HOME | INFO | -> NEWS <- | DOSSIER| BACHECA / TERMINE |
EDICOLA / KIOSK | LADINBolzano/Bozen, Göttingen, 22. September 2006
The French President Chirac and the German Chancellor Merkel
are going to address the catastrophic human right situation in
Chechnya in their discussion with Russian president Vladimir
Putin taking place tomorrow in France. In a letter, the Society
for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) refers to the frightening situation
of the civilian population in Chechnya. Merkel and Chirac are
going to urge Putin not to promote the Chechen Prime Minister
Ramzan Kadyrow any longer. His militias are responsible for the
majority of heavy violations against human rights. Russian and
Chechen ruling powers stated, the situation in Chechnya had
stabilized. But the facts stand against it: According to data of
the organization Memorial – which, however, can control
just about a quarter of the Chechen area – more than 47
persons had been killed during the first months in 2006, most of
them were civilians.
Almost each day civilians are kidnapped. One hardly gets any
information concerning the circumstances of the kidnapping
because the relatives of the missing people try to obtain their
release using personal contacts to the militia, the secret
service or the military. Since Ramsan Kadyrow’s assumption
of office in 2004, the persecution of the presumed Chechen
fighters’ relatives has strongly increased. Often relatives
are also taken in kinship detention “serving” as
hostages. Families that own some fortunes, are prosecuted by
members of the local militias and authorities, and relatives are
kidnapped in order to extort money. Former members of the
militias or the army are also in danger. Being under constant
observation they themselves or their relatives are often
kidnapped.
The perpetrators almost always remain unpunished. According to
data of the Chechen public prosecutor's office, 1,949 criminal
procedures were initiated in response to kidnappings between 1999
and 1 April 2006. 1.697 cases were suspended, allegedly because
the kidnappers’ identities could not be determined. 200,000
Chechen refugees cannot be provided with medical care. Due to
long and dangerous ways to school, many children cannot attend
them. Teaching material and school books are missing. On 13 July
2006, the deputy director of the UN world nourishing program in
Russia, Korjun Alaverdjan, explained that the food made available
for the Chechen refugees suffices only for three months. The WHO
needs 22 million US Dollar, in order to supply 250.000 Chechens
with food that is urgently needed. Scarcely a third of these
means has so far been collected.