-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
WAR AND HUMAN RIGHTS
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February 24, 2000
N 157
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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Straits of Civilians in the Military Actions Zone
About 10 populated areas of Chechnya are currently under permanent
fire of artillery and aviation, Radio Liberty reports. By the
refugees" evidence, the district center Shatoy has been turned into
ruins. Vice President of Chechnya Vakha Arsanov reported of great
causalities among civilians in the district of the Argun Gorge.
According to him, Russian command refuses to grant corridors for
civilians leaving the zone of fighting.
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Field Hospital Working in Ingushetia
The field multi-profile hospital of All-Russian Center for Medicine of
Catastrophes "Zaschita" is continuing its mission in Ingushetia, the
Moscow-based Independent information center "Glasnost - North
Caucasus" reports. The doctors of the "Zaschita" treat not only
refugees from Chechnya but also diseased locals. Already the second
brigade is working in the center currently. According to the doctors,
they provide emergency medical aid for everyone. The treatment is
out-patient only, those who need hospitalization are being sent to
hospitals by ambulance cars. Every brigade brings medical supplies for
giving medical aid to 7 or 8 thousand people. There are pediatricians,
cardiologists, surgeons, gynecologists, anesthesiologists and
psychiatrists in the brigade.
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100 Prisoners Transferred to Holdovers in Stavropol from Chechnya
Over 100 people arrested in Chechnya by the federal forces have been
delivered to the holdovers of Stavropol. This was reported by a number
of news media, including ITAR-TASS. All the arrested, as it was
declared by the North Caucasus Chief Department of the General
Prosecutor"s Office, are suspected of participating in military
actions against the federal troops. According to the Chief Department,
there are not only ethnic Chechens, but also Russians, Ingushs,
Georgians, Tatars among those brought to the holdovers of Stavropol.
There also are women among them, whom Russian Prosecutor"s Office
suspects of serving in the militants" units as snipers.
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Prisoners of Filtration Camps Hidden from Sight?
It cannot be ruled out that the transference of prisoners to the
Stavropol region of Russia is caused by the arrival of the
Commissioner of the Council of Europe Robles to Moscow. According to
some sources, Robles will insist on visiting filtration camps in
Chechnya. A series of publications about tortures in the filtration
camps was seen in Western and Russian mass media during the last week.
The U. N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Robinson tried to visit
Russian filtration camps in Chechnya for checking the evidences of
many victims on spot. But Russian authorities acted unexampledly -
they refused to allow the U. N. High Commissioner to visit the Chechen
Republic. The majority of the human rights activists describe such
actions of Russian authorities as an attempt to hide the facts of
brutalities and, possibly, extra-judicial executions in the filtration
camps from the global community. The practice of concealment is not a
new investigation. During the "first Chechen war" the editor of War
and Human Rights Andrey Blinushov tried to visit the Grozny filtration
station in the group of the Plenipotentiary for Human Rights Sergey
Adamovich Kovalev. One of the senior officers of Grozny commandant"s
office than reported confidentially that few tens of underage
prisoners were removed in unknown direction from the filtration
station than shortly before the human rights activists arrived.
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Humanitarian Cargo for Civilians and Servicemen
17 tons of humanitarian cargo have been brought to Chechnya by the
delegation of the Zemstvo Movement of Russia. Elena Panina, chair of
the Zemstvo Movement, reported this to a press-conference in RIA
Novosti. According to her, one more plane with humanitarian cargo is
being prepared. The Zemstvo Movement brought 100 kilometers of
threads, 6 tons of cigarettes, 5 tons of spice-cakes and pastries, and
5 tons of chocolates. The cargo was given free of charge by Russian
enterprises and American companies working in Russian market. The aid
was distributed in schools, hospitals and military units.
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U. N. Delegation Visited Ingushetia
The UNHCR delegation, which visited Ingushetia recently, had been
shocked by the conditions of the refugees, the Moscow-based
Independent information center "Glasnost - North Caucasus" reports.
Especially difficult, the delegation stated, the situation is in the
Volgodonsky district. The district, strangled by shortage of
accommodation room, managed to settle 50,000 refugees, while the
conditions of 2.5 thousand families living in the zone of creeps on
the Tersky Ridge, are not better than the refugees". The situation
with refugees living in Karabulak is the same. Here, according to
official data by February 21, about 35,000 people lived.
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Version of Kidnapping of Andrey Babitsky
For 40 days there is no reliable news on whereabouts of reporter
Andrey Babitsky of Radio Liberty, who was detained while leaving
Grozny on January 16. The vice chairman of the parliament of the
Chechen Republic Seylan Beshaev told Radio Liberty: "We know that
Andrey Babitsky was arrested by Russian troops and taken to the
territory of Russia. This happened after Babitsky"s receiving
information about burying people who were wounded and killed while
leaving the city of Grozny, when Moscow granted a corridor for
civilians to leave Grozny, and gave them three days. After that
Babitsky was in the place where these buses and cars were
buried together with the killed and wounded. This is the approximate
picture we have. Russia"s declarations that Babitsky was exchanged for
servicemen may mean the old trick, when, as it happened earlier
already, Russian security agencies were allegedly exchanging somebody
or giving money for kidnapped people. And they made the same staging
now, too." Babitsky"s lawyers Genry Reznik and Alexander Zozulya have
again demanded the General Prosecutor"s Office to give them
information necessary for defending the rights of the citizen, whose
liberty and inviolability had been downtrodden.
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French Demonstration against War in Chechnya
A large demonstration against the war in Chechnya was held in the
center of Paris on Wednesday. The protest action organized by French
intellectuals and human rights organizations was dated for the 56th
anniversary of Stalin"s deportation of the Chechens. Few thousands of
people participated. The speakers called for extending the proxies of
the International Tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia for it would be able to
investigate crimes committed by Russian military in Chechnya. Almost
all Russian news media, with few exceptions, described the Paris
demonstration as "pro-Maskhadov".
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Incident in Russian Consulate in Poland
BBC reports that Russian authorities have expressed vigorous protest
to Poland on the occasion of an attack made by a group of Chechens and
their Polish sympathizers on Russian consulate in Poland. The
demonstration was held on the occasion of the anniversary of Stalin"s
deportation of Chechens in 1944. Polish News Agency reported that on
that day four demonstrators rushed into the building of Russian
consulate, tore off Russian flag and hoisted Chechen one, and painted
a Nazi swastika on the wall. Radio Liberty reports that Polish police
is going to arraign the four identified participants of the incident.
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Martial and Emergency Laws
The State Duma of Russia is going to initiate the passing of two
constitutional laws - on martial and state of emergency laws, and also
the law on alternative civilian service. This was reported by the
chairman of the parliamentarian Committee for Defense Andrey Nikolaev
speaking on Radio Echo of Moscow. Deputy Nikolaev, the ex-commander of
Russia"s Frontier Guard, did not deny that initiating the passing of
these laws was in much connected with the war in Chechnya.
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Chris Patten about the Situation in Chechnya
The European Union"s Commissioner for Foreign Policy Chris Patten
considers that the war in Chechnya caused a deep crisis in the
relations between EU and Russia. The reports of human rights
violations in this Caucasian republic may cause freeze in the
bilateral contacts, said Patten, who is now visiting Portugal. He
addressed the leaders of Russia once again, calling them not to hamper
the sending to international observers, whose aim is to watch
adherence to human rights in Chechnya, to the republic.
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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 Oleg V. Martynov
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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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