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HR news |
Appeal from Achkhoy-Martan
To the International Committee against Torture
To the United Nations
To the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
To the General Secretary of NATO
To all international human rights organisations
From the citizens of Achkhoy-Martan of the Chechen Republic
Appeal
We, citizens of the village of Achkhoy-Martan of the Chechen republic, appeal for help to the whole global community, to all people of good will. In September 1999, under the cover of slogans about anti-terrorist operations, the Government of Russia initiated a large-scale war involving the use of all types of weapons on the territory of the Chechen republic. From the very beginning this conflict has had nothing to do with the struggle against terrorism: it has involved blatant genocide against the Chechen people. Witness to this are the thousands of victims from among the peaceful population, the thousands who have disappeared without trace as a result of regularly carried out 'cleansing operations', and the hundreds of innocent people shot with the aim of terrorizing the peaceful population in retaliation for the actions of the fighters.
Since January 2000, 'cleansing operations' have been regularly carried out in our village. These conclude with the arbitrary arrests from among the peaceful population of, basically, anyone of the male sex. They are arrested on the pretext of a routine passport check, or of an investigation into some explosion somewhere or other, with which those arrested evidently have no connection whatsoever. Arrests by policemen from the Temporary Department for Internal Affairs TDIA)have particularly increased since the Kremlin officially declared an end to military operations against Chechnya, and the start of the withdrawal of armed forces. The war continues, and arrests and instances of other illegal acts have increased.
Towards the end of march of this year in the courtyard of his own house in broad daylight without any reason or explanation given, M Elmurzaev, an inhabitant of our village, was shot dead and then beaten with the butts of their automatic guns by policemen of the Voronezh TDIA. The outraged population held a protest rally, but the heads of the regional and rural administration Sh. Buraev and S. Khachukayev forced the women to disperse using threats and mentioning the addresses of their children. No investigation has been carried out. Seeing the fear and distress of the defenceless population, the permanently drunk members of the OMON stepped up their operations: since 31st March 2001, young people have been taken daily to the TDIA building - inhabitants of the village of Achkhoy-Martan and the whole surrounding area. They are arrested in their own houses at dawn, or sometimes seized on the streets. They are all subjected to savage beatings, and electric shock tortures. In this way, on 31st March 2001 Ruslan Madiev, Rashid Beriev, Ziyavdi Akhmadov, Hasu Batalov and Murad Beriev, all from Achkhoy-Martan, were taken away to TDIA. They were all viciously beaten up and tortured, although they were all law-abiding, and no one in the village has any reason to doubt their reputation. They were returned to their relatives, with threats as to what would happen if they broke their promise not to complain about the savage actions of TDIA. Hasu Batalov, a student of the 9th class of Middle School No. 6, was taken away as part of the illegal arrest of teachers and students of school No. 6, who had participated with slogans in the protest rally. All these people arrested on the 31st March were beaten up and subjected to electric shock torture at open windows in the concentration camp, called the Temporary Department of Internal Affairs (TDIA), so that mothers could hear the screams of their children. These methods snuff out our respect for Russia and its 'democratic' laws.
Today, on the 3rd April, Tutaev, an inhabitant of our village, was released from TDIA, having been viciously beaten up. He had arrived recently from Samara, to help out his brother, who had been blown up by a mine.
There are still prisoners in this concentration camp who cannot be released to their relatives because they have been too badly beaten up, and are in a critical condition.
These brutal acts will continue for as long as Russia is encouraged by politicians like Lord Judd. Deceived by the lying declarations and fabrications of V. Kalamanov, who has been appointed by Putin in order to conceal the infringements of human rights taking place in Russia, Lord Judd has misled the global community.
Neither the military nor the civilian administrations of Chechnya can guarantee the observation of human rights in the republic nor, consequently, can they guarantee its stabilisation. If they could, those who live in the houses near the TDIA headquarters would not tremble from the screams and cries for help issuing from the camp, where peaceful citizens are being killed and mutilated. The citizens of Achkhoy-Martan would not be frightened to speak out about the arbitrary arrests, if the rural and regional head, Khachukayev and Buraev did not threaten with execution all those who raise a voice in defence of the innocent people who have been mutilated and killed by the unrestrained terrorists and bandits of the Russian OMON.
Respected leaders of international organisations, defenders of human rights, journalists! In the name of the God in whom you believe, in the name of the democracy for which you fight, in the name of humanity and justice, lend your voice in defence of the Chechen people, whose only guilt is that God made them Chechens!
The criminals should be tried by law. Let the courts judge them and sentence them according to the crimes which they have committed. The Russian army is destroying the Chechen people by the day, by the hour, and without even bothering to observe the formalities, aware that they will not be called to account for the murder of a Chechen, even of hundreds of Chechens. On the contrary, they will even be rewarded, and their careers may be advanced in return for these 'services'.
We implore all those who are listening to us to help us bring to account for their crimes against the Chechen people the Russian forces, the Russian OMON and the local authorities, who in exchange for the possibilities of material profit to be had amid the chaos of war, sell the lives and fates of their fellow-villagers.
3/04/2001
Signatures of the inhabitants of Achkhoy-Martan.
