FROM THE CONFLICT ZONE
Bulletin of Human Rights Center «Memorial»
May 2004
(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.
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: May 2004
I.
Statistics
According to the data of
HRC “Memorial” (We are able to carry out monitoring over
a limited territory, 25-30 % of Chechnya, thus, the data below is
incomplete) in May 2004:
Killed:
22 residents of Chechnya (6 civilians, 4 repres. of power agencies, 2
representatives of civilian authorities; 3 alleged members of
military armed formations; unidentified - 7)
Kidnapped:
26 residents of Chechnya
subsequently
set free or released for ransom – 3
missing: 23
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 May 2004 are likely to grow.
II.
From the “Chronicle of Violence”
On
May 2, a mop up operation was carried out in Noibera
village, Gudermess region. Regional military structures and
members of the Security Services of President Kadyrov of the Chechen
Republic were called in to take part in this action.
During
the course of this special operation Veziev Pakhrudi, aged 50
and resident in Zhukov Street, was detained by “Kadyrov’s
men” and taken away to an unknown destination. The accusation
was made against Pakhrudi that his son was a member of the Chechen
armed resistance.
On
May 2, in Alleroi village of Kurchaloevski region a
special operation was undertaken by members of Akhmed Kadyrov’s
Security Services. Kadyrov’s men set fire to the house of
Said-Hasan Turlaev, whose son, according to villagers, belongs
to field commander Ahmed Avdarhanov’s group. For a
considerable time the members of Kadyrov’s Security Services
refused to allow Said-Hasan’s 22-year-old daughter to leave the
burning house. Only the intervention of the neighbours saved the
girl’s life. The Buzurkaev family’s house was
also burnt. Their son also belongs to the ranks of the armed troops
of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria.
Kadyrov’s
men detained many local inhabitants, including school-age boys. Some
were released after questioning, but 9 people, all relatives of
members of the Illegal Armed Forces were taken hostage:
Sheikh-Akhmed
Buzurkaev, 50
Ramzan
Avdarkhanov, 70
Ahmed Avdarkhanov
Aslan
Butzugov, 25
Arsen
Minkailov, 24
Isa
El’siev, 32
3 members of the
Aisultanov family
Ramzan
Avdarkhanov was ill and was released on the first day, as they were
afraid he might die, but was soon taken in again. On the same day
the wooded hills around Alleroi village were sweep-searched by
members of the local military, as information had been received from
the military base at Khankala that there were corpses in the wood.
Indeed, four corpses were discovered at the indicated location and
another buried nearby. The bodies were transported to the Regional
Department of Internal Affairs at Kurchaloevski. It was possible to
identify three of them: they were Ruslan Rasulovich Suleimanov and
Ramzan Madarsoltovich Bamatkhadzhiev from Ishkhoi-Yurt village, and
Burchaev from Yalkhoi-Mokhk village (whose relative, probably uncle,
is a Federal Security Service officer in Khankala). It was not
possible to identify the other two bodies: purportedly they were
inhabitants of Dagestan.
Of
the relatives of the members of the Illegal Armed Forces who had been
taken into hostage: Aslan Butsugov was released on 4 May; Isa El’siev
on 6 May and Arsen Minkailov on 3 May. Sheikh-Akhmed Buzurkaev and
Ramzan Avdarkhanov were also released, as was one member of the
Aisultanov family. As of the end of May there was no information
about the fate of the other hostages.
On
May 4, in Alleroi village, Kurchaloevski region, a
local woman, Taus Buzurkaeva (born 1959) was arrested without
the Procurator’s sanction by troops of the Kurchaloevski
Regional Department of Internal Affairs (under the command of Roman
Ediev, formerly a member of Akhmed Kadyrev’s Security
Services). She was accused of being the mother of a member of the
Illegal Armed Forces (IAF). On 2 May 2004 her home was burnt down by
members of A Kadyrov’s Security Services.
The
day before, Akhmad Kadyrov had emphasised, at a memorial service at
the Yamadaevs’ house in Gudermes, that he would punish all
relatives, and even neighbours, of those who had been part of the
Illegal Armed Forces. Taus Buzurkaeva is being held at the Temporary
Isolation Unit at the Kurchaloevski Regional Department of Internal
Affairs.
On
May 8, at 23:00 Ramzan Musaevich Shaipov, born 1974,
was abducted from his home at 23 Lenin Street in Chiri-Yurt
village, Shalinski region, by Russian-speaking, unidentified,
armed men in camouflage uniform.
During
Shaipov’s detention violence was used against his relatives.
So Shaipov’s wife Aishat, who rushed to her husband’s
assistance, had her throat crushed and her mouth and nose covered
with a hand. The soldier continued to choke her until she began to
lose consciousness. Then her hands were tied with tape.
The
attackers forcibly struck the Shaipovs’ three-year-old son in
the face and threw their small baby, who was asleep, onto the floor.
Only then they led the detained Ramzan Shaipov out to the street and
took him away to an unknown destination. Aishat ran out after the
kidnappers. She saw the kidnappers making their escape in unmarked
vehicles – “Niva”, “Zhiguli-7” and
“Gazel’”.
According
to the accounts of local inhabitants, there were at the time two
armoured personnel carriers stationed on the edge of the village.
The soldiers who came in them broke into the houses of the Shaipovs’
neighbours, the Astamirov and Aidamirov families, and went on the
rampage. During this they beat up 78-year-old Aldan Astamirov and
frightened his grandsons who were asleep with him. Only then did the
soldiers leave the village. The column of vehicles, comprising
several unmarked cars an two armoured troop carriers, set off towards
the settlement of Novye Atagi.
The
relatives of the abducted man went on the same day to the Regional
Department of Internal Affairs in Shalinski region. They are
convinced that there could be no allegation against Ramzan Shaipov,
who was exclusively occupied with his own smallholding and did not
get involved in any other business. He had been detained once
before, and although on that occasion everything had been sorted out
satisfactorily, his relatives were very anxious about his fate. On
10 and 11 May Shaipov’s fellow villagers, incensed by this
arbitrary event, set up a barricade on the road between Novye Atagi
and Chiri-Yurt and refused to let vehicles pass.
The
inhabitants of Chiri-Yurt blocked the road for a week, demanding
Shaipov’s release. Soldiers tried to disperse the picket by
opening fire with automatic weapons, firing near the feet and above
the heads of the crowd. However the civilians were in a decisive
mood and and did not give way. The soldiers and the picketing
villagers began to argue. Unable to get their way, the soldiers were
obliged to withdraw. Nonetheless the official Checeh authorities
have not responded to the demands of the inhabitants of Chiri-Yurt.
On
May 9, at 10:35 there was an explosion in Grozny at the
Dinamo Stadium where official celebrations were taking place to mark
Victory Day. The epicentre of the blast was directed at the tribune
for guests, which at the time included the Head of the Republic
Akhmad Kadyrov, the Chairman of the State Council of the
Chechen Republic Hussein Isaev and the Commander of the
Unified Troops General Valeri Baranov, amonst others.
At
10:55 the first casualties began to arrive at the City Hospital No 9.
For the most part those admitted were suffering from blast wounds,
splinter wounds to the head and face and wounds to the skull and
brain. In all there were 44 wounded and 3 dead (Kadyrov, Isaev and
the journalist Adlan Khasanov. It is interesting to note that
on the admissions list the only name to appear on the list of those
killed was that of Adlan Khasanov; the other two – Isaev and
Kadyrov – were listed as “corpse/corpse”. In the
hours following the explosion the doctors were afraid to admit that
Kadyrov was dead). The wounded were for the most part members of the
Administration, soldiers and policemen (7 people). Later it was
announced officially that as a result of the blast there were 63
casualties of whom 6 had died.
On
May 9, at approximately 21:00 in Goi-Chu village of
Urus-Martanovski region, members of the Russian armed forces, who
arrived in two unmarked “YAZ” vehicles (one a minbus),
detained local inhabitant Zelimkhan Isaev, born 1979 and
resident at Sverdlov Street.
According
to his relative, the gunmen broke into the house without identifying
themselves and without explanation, took Zelimkhan out onto the
street, put him into a car and drove off towards the town of
Urus-Martan. The relatives drove after the abductors. However they
were unable to establish where Zelimkhan had been driven to. The
next day they received information that Zelimkhan had been taken to
the Temporary Isolation Unit at the Urus-Martan Regional Department
of Internal Affairs.
On
May 10, at midday, in Goi-Chu village, members of the Federal armed
forces carried out a search at the Isaev family home. Witnesses
confirmed that the search lasted for nearly three hours and that
nothing illegal was found. Then one of the soldiers put a hand-made
grenade under the mattress of the bed in the room where Isaev slept.
After that the armed men left.
On
11 May it became known that Isaev’s health was causing serious
concern. Zelimkhan had been severely beaten and had been subjected to
torture. Under physical pressure he had signed a document admitting
to taking part in sabotaging military equipment in Grozny. A doctor,
summoned by the Temporary Isolation Unit at the Urus-Martan Regional
Department of Internal Affairs, recommended immediate
hospitalisation.
It
was expected that Zelimkhan would be hospitalised that day at the
Urus-Martan Central Regional Hospital. This did not happen for
reasons which are not clear.
On
12 May Isaev was admitted as an in-patient at
the Urus-Martan Central Regional Hospital. The doctors established
that Zelimkhan’s inner organs were badly damaged by beating, he
had three broken ribs and numerous traces of torture (electric
burns). At the hospital a guard was mounted by members of the
Urus-Martan Regional Department of Internal
Affairs.
On
16 May after examination by doctors from the Federal Security
Service, the guard was removed. Zelimkhan’s relatives were
allowed to take him to the hospital in Nazran’ (Republic of
Ingushetia). Zelimkhan died that night, immediately after arriving at
the hospital. Doctors at the Nazran’ hospital extablished that
Zelimkhan Isaev died from the beatings and torture received the
previous day.
On
May 16, in the village Kurchaloi the Magomadov home, on
Kurchaloevskaya Street, received a visit from two members of the
Security Services of the President of the Chechen Republic, stationed
in the village of Geldagan. They brought with them a note from
their son Yakub Magomedov, born 1967. In the note Yakub
informed them that he was in Chechnya and asked them to arrange a
ransom. However the members of the Security Services explained to
the Magomadovs that their son was in fact at the military base in
Khankala, where he had been brought from Moscow.
Since
2000 Yakub Magomadov has been searching for his brother Ayubkhan
Magomadov, who had been kidnapped by the Russian military. In the
autumn of 2003 Yakub had travelled to Taganrog, as he had received
information that Ayubkhan was there in Temporary Isolation Unit No 2.
However at the Unit he was refused any information about his
brother, taken inside the isolation unit, where he was laughed at and
humiliated for an hour, then put in a car, taken to a point out of
town, severely beaten up, robbed of US $3,000 and left. Yakub
managed with great difficulty to get back to the road and on to the
nearest village, where he found people from his own village. With
their help he made his way back to Kurchaloi, where he was
immediately hospitalised and diagnosed with “concussion,
multiple scratches and bruises”. On his recovery Yakub
returned to Moscow where he had lived since 1992.
Yakub
Magomadov had been last in touch with his relatives by telephone on
19 April 2004. Subsequently all contact with him was lost. Having
received the note, his relatives went to the military base at
Khankala, where they were told that Yakub Magomadov was not being
held there.
On
May 23, at about 21:00 at the entrance of Katyr-Yurt villlage
of Achkhoi-Martan Region, Russian soldiers at control point No 186
stopped a Kamaz lorry carrying a load of diesel fuel. The vehicle
was accompanied by 5 members of Kadyrov’s Security Services,
including Ibrahim Umatgirievich Dishniev, born 1977, Umar
Alaudinovich Kheikharoev and Timur Musaevich Khil’dikhoroev,
born 1972. The soldiers demanded 3000 rubles to allow the vehicle to
pass through the control point. “Kadyrov’s men”
beat p the soldiers and passed on. The injured soldiers radioed
through to the Achkhoi-Martan military command to inform them of the
incident. On arrival at the village of Achkhoi-Martan soldiers in
two armoured troop carriers and a Ural vehicle were waiting for
“Kadyrov’s men”. An officer of the Federal
Security Service suggested that the members of the Security Services
disarm and follow them to Military Command. Instead of this, Ibrahim
Dishniev (inhabitant of Yandi village) knocked the officer to the
ground and began to beat him up. The officer managed to reach his
pistol and shot at Dishniev several times, mortally wounding him.
Subsequently a fire fight ensued between Kadyrov’s men and the
soldiers. As a result Umar Kheikharov and Timur Khil’dikhoroev
(both from Assinovskaya station) were killed. From among the
soldiers an officer of the Federal Security Service was killed and
three men were wounded. The two remaining “Kadyrovtsy”
fled the scene. Shortly after a helicopter arrived at the scene of
the incident and took the wounded for transportation to the military
hospital at Mozdok.
On
May 27, at 5 am in the village of Gekhi, Urus-Martanovsky district,
the personnel of Russian power agencies broke into the house of
Soltakhanov family, domicile address Kujbisheva street, 50.
At
that time, the head of the family, Soltakhanov Avgan was in the yard,
washing before the morning prayer. The military men who arrived by
three unmarked YAZ cars, leaped into the yard over the fence. Avgan
was put in front of the house wall with gun targeted at him. The
military men entered the house and carried out an unsanctioned
search, beat up mentally handicapped Soltakhanov Lechi, hit his
mother, Supiyat Mutaeva, who tried to protect Lechi, and hit on the
face Eliza, the wife of Supiyat’s second son. After the search
the military servicemen took out Soltakhanov Muslim, born
1987, put him in car and drove off to unknown direction. The
relatives were not informed about the reasons for the detainment, or
the place of detainment. According to Soltakhanovs, although the
military servicemen spoke Russian (mostly swearing), there were
ethnic Chechens among them.
On
the fact of kidnapping the relatives filed a complaint to
Urus-Martanovsky ROVD. The militiamen responded that they had nothing
to do with the detainment and Soltakhanov is not detained at ROVD. In
the district prosecution, Soltakhanovs’ application was
rejected. Then Sapiyat Mutaeva turned to the district administration
for help. There she was informed that her son had been kidnapped by
RUBOP (regional department for combat on organised crime).
As of early June the
whereabouts of Soltakhanov Muslim were unknown.
For
full version of the “Chronicle of Violence” for March
2004 in Russian, please, consult our web site at
http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/caucas1/rubr/2/index.htm
Work
of Courts in the Chechen Republic
Human
Rights Center “Memorial” provides legal assistance to the
Chechen civilians in their applications to courts. In the section
“work of courts” we analyze the major problems the
Chechen civilians encounter in their attempts of protect their
rights.
Rejection of applications as a form
of inactivity of judicial system
On
of the wide spread forms of inactivity of judicial system is
rejection of applications from civilians, whose rights have been
violated, either with reference to courts overload or without
explaining the grounds for rejection. Particularly often this happens
in cases when there exists strong evidence leading to representatives
of power agencies committing the crimes. Thus, the applicant is
deprived of her right to fair trial already at the initial stage.
On
May 2004 Mrs. Kh. Kaplanova turned to “Memorial”
office in Grozny for help. In May 2001 Kaplanova’s son and
son-in-law, Kaplanov Isa and Sadulaev Ruslan were
kidnapped. Both there kidnapped from their home located in Grozny,
domicile address: Voronezhskaya street, 76 by two
representatives of Department of Federal Security Service of the
Russian Federation, Morozov and Tikhonov. The kidnappers arrived by
armed personnel carrier. Consequently the Kaplanov and Sadulaev went
missing. Kaplanova was acknowledged a victim.
-
In the
last three years Kh. Kaplanova held correspondence with the law
enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation and the Chechen
Republic. Having lost hope in effective investigation of crime, she
decided to file application to court for ineffectiveness of
prosecution according to article 125 Criminal-Procedural Code of the
RF. However, the court of Zavodskoj district of Grozny rejected her
application without providing reasons for the rejection.
- In
May 2004 Mrs. S. Israilova turned to HRC “Memorial”
in Grozny. According to Israilova since March 2004 the court of
Leninsky district of Grozny had been rejecting her application for
determining the legal fact of her son, Yansuev Il’yas
going missing , according to article 264 Civilian Procedural Code of
the Russian Federation.
Civilians
R. Vakhaeva and M. Menkaev turned to HRC “Memorial”
in Urus-Martan with a similar problem. Urus-Martanovsky Municipal
Court rejected their applications on facts of kidnappings of their
relatives.
“Memorial”
has registered cases of turned down
applications in the courts of Grozny, Shalinsky and Urus-Martanovsky
districts as well as the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic, The
Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Chechen Republic,
Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Chechen Republic.
-
Closing
tent camps in Ingushetia
-
The
closing of last tent camp Satsita on the territory of Ingushetia had
been planned for early June. Until the end of May the IDPs had to
return to Chechnya or to move from “Satsita” to the
places of compact settlement “Rassvet” and “Oskanovskie
Garages” near Sleptsovsk.
The
methods for closing the last tent camp in Ingushetia can be called
neither forced nor voluntary. The closure of “Satsita”
was announced in advance, and from the example of other camps, the
IDPs knew that if the plan to close camps exists, it will be
definitely closed. Thus, they agreed to move to Chechnya or to other
compact settlements in Ingushetia. Particularly, since instead of
threats, the migration services offered quite substantial benefits.
According to IDPs, the families, returning to Chechnya were promised:
Returning
the debt for humanitarian aid (some families had not received
humanitarian aid for several months, so getting the whole package at
once was significant);
Priority treatment in
reviewing their applications for compensations for destroyed
housing;
Providing temporary
shelter (plywood houses) for the period of construction works;
Financial bonus
1,000-1,500 rubles per person for those, who return to Chechnya.
For
residents of “Satsita”, most of whom had no income and
live on pensions and children’s subsidies, the benefits offered
by migration services seemed significant. Moreover, recently, in
Ingushetia the cases of kidnappings and disappearances of people
became more frequent. Thus, in the conditions of insecurity,
continuation of refugee life in compact settlements for many seemed
meaningless.
Apart
from already existing temporary residence centers, the migration
services claimed that in a destroyed village Bamut was organized a
comfortable compact settlement for those families, who had decided to
return to Achkhoi-Martanovsky district of Chechnya. These families
had been allocated plywood houses, all the administrative
buildings of Satsita camp (bathhouse, school and the mosque) were
also being moved there. The head of migration service of the Chechen
Republic assured “Memorial” monitors that there will be
no residential tents in Bamut; tents will be only used for storage,
should the families choose.
On June 12,
representatives of HRC “Memorial” visited Bamut. On the
site of a fully leveled settlement we discovered two tent camps- 20
tents in village Bamut and 9 tents in village Bamut-1. Only men live
in these tents, since the conditions are not suitable children and
women. There is no electricity, gas or water; the closest inhabited
settlements, where one could buy food and receive medical aid
(Assinovskaja and Achkhoj-Martan) are located 8 and 10 kilometers
from Bamut. The tents leak when it rains, there is no heating: the
tents are not equipped with stoves, moreover, collecting firewood is
dangerous- the nearby forests were land mined during military actions
of 2000-2001. In addition, such an isolated area is insecure. Thus,
on June 10 the village happened to be in the zone of artillery fire,
as a result, one of the villagers had all his hey burnt, which he
had prepared for the winter.
According
to the locals, on March 27, 2004 on the initiative of the head of
local government in Bamut was organized a meeting of residents.
During the meeting the villagers, most of whom at the time were IDPs
in Ingushetia, were suggested to return to Chechnya and promised
electrification and gasification of their settlement, fixed roads,
compensations for the destroyed housing and temporary shelter for the
time of reconstruction works. Such a perspective looked attractive to
many families, exhausted by refugee life in Ingushetia. However, in
may 2004, when the first families returned to Bamut, they were
distributed packed tents, which they were offered to assemble on
their own on two sites in the middle of ruins. This was the end of
state assistance to Bamuters.
Since
tent camps have been closed in Ingushetia, the problem of forced
migrants is concealed from the eyes of independent observers and
press. People are left alone to fight for survival face to face with
severe conditions of Chechen highlands.
Situation in Prigorodny District of
North Osetia: May 2004
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. 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.
On
October 11, 2002 the Presidents of Ingushetia and North Osetia signed
The Agreement for Promoting Cooperation and Neighborly Relations
between the republics. HRC “Memorial” monitors the
implementation of the agreement and human rights situation in the
area and will inform you on the developments in the region
I.
Education in the conflict zone
A
serious role in perpetuation of ethnic tensions in Prigorodny
district is played by separate schooling practiced in some villages
(eg. Chermen, Tarskoje). The decision to introduce separate education
for Ingush and Osetian children was taken by the authorities out of
fear of possible conflicts on ethnic grounds at school.
In
May 2004, HRC “Memorial” carried out monitoring of
secondary education in Prigorodny district and visited eight schools:
Chemen school #1 (Osetian), Chermen school # 2
(Osetian), Chermen school # 3 (Ingush), Kurtat secondary school
(mixed), Dongaron secondary school (mixed),
Dachnoje secondary school (Ingush), Tarskoje secondary school # 1
(Ingush), Tarskaja secondary school # 1 (Osetian ), Tarkskaja school
# 1 (Osetian), Tarskaja secondary school # 2 (Ingush).
Among
general problems with secondary education in the area of liquidation
of Ingush-Osetian conflict, two most serious should be identified:
Weak
technical - material base
All
of the above mentioned schools were damaged during the conflict of
1992: the buildings were damaged, the libraries burnt down, school
equipment was looted or broken. “In November 19992”, I
was personally collecting measuring glasses in the nearby fields.
Everything had been broken, looted, - said the director of Dongaron
secondary school, Khetaguriv Elisbar.
In
twelve years the buildings have been restored, however, the technical
equipment of schools has not been restored. The major problem in
schools is lack of textbooks and literature in the libraries, lack of
equipment for chemistry, physics, biology, geography labs, poor
equipment for sport gyms. Th level of unemployment among both Ingush
and Osetian population is very high, thus parents cannot afford to
buy children books. Thus, the educational process is going on without
teaching materials or necessary equipment.
The
problem of psychological and physical health of
the children
According
to the school teachers, the conflict, and the ensuing years of ethnic
tensions have had enormous impact on the health of the children,
which in its turn, has resulted in drastic decrease in the quality of
knowledge. Among the pupils of secondary schools of Prigorodny
district were registered frequent cases of diseases of thyroid gland,
arthritis , neurosis, dispersed attention
and memory failures. Besides, many children, have anemia, the cases
of lost consciousness as a result of malnutrition have become
frequent.
In
Osetian schools and schools of mixed education, a group of special
concern are children-refugees from North Osetia and the inner regions
of Georgia. These children have a bad command of the Russian
language, their underprivileged families, living in barracks and
hostels are unable to provide their pupils with everything necessary
for the school. Such children often suffer from anemia and neurosis,
are often ill.
In
Ingush schools there is an urgent problem of access to village
libraries. In villages Chermen and Tarskoje the libraries are located
in the Osetian parts of villages, and Ingush parents are afraid to
send children there. In Kurtat school of mixed education, the Ingush
children have possibility to participate in republican school Olympic
games:
“At the moment we are afraid to send Ingush children to
Vladikavkaz. Although there are very strong candidates among them.”
Generally,
high level of ethnic tensions among youth remains in those villages,
where the education of Ingushis and Osetian is separate. Thus, in
Tarskoje village, the contacts of young people of Ingush and Osetian
nationality are almost null. In May 2004, the Osetian and Ingush
children, for the first time played football together. Interestingly,
the Osetian kids arrived to the Ingush part of the village themselves
and offered to play. However, soon the matches were stopped. “There
games will do nothing good”, explained to “Memorial”
monitors the teachers of (Osetian) school # 1 “Sooner or later
they will lead to fights”. In June the Osetian teenagers were
forbidden by the adults to play football with the Ingushis.
According
to the directors of schools with mixed education (Kurtat, Dongaron),
there are no conflicts on ethnic grounds among pupils of Ingush and
Osetian nationality.
II.
Peacemaking in the conflict zone
In
May 2004 in the village Chermen, Human rights center “Memorial”
organized a contest of school essays, dedicated to the 59-th
anniversary of the Victory of USSR in the second World War. The aim
of the contest was to support and develop interest of teenagers in
the history of Russia; to encourage research of the role of families,
neighbors and relatives in the victory of the second world war.
In
the contest participated the pupils of 7-9 grade of Chermen schools
#2 (Osetian ) and # 3 (Ingush). The ceremony took place in the
Osetian school. The pupils, teachers and parents from both schools
were invited, along with Ingush and Osetian TV and war veterans from
both sides. The atmosphere at the ceremony was very open and sincere.
|