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HR news |
Sadake Ogate
Supreme Commissar of the UNO for the affairs of refugees
Mary Robinson
Supreme Commissar of the UNO for the human rights
Alvaro Gil Robles
Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe
Dear Mr (Mrs)..................... ,
our organizations are working in Ingushetia in the camps for persons who left Chechenia from the first days of military hostilities.
At present our great worry is caused by evidently revealing wish of the Russian authorities to return the majority of people who were forced to run away from Chechenia back to this republic by any means in a short period of time. This wish, from our point of view, is dictated not by care about the people, but purely political purposes.
Already on the 12 of November the Vice - Premier of the Government of Russia, the representative of the Government of Russia in the Republic of Chechenia Nickolai Koshman stated at press conference that before December 25 all Chehenian forced migrants would be moved from Ingushetia to the territory of Chechenia. According to his words such task was put to him by the Chairman of the Government Vladimir Putin.
Now the representatives of the Ministry on Extraordinary Situations (MES) of Russia are actively persuading forced migrants to come back from Ingushetia back to Chechenia.
First, they are offered to come back to residential areas occupied by the federal forces. However, some of them, for example, Samashki, Alkhan Yurt, are heavily destroyed.
Second, place for compact residence of forced migrants are being equipped in the territory of Chechenia. Such camps are now located at Znamenskaya (Nadterechny region), Sernovodsk and Assinovskaya (Achkhoy - Martanovsky region). The people who are running away from Grozny are arriving there now.
During the visit of "Memorial" to these camps on December 15, 16 and 20, the following was found out.
Two tent camps in Znamenskaya have not enough space for placing all forced migrants already located in Nadterechny region.
There are about five thousand forced migrants in Sernovodsk already. The building of the former agricultural vocational school, where they were started to be placed, is for three thousand persons. But there are no heaters, beds, mattresses, toilettes there for the time being.
The camp in Assinovskaya in not ready yet.
It is quite natural in such a situation that many inhabitants of camps and vans from the camps for refugees do not want to move from Ingushetia to Chechenia, even in the cases when the places of their residence are located quite near from the boarder with Ingushetia.
Besides the questions of the conditions of life in Chechenia, the people are worried by the problems of personal safety. In that part of Chechenia, which is under control of Russian authorities, the people cannot feel safe for the time being - it is quite probable that a guerrilla war can be started there, but, besides, the people are afraid of the violence on behalf of the military people: robberies and even strangling (information about such incidents is arriving). An access to Chechenia of independent observers : journalists, members of human rights organizations, representatives of different international organizations, is extremely hampered by military authorities. As a result many people are afraid to find themselves in isolation from observers, journalists, to be in full dependence on any persons, dressed in a uniform, from a general to a soldier.
Representatives of authorities, probably, not satisfied by slow, from their point of view, tempo of return of forced migrants back to Chechenia, started to resort to force.
On December, 17, in the camp 'Severny", located near stanitsa Sleptsovskaya, it was announced that part of railroad vans, in which refugees live, shall be moved to Chechenia close to Sernovodsk. The announcement raised a severe protest of the camp inhabitants. In spite of that, on the next day, 36 vans were moved to Sernovodsk. Upon the evidence of witnesses, most of their inhabitants refused to move to Chechenia. But this people has no place to live. Further measures for forcing out the inhabitants of the camps to Chechenia are being prepared. Administration of the camp for forced migrants at Aki - Yurt informed the inhabitants of the camp from Nadterechny, Shelkovsky, Naursky, Achkhoy - Martanovsky regions, that they have to return to these regions, that the humanitarian aid shall be given to them only there.
The authorities of the Federal Migration Service of Russia many times assured us that no forced moving of refuges would take place, that the authorities intend to act by persuasion and good organization of social conditions. The head of this service V. Kalamanov informed us on December, 23, that he was decisively against any attempts to force forced migrants back to Chechenia. More over, according to his words, it is not planned to decrease the financing of forced migrants camps in Ingushetia.
Nevertheless the Ministry on Extraordinary Situations (MES), probably with the consent of the Government, continues the pressure upon forced migrants in Ingushetia with the aim of returning them back to the territory of Chechenia in a short period of time.
We are applying to you, Mr. (Mrs)..............., with a request to use your influence for the protection of rights of the people who suffered from military hostilities, to decide their fate themselves.
29.12.99
The Chairman of the Council of the "Memorial" Human Rights Centre
O. Orlov
The Chairman of organization "Civic Assistance"
Member of the "Memorial Human Rights centre Board
S. Gannushkina
