village administration in Sernovodsk. Three armed persons opened fire at Arsamakov’s business car when he was passing the hanging bridge across Sunzha river on the way to his office. V. Arsamakov received numerous heavy injuries. After the attack the assassins disappeared.
On October 24, at about noon in the tent camp of forced migrants «Logovaz» (Nazaran, Ingushetia) were detained Said Khusein Munaev, 30 y.o., and Kazbek Gantimirov, 25 y.o. The young men were supposedly detained by the personnel of the Department for Combat on Organized Crime with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), Republic Ingushetia. Both of the detained resided in the tent camp «Logovaz» since autumn 1999, i.e. since the foundation of the camp. They held different jobs as manual workers. According to the residents of the tent camp, both men had never participated in armed formations or been involved in illegal activities.
At the moment of the detainment Said-Khusein Munaev was repairing his car. According to the nephew of Munaev, who was there with Said-Khusein, an automobile VAZ- 2107 approached and several men dressed in civilian uniform came out. They forced Said-Khusein into the car and left the camp. Kazbek Gantimirov was detained in a similar fashion, when he was leaving the bathhouse.
A few minutes after Gantamirov and Munaev were kidnapped, armed persons arrived to the camp. This time they introduced themselves as the representatives of the 6th department (Department for Combat on Organized Crime). They blocked the tent of Munaev family and tried to carry out an unsanctioned search. The residents of the camp gathered near the tent and demanded the prosecution sanction from the militiamen. One of them, who introduced himself as Yandiev, (no ID was presented) said that the sanction would be issued later. During the search the representatives of HRC «Memorial» arrived to the camp. The presence of human rights advocates gave additional confidence to the residents of the camp; they became more assertive in demanding the prosecutor’s sanctions. The reaction of the law enforcement personnel was strange- they suddenly stopped the search and left the camp. Before leaving, one of militiamen said to the women: «If you make too much noise, you won’t see him (S-Kh. Munaev) again».
The same day Gantimirov was released. As of the end of October Munaev remained in one of the temporary detainment facilities in Nazran’. His relatives hired a defender, however, no accusation has so far been verbalized to the suspect.
The full version of «Chronicle of Violence» for October can be accessed at the web site of HRC «Memorial»
www.memo.ru
- From the Chechen press
From the interview of ex-president of Republic Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev to the newspaper «Golos Checheno - Ingushetii». October ą 16 p.1, 2.
Ruslan Aushev: «Used to be the head of administration Kadyrov, now president Kadyrov, so what?»
Ruslan Sultanovich, a few days ago Akhmad Kadyrov verbalized the idea of unification of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Why, in your opinion, has this pronouncement been made now?
- Because this is not the idea of Akhmad Khadzhi, he is unable to manage even the problems of his republic. This is the idea of the federal Center. You know, there is this idea in the air, that there are too many subjects /of the federation/ and they should be strengthened. Ingushetia and Chechnya almost ideally fit this framework.
First, the Chechen Republic «disappears» from the public space. They will call the new union something like a vainakh republic, and that is all. The unstable territory will be watered down by stable and there will come out a soup, which will be more or less eatable. Second, the problem of refugees will be off the agenda. Third, other problems will be also off. For example, there already exists a capital, beautiful, good looking, I am talking about Magas. And the problems at the border of Ingushetia and Osetia can be forgotten. As a result, instead of «chechenization» we will get «vainakhization». You are all vainakhs, so deal with it yourself. This, by the way, was the case in the Soviet times.
Combatants, by the way, have resolved the problem of unification, they are fighting both in Chechnya and Ingushetia. It is not by the accident that they have declared that the attacks will be carried out wherever they find necessary. Even in their plans, as far as I know, exits «the Ingush sector».
How would you comment on the presidential elections and the prospective of the situation in Chechnya?
- Nothing has changed. The republic has already experienced all this. In 1995 they elected the president Zavgaev, the parliament, and signed the agreement as well. I do not understand why electing Kadyrov a president is considered to be a step to the political settlement of the conflict. What has it changed? Everyone stayed with what they had. Referendum, presidential elections should unite the people. And here the people is getting even more fragmented. Kadyrov was the head of administration and has become a president, so what? The competencies are the same.
And then what kind of inauguration is this, if in the conditions of absolute secrecy they prepare 5 sites for it? Inauguration is a holiday. And not because Kadyrov became the president. This is a holiday for the people, not for Akhmad-Khadzhi.
Generally, the very methodology of resolving the Chechen problem is fallible. There was selected a strategy of maximal decrease in the influence of the power structures. Here is Kadyrov with his MVD and here are the fighters-let them settle things between themselves. This what «chechenization of the conflict» is. Kadyrov has obligations with the federal Center, and the fighters have nothing to do.
The military men are still unable to eliminate the most odious leaders of band formations.
- But who can win a guerilla war? Name a country which has defeated the partisans? Moreover, with the wide support of the population. We should tell the truth: if the population did not support the fighters they would have been isolated, they would not have been allowed in the villages or supported financially. Guerilla war is the most difficult kind of military activity.. To win you need two things – to have an idea and means. Chechens do not have means, but have an idea, the Russian Army has neither idea nor means.
The Situation in Prigorodny District of North Osetia: October 2003
In the fall of 1992 in Prigorodny district of North Osetia-Alania broke out a short but very ferocious armed conflict between the Ingushis and the Osetians. The active phase of the conflict lasted from October 31 to November 6, when, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, 583 persons were killed, 939 injured, 261 went missing, 1093 taken hostages. According to different estimates 35-60, 000 Ingush were expelled from their historic homeland in Prigorodny district of North Osetia-Alania and the capital city of Vladikavkaz; the majority of them fled to the neighboring Ingushetia. For 11 years now Ingush forced migrants waiting for the chance to return home have been fighting for survival in tents, trucks and barracks of the refugee camps.
The destructive war, which broke out in the neighboring Chechen Republic, forced the Ingush-Osetian conflict in the background of events. The Federal government, humanitarian organizations, Russian and foreign journalists left thousands of Ingush families without attention. On October 11, 2002 the Presidents of Ingushetia and North Osetia signed The Agreement for Promoting Cooperation and Neighborly Relations between the republics, in which Ingush refugees and human rights advocates invested much hope. HRC «Memorial» monitors the implementation of the agreement and will inform you on the developments in the region.
VI. From the Refugee Camp «Majskij»
The village «Majskij» of Prigorodny District of North Osetia is inhabited primarily by Ingushis. The settlement survived the conflict of 1992 almost without damages and consequently a stream of refugees fled to the settlement from the other villages of the conflict area. Part of them found temporary refuge with their relatives or rented living spaces in Majskij, others spontaneously founded a temporary refugee camp near the village. However, the majority of refugees currently residing in Majski were resetlled there on the order of Ingush president Ruslan Aushev from the territory of the Ingushetia in 1995.
Refugee camp «Majskij» exists for 9 years, without any humanitarian assistance from the state. In the end of September 2003 electricity went off in the camp, it was turned off due to the camp liability for the consumed electricity, which according to different estimates, amounts to 3—11 million rubles (100-380,000 dollars). 264 families, residing in refugee caravans were left without electricity, without heating or water, since the caravan cars are heated with electric radiators and the water pulp works on electric power. During October nights the temperature in North Osetia goes down to zero, so virtually the entire month the Ingush families were on the edge of freezing.
On September 25, the representatives of OAO «Sevkavkazenergo», the regional energy company, made their first attempt to turn off electricity in the refugee camp «Majskij». The forced migrants protested, and for several days took turns to guard the transformers in order to prevent the representatives of the company from blocking the wires. Telegrams were sent to the president V. Putin, to the Executive Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal Okrug V. Kazantsev, to the Special Representative of the President in the zone of Ingush-Osetian conflict I. Kulakovsky, Presidents of North Osetia-Alania Dzasokhov and of Republic Ingushetia M. Zyazikov. The the forced migrants demanded to resolve their problems, referring to the Federal Law «On forced migrants» , which as they said, placed the burden for covering utility payments in the camp on the federal budget.
On September 29, the electricity was turned off in Majskij.
On October 1, upon request of the HRC «Memorial» , Vyacheslav Igrunov, an MP of the State Duma forwarded an official inquiry on the situation in Majskij camp to the head of the Federal Migration Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation A. Chekalin.
On October 13, in response to the inquiry, the first deputy of the head of the Federal Migration Service I. Yunash explained that the Federal Migration Service had no competence to make any transfers for utility payments in the Majskij, since the refugee camp was not on the balance of MVD, GUVD, UVD migration services of the Russian Federation. In other words, the camps which had existed for 9 years had not been not registered with any of the official migration structures.
I. Yunash offered the following solution of the problem: the Special Representative of the President in the conflict area, together with the Presidents of two Republics - Ingushetia and North Osetia- Alania had to forward a joint request to the Federal Government, applying for a targeted financial transfer from the federal budget in 2004 to cover the liability of the refugee camp «Majskij», or for a special governmental decree on this issue.
In October, no request of the kind was produced and in spite of the reassurances by the Republican officials the Majskij problem would soon be resolved, most of October the refugee camp «Majskij» remained without electricity or heating.
