Karabulak police chief dies at hospital

NAZRAN, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Karabulak police chief Adyl-Kerim
Tsechoyev wounded in the Friday explosion in Ordzhonikidzevskaya,
Ingushetia, died at hospital, a source at the Ingush Interior Ministry
told Itar-Tass.

Tsechoyev’s armored car was blasted at about 7:00 p.m. Moscow time. The
bomb of about 500 grams TNT was planted under the car bottom.

The explosion injured a bystander, the source said.

Tsechoyev’s son, a police officer, was killed in a shooting incident in
Ordzhonikidzevskaya about a year ago.

The possible theory of the Friday death is a killing in the line of
duty. A criminal case was opened.

Traffic partly restores at N Caucasus railway damaged by an explosion
occurred several hours ago

MOSCOW, November 26 (Itar-Tass) – Traffic has been partly restored at a
section the railway in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan where an
explosion occurred several hours ago.

Sources at the Russian state railway corporation RZD told Itar-Tass
traffic has resumed by one of the tracks of the two-track line that
links the regional capital Makhachkala and Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.

“The incident didn’t affect passenger train schedules, as there’s not a
single train between Makhachkala and the city of Derbent over a period
of several hours,” a source said.

In the meantime, operatives from the regional branch of the Federal
Security Service FSB and the regional Interior Ministry continue
examining the site of the explosion near the station of Tarki.

The blast set the locomotive on fire but preliminary data indicates the
absence of anyone killed or injured.

Nothing was said at the time of reporting about the size of damage done
to the track and the line’s bed.

Reporting of Chechen Women Brought an Award

Friday, 27 November 2009

On November 24, the British Foreign Press Association Media Awards 2009
presented to its winners in London. One of the awards went to Lucy Ash
and Nick Sturdee on their radio broadcasting at BBC about women in Chechnya.

The work of journalist Lucy Ash and producer Nick Sturdee, entitled
“Chechnya: The Fate of Women“, has been listened in “Crossing
Continents” programme of BBC Radio 4. And Foreign Press Association*
(FPA) awarded their work as “Radio Story of the Year”.

After the award ceremony, we have asked Nick Sturdee’s feelings and his
opinion about the awards.

Mr Sturdee said, “Two radio programmes were nominated by the initial
group of judges appointed by the FPA. I don’t know how many other
programmes were submitted and I don’t really know how the panel came to
choose the two they did. But I did speak to one of the panel of judges
at the awards ceremony, and she told me that she liked our programme
because it was devoted to a subject that she thought was very important
and that she had heard nothing about. She said that although in this
country we hear a lot about the situation in places like Afghanistan and
Iraq – for obvious and good reasons – she had no idea what life was like
for women in Chechnya. So I am very glad we were able to provide some
information that was not on the usual media agenda.”

Natalya Estemirova and Lucy Ash“I am very glad that these awards can
draw attention to stories and parts of the world that are easily
forgotten. I also feel very grateful to those kind and generous people
who were willing to talk to us and help us. One of those is Natalya
Estemirova, who was abducted and murdered just a few weeks after we
left. Her death was utterly devastating and shameful, and caused quite a
stir in the UK and much indignation among those who knew of her.
Natasha’s murder also provided unwanted confirmation of what we had
learnt and described in the programme – that danger and brutality are
ever-present in Chechnya, and that many can act with total impunity.
Natasha however was an exceptional woman – she refused to allow fear to
keep her quiet” said Nick Sturdee.

“When Lucy and I decided to make these programmes, we did so because
there seemed to be a window of opportunity after the lifting of the
Counter Terrorism Operation status in Chechnya. The rules connected to
this status meant that it was virtually impossible for foreign
journalists to fufill their professional obligations in Chechnya.
Despite the efforts of some very courageous journalists like Anna
Politkovskaya, there was a virtual information blackout from the onset
of the second Russian-Chechen war till this year. People outside Russia
and Chechnya would generally receive information about the fighting –
much of it incomplete and unverifiable – but very little got out about
everyday life and reality in Chechnya. We decided to make a programme
about women because we wanted to hear about the experience of the years
of war from people whose voices had remained mostly unheard and
unrepresented. We were also interested in women because of the light
their experience appeared to shed on the rule of law in Chechnya. We had
heard for example that women are required to cover their heads when
entering an official building of pro-Moscow authorities in Chechnya –
which is not the case anywhere else in the Russian Federation – that
Kadirov encourages polygamy – which is against the law in the rest of
the Russian Federation – and that there had been a disturbing spate of
murders of young women. Not many people seemed to have very much faith
in the willingness or ability of the pro-Moscow authorities to solve
these murders” added Mr Sturdee.

At the same time, Nick Sturdee was awarded for “TV News Story of the
Year”, with his programme “Somalia: UN World Food Programme: Theft and
Corruption” at Channel 4 News. This other programme was about the arrest
and detention of individuals fleeing Somalia into Kenya as the Ethiopian
army entered Somalia and deposed the Union of Islamic Courts in 2006.
The programme documented the existence of what was called the African
Guantanamo in Addis Ababa, and the treatment of detainees.

Now Mr Sturdee has various ideas and is developing them. He plans to
look at something different -issues related to the climate – and of
course to follow events in Russia, the Caucasus and elsewhere.

*British Foreign Press Association was founded in 1888, its members
foreign journalists in the UK and includes about 700 employees.

www.waynakh.com

http://tinyurl.com/2009-11-reporting-of-chechen-w

The Independent

John Lichfield: Forget the gas – Europe needs to get tough with Russia

World Focus: Russia

Saturday, 28 November 2009

The Russian government may be brutal and incompetent domestically, but
it has learnt to play the game of European politics with subtlety and
skill. Not that the western Europeans are particularly hard to play
against. They can be relied upon to score own goals.

France yesterday became the latest EU country to be drawn into Moscow's
plans to build two new pipelines, avoiding Ukraine and Poland, which
will make western European cooking stoves and central heating boilers
dependent on Russian gas for decades to come. During Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin's two-day visit to Paris, the French electricity giant
EDF signed a contract to help the Russian state enterprise Gazprom to
build the new "South Stream" pipeline under the Black Sea to Greece,
Serbia, Hungary and western Europe.

Italy is already involved in that project. Germany is helping with
Russia's North Stream pipeline under the Baltic, which is expected
shortly to attract investment from another French energy giant,
GDF-Suez. Officially, all EU governments are keen on the rival Nabucco
pipeline, linking Europe directly to the gasfields of the former Soviet
republics in central Asia, but it has barely advanced.

President Nicolas Sarkozy came to power two and a half years ago
promising to take a tougher line with Russia than his predecessor,
Jacques Chirac, who had shamelessly sucked up to Vladimir Putin. Mr
Sarkozy pledged to take account of the "authoritarian drift" in Moscow
and Russian "crimes" in Chechnya. As a result, the state-run press in
Moscow greeted Mr Sarkozy's election with insults and dismay. He was,
Izvestia said, the "son of a Hungarian aristocrat and the grandson of a
Salonikan Jew", under the influence of forces which "pathologically
detested" Russia.

Half way thought his mandate, Mr Sarkozy – like Mr Chirac, Gerhard
Schröder and Silvio Berlusconi before him – appears to have fallen under
Mr Putin' spell. Not only is France helping with the two Gazprom
pipeline projects (in return for guarantees of future Russian gas
supplies) it is also likely to become the first Western government to
sell a large piece of defence hardware to post-Communist Moscow.

The hi-tech French navy helicopter ship Mistral is currently moored in
St Petersburg harbour on a "courtesy" visit, flaunting its €500m (£450m)
charms to the Russian navy. Moscow wants to rebuild the once-powerful
Soviet navy and is keen to have a "Mistralski" of its own. Details of a
likely deal were discussed on the margins of Mr Putin's successful,
two-day business trip to Paris, which ended last night.

The Russian former oil oligarch, Mikhail Kodorkovski, imprisoned four
years ago before his company was swallowed into state-run Gazprom, gave
a written interview to Le Monde this week. He warned Western countries
they should not regard the crushing of legal and human rights in Russia
– including the regular imprisonment and murder of opponents of the
regime – as "peripheral problems".

He said: "It is very important that the international community should
regard events in Russia as a problem for all of us."

www.independent.co.uk/

http://tinyurl.com/john-lichfield-forget-the-gas

Dear all,

Nadezhda Banchik sent the following appeal and added:

"On Thursday at 5 p.m. Akhmed Labazanov and Vakha Dadaev were taken to
Helsinki to the deportation camp to be deported to Poland.

We hope that our outcry may prevent deportation."

Norbert
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Korkein hallinto-oikeus  Nov.25, 2009

(Superior Administrative Court) P.O. Box 180 Fin-00131 Helsinki, Finland

Honorable Court,

Please accept our trust and respect.

We at the International Human Rights Group (regarding Chechnya) address
a Motion for reconsidering and possibly changing your decision Asnro
1116709 of October 31, 2009 regarding two Chechen nationals: Vakha
Dadaev, 1983, and Ahmed Labazanov, 989.

We’ve carefully examined their cases, keeping in mind the current
situation in the Russian Federation, Poland and Chechnya. We would like
to put forward three reasons why they should not be deported to Poland.

1) Current conditions for refugees in Poland are much worse than the
media (Polish and some International media) describe them. Below are
some examples drawn from the past two years:

Mr. Lecha Azimov (two years ago) wrote from a refugee camp in Poland:
“The dinner always ends with a quarrel and fight for the rest of the
food in the big saucepans in the kitchen”

Mr. Ruslan Elisultanov from Radom undertook (10 months ago) an
unimaginable step: with three children (one of whom was 11-months old)
and his sick wife he tried to walk over the border to Austria. He said
that he had almost nothing to feed the children and - more important -
in the crowded camps many are sick, and diseases spread quickly. Two of
his children were very sick; and he was afraid for his baby. Even now
the “Ukrainian Plague” is drifting into Poland, and the Chechens, who
are under stress and experiencing malnutrition, are prone to being the
first victims of this might-be pandemic disease.

Mr. Makhmad-Salah Aziev (4 months ago): “After three months in the
Refugee camp, they evicted me, saying that I need to find my own
dwelling and pay my own expenses. But how can I pay for this if my
social assistance isn’t enough even for food; I cannot find any job,
because so many Polish people are jobless, and of course nobody will
hire me if I can’t speak Polish. In addition, I am disabled…”

We don’t blame Poland. We blame the European countries, which made
(under strong Russian influence and likely pressure) the so called
Dublin 2 and Dublin agreements. The Chechens are trying to flee from
Kadyrov-Putin terror. They have no geographical options except to enter
Poland before reaching other European countries. And they find
themselves in a trap. There’s no way out.

2) The main problem for Chechen refugees in Poland is that kadyrovites
(Kadyrov guards, or so called “army”) hunt for them. Poland has dense
nets of KGB agents, especially after the recent visit of Putin and his
“fruitful” talks with Polish leaders. To deport Chechens to Poland is
almost the equivalent of deporting them to Russia (the cases of
kidnapping, disappearance and detention of Chechens newcomers in Poland
are growing in number constantly). So, the deportation of the Chechens
to Poland can be viewed as political oppression. A few years ago Finland
was on the best (the first) place among more than hundred countries for
the amount of political repression cases. Finland had then only one
political prisoner. Russia took the last but one place: before
Uzbekistan, with a maximal amount of political prisoners and political
murders. Thus, you can understand what is awaiting deportees in Russia:
if not killing or beating to death (sometimes secretly), or else
disappearing without trace,- then detention, where tortures and beating
slow put detainees to death. We don’t know yet what has happened with
Murat Gassaev, who was deported from Spain on the night of Dec 31 2008.
The Russian General Procurator swore that Gassaev would be placed in
normal conditions and nothing would happen to threaten his life. In
fact, Gassaev was detained in a very notorious prison “Bely Lebed’”;
after 10 months the Russian authorities who received plenty of evidence
about Gassaev’s innocence declared that he was free. However, nobody has
seen him: not his parents, relatives, friends, or attorneys. All
questions about his whereabouts are unanswered. He simply disappeared.

3) Both, Akhmed and Vakha left behind their old and sick parents, who
had no chance to escape. But they sold all their belongings and gave all
they had to their sons in order to make possible their escape from
terror in Chechnya. They don’t have anybody in Poland, The only relative
they have beyond their parents are in Finland. Those relatives, to whom
Finland already granted asylum. Akhmed has his brother, Lyoma Susarov,
whom Finnish Ambassador to Ukraine himself resettled (just after this
Akhmed, Lyoma’s younger brother was persecuted)); and Vakha has his
uncle in Finland. So, the extent families would be reunited if decision
on the both cases will be positive. So don’t separate these young men
from their only relatives outside Chechnya,-in Finland. That’s why they
were so eager to reach your country, but when passing by Poland they
were forced to make fingerprints.

The two young men didn’t participate in any war crimes, or their like:
they are too young. The youngest is 20. It is now the age that is most
hunted by KGB. It is a shame, they may be deported; it is not even
considered in the above-mentioned Dublin agreements, the separating of
families. Don’t make them victims of the monstrous KGB. Recall your own
history of encounters with the Soviet KGB many years ago.

The deportation of Chechens must at least slightly remind us of the
deportation of Jews (turning them back to Germany) from some countries
directly to Nazi crematorium…

We thank and appreciate the Finnish tolerance of immigrants, from many
countries where they are abused, even Chechens. So, please be consistent
to the end— save the lives of these two Chechens. They will be devoted
members of Finnish community.

We urge you again to reconsider as quickly as possible these two cases.

With great respect - members of the International Human Rights group:

Victoria Poupko, American Association of Jews from former Soviet Union,
Anna Politkovskaya Fund, USA

Elena Maglevannaya, Russian journalist, Finland

Nadezhda Banchik, Amnesty International, USA

Mayrbeck Taramov, Chechen Human Rights Center, Sweden

Saidemin Ibragimov, Peace and Human Rights, France;

Cc:

Contacts on behalf of the Group:

Dr.Victoria Poupko Tel: 001 617 671-4695, E-mail: vpoupko@...
Address: 190 Harvard Street, S.4; Brookline, Mass. 02446; USA

Amir Mansur's Military Forces of Ichkeria are ready for winter

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Representative of the Chechen Commander of Military Forces of Ichkeria
and Chairman of Milli-Medjlis contacted with Ichkerian sources and
announced that Commander Mansur is doing well. According to
representative, Military Forces that belong to Amir Mansur are prepared
for winter and all ready to make more actions during the following
winter time.

  From their side, the Head of Military Forces of Ichkeria, Amir Mansur,
and Chechen Freedom Fighters have asked everyone to pray for them and to
believe in our Freedom!

By the representative of Amir Mansur, some of the pictures with Amir
Mansur have been presented:

http://chechencenter.info/n/breaking-news/34-breaking-news/197-1.html

ChechenCenter.info

Commander of Dagestan special task force police unit dies in hospital

MAKHACHKALA, November 26 (Itar-Tass) - Commander of a special task force
police unit of Dagestan, who was wounded in an assassination attempt on
Thursday morning, has died in a Makhachkala hospital, the press service
of the republic's Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass.

On Thursday, two masked gunmen opened pistol fire on Shapi Aligadzhiyev
as he was leaving his apartment in a dormitory in Akushinsky Street, at
around 08:20, Moscow time. Aligadzhiyev was wounded in the chest.

"The guards opened fire on the attackers, killing one of them. The
second fled the scene. Police believe he has been wounded. Police have
launched a special operation to apprehend the second attacker.

Strasbourg fines Russia $324,000 over five missing Chechens

MOSCOW, November 26 (RIA Novosti) - The European Court of Human Rights
has fined Russia 215,000 euros ($324,000) over the disappearance of five
people in its North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, the court said in a
statement on Thursday.

Aslanbek Ismailov, Aslan Ismailov, Khizir Ismailov, Yusi Daidayev and
Yaragi Ismailov, from the Chechen town of Achkhoi-Martan, were taken
away by armed men in camouflage uniforms in January 2003. They have not
been seen since.

After studying the cases, the judge ruled that the five Chechens
disappeared after having been detained by Russian servicemen. The court
also declared the men dead.

The court ruled that the Russian authorities had infringed several
articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, and awarded the
applicants a total of 40,000 euros in material damages ($60,000),
175,000 euros (264,000) in moral damages, and 5,500 euros ($8,200) for
costs and expenses.

Russia has lost the majority of cases brought against it in the
Strasbourg-based court. In 2008, the court ruled against Russia 245
times. Overall, around 20% of all complaints made to the court in the
past decade have involved Russia.

Radio Marsho (R. Liberty's North Caucasus Service) published an
interview with Ahmed Zakayev on the history of the "Wahhabite" issue in
Chechnya. It's available as a sound file in Russian with Chechen voice-over:
http://www.rferl.org/audio/ondemand/CA_20_19_20091122162000_5.html

The site "Chechencenter.info" published an English translation, but it's
partly incomprehensible, so I won't post it here. You can find it at
http://chechencenter.info/n/breaking-news/34-breaking-news/186-1.html .

Norbert

Caucasian Knot

Militiaman and his daughter of 11 assassinated in Ingushetia

Nov 24 2009

Today in the morning, in Barsuki village, Nazran District of Ingushetia,
unidentified persons shelled the car of Hadjibikar Buzurtanov, an
employee of the convoy service of the MIA. The militiaman and his small
daughter, who was with him in the car, were shot dead.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the evening on November 23 in
Ingushetia unidentified persons shot dead Alikhan Buzurtanov, head of
the administration of the Nasyr-Kort municipal district of Nazran. The
incident took place at the building of the administration. The attackers
disappeared.

They moved in a VAZ-2107 car without state registration plates and held
fire from sub-machine guns; Mr Buzurtanov with daughter and the wife
were in his VAZ-2115 model.

"Doctors rendered all the necessary medical aid to the wounded
militiaman; however he died without regaining consciousness," the local
MIA spokesman told the "Interfax".

His wife was hospitalized slightly injured.

http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/11815/

Serviceman killed, policeman wounded in central Nalchik shooting

NALCHIK, November 26 (Itar-Tass) - A road police officer was wounded and
an ensign of military unit # 27839 was killed in a shooting in central
Nalchik on Thursday, a source in Kabardino-Balkaria's law-enforcement
bodies told Itar-Tass.

Two unidentified persons opened fire on the patrol which tried to stop
them to check their IDs, at around 16:00, Moscow time.

"A patrol stopped two unidentified persons who looked suspicious; they
opened fire on police and the servicemen who were passing by, after
which they escaped, taking advantage of the shock of the people nearby,"
the police officer said.

The wounded policeman and the ensign were rushed to the regional
hospital. The serviceman died of his wounds.

Law-enforcement bodies have sealed off the area. A search for the
attackers is underway.

The Jamestown Foundation

Circassians in Karachaevo-Cherkessia Plan Mass Protest

Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 218
November 25, 2009

By: Fatima Tlisova

Circassians in the Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia have called for a
national demonstration to protest against the denial of their civil,
political and ethnic rights. Two demonstrations are set to take place on
November 26 –the first in the town of Habez, located 18 miles to the
south of Cherkessk, the capital city of KCHR, then in Lenin square in
Cherkessk, in front of the republican administrational building (the
local newspaper “Cherkessk,” November 17).

The initiative group for the protest sent an application for a license
to hold the demonstration to the Cherkessk mayor’s office on November 4.
The application was denied on the basis of a governmental decree issued
on November 12 announcing a national emergency in the republic because
of the H1N1 virus pandemic and banning any public gatherings for an
indefinite period (www.09biz.ru, November 19).

The head of the Circassian youth movement, Timur Jujuev, told Kavkazsky
Uzel that the government’s decree on the swine flu emergency was issued
not because of the virus pandemic but to prevent Circassians from mass
public protests. In his interview, the youth leader said: “All the
public markets continue working on a regular basis, so where is the
emergency? We are going to organize the demonstration even if we will
need to wear surgical masks and even if we do not have a license from
the government. This is not the will of one or two men; it is the will
of a nation, and we have right to say what we think”
(www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 19).

The Circassians, who are an ethnic minority in KCHR and constitute
approximately 11 percent of the population, have given three major
reasons for being unhappy with their status in relation with the Turkic
speaking Karachai ethnic majority.

The first involves political rank: Circassians claim that their right to
have a presence on the decision-making level is being constantly
violated by the dominant Karachais. Evidence for the claim is based on
the fact that during the last 30 years, no ethnic Circassian has been
allowed to hold the highest post in the republic: since the Soviet
period Moscow has appointed men of ethnic Karachai background for the
top level position. In 2008, the Circassians lost another position –that
of prime minister. Over the last seven months, the Karachai majority in
the KCHR parliament have repeatedly banned the Circassian candidate
Vyacheslav Derev from taking a position in the Russian Federation
Council (NTR local television channel, November 12).

The second reason is historical heritage: Circassians accuse the
Karachai political elite of falsifying history. The most scandalous case
involves conflicting claims about the ethnic background of the first
conqueror of Mt. Elbrus, Khashir Chilar. According to a number of
historical sources, such as the testimony of scholars and military
members of the expedition to Elbrus, Chilar was a Circassian from
Nalchik. The Turkic-speaking Karachais claim that the scholars
misunderstood the ethnicity of Chilar, who was an ethnic Karachai. This
competition has had tremendous influence on the current political
situation in the republic. For example, on November 20, an outdoor
poster celebrating the Great Karachai Hilar Hakirov (the
Karachai-language version of the name of the first conqueror of Elbrus)
was burned in the city of Cherkessk by unknown perpetrators
(“Cherkessk,” November 21).

Finally, Circassians declared that they were gravely offended when the
local newspaper Express-Post published an article denying the fact from
the history of World War II that the Circassian village of Belseney
saved dozens of Jewish children from the Nazis. This led to a
spontaneous protest demonstration in Besleney in which local Jews who
had been saved took to the streets to show “the deep oppression” they
felt after “such an unjust and false” newspaper article. Although the
editor of the Express-Post apologized publicly for the article, it was
during the Besleney demonstration that Circassians called for a national
protest demonstration (www.09biz.ru, November 19).

The situation in Karachaevo-Cherkessia cannot be understood without
reference to the other two Circassian republics –Kabardino-Balkaria
(KBR) and Adygeya. On November 17, a demonstration to defend the rights
of Circassians in KBR occurred in the republic’s capital Nalchik that
was attended by approximately 3,000 people. In a video posted on
Facebook, Ibragim Yagan, the leader of the Circassian NGO, speaks in
Circassian to the youth who are a majority of demonstrators. Standing
under the flags of the Russian Federation and Circassia, Yagan called
upon the youth to wake up and claim their rights and their land. “We
have been constantly watched, followed, blackmailed for our political
activities,” he said. “But we cannot lose anymore, because we have
already lost everything.” Yagans’ voice from the stage is accompanied by
a chorus of supporting voices from the auditorium.

Unlike in KCHR, Circassians constitute the majority in KBR. They say,
however, that their civil and ethnic rights are constantly being
violated there. “After the parliament of KBR ratified the bill ‘On land
and territory’ earlier this month, each Balkar living in KBR in turn has
received 10.6 hectares of the land while only 1.6 hectares belong to
each Circassian,” said Jelyabi Kalmykov, the head of a local Circassian
coordination committee. “We have lost more than 200,000 hectares of our
land since the occupation,” Kalmykov noted. The meeting sent a protest
statement to the KBR government demanding the abolition of the bill on
land and territory (Gazeta Yuga, November 19).

The leader of the Circassian Congress of KBR, Ruslan Keshev, declared at
the end of his speech: “If the government does not listen to us we are
ready for radical actions. This is the only homeland we have” (Gazeta
Yuga, November 19). Despite the aggressive public rhetoric between the
Turkic speaking Karachai-Balkars and Circassians, both ethnic groups
share a clear understanding that the conflict is not natural, but
created with a particular political goal. The leaders of the initiative
for the Circassian world sport games, Sufian Jemukhov and Alexei
Bekshokov, released a statement in which they attributed the current
“unnatural interethnic escalation” to the upcoming 2014 Olympic Games in
Sochi and the related protests by Circassians both at home and in the
Diaspora.

According to Jemukhov and Bekshokov, the conflict has the potential to
blow up the whole Caucasus into a bloody mess with the mass civilian
casualties and therefore keep the Circassians from opposing the Sochi
Winter Olympics. “Moscow plays the conflict scenario when the
participants do not have the ability to solve the conflict, but the
conflict is absolutely manageable and can be easily solved by its rulers
from the Kremlin,” they said in their statement (Adygeya Natpress,
November 14).

The role of the Kremlin in fanning the flames of local ethnic conflicts
due to political interests was underscored in Adygeya, where the local
newspaper published a letter from the most famous Russian leader in
Adygeya, Nina Konovalova of the Soyuz Slavyan Adygeyi (the Union of
Slavs of Adygeya), to the leaders of the Narodnaya Partia Rossii (the
People’s Party of Russia). In the letter, dated October 18, 2005,
Konovalova asks for support in the upcoming republican parliament
election. While describing the potential of her organization, she
writes: “Escalation through our propaganda and agitation of the social
and interethnic situation in the republic can lead to a notable increase
in the number of people who are unhappy with the current government. If
we build our election campaign on the base of uniting Adygeya with
Krasnodarski Krai… we can leave all our opponents far behind.”

The letter has a handwritten note on it, stating: “1. We do not have
money. 2. Try to create a bloc with the Promyshlennaya Partia [the
Industrial Party] – they have money.”

Konovala and her unified bloc of the Soyuz Slavyan Adygeyi and
Promyshlennaya Partia won the election under the slogans of unifying
Adygeya with Krasnodar Krai, and she is now in the parliament of Adygeya
representing the rights of the republic’s Russian population. During the
election, Adygeya and other Circassian republics and Circassians in the
Diaspora held a number of mass demonstrations, hunger strikes and
political actions protesting against the possibility of Adygeya losing
its autonomy.

http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=35777&tx_ttnews[b\
ackPid]=13&cHash=8c10bb33a0

http://tinyurl.com/yfvv8dp

Akhyad Idigov, Term Chairman of Temporary Praesidium of the Government of
Chechen Republic Ichkeria, send a congratulatory message to Herman Van Rompuy
who was elected as first full time President of EU on the evening of 19 November
2009.

Here the message:

“To: President of the EU, Mr Herman Van Rompuy

Dear Mr President,

The Government of Chechen Republic Ichkeria congratulates you on your election
as first President to the highest and responsible position of the European
Union. We hope that your election will strengthen to the rule of law,
international stability and prosperity in Europe and the rest of the world. We
remind you, Mr President, that Chechen Republic Ichkeria, territory of Chechen
people imposed an illegal occupation of Russian regime since 1999.

Caucasus, a part of Europe, and its people are waiting for peace and stability
in the region on the basis of justice and rule of law. The war, waged by Russia
against the independent and sovereign Chechen state took away the lives of more
than 250 thousand people, and now it has enlarged on the entire Caucasus as
Russian-Caucasus war. In 2008, Russian-Georgian events with resulted the seizing
of some parts of Georgia, proved it.

We hope that after your election to the highest position of European Union, the
Union will take effective measures to resolving the conflicts in Caucasus. We
strongly urge you, Mr President: to contribute for decolonization of Chechen
Republic Ichkeria, international recognition of our state, and restoration of
legimate authority, elected in 1997 under the observation of OSCE, throughout
the territory.

Successful and productive work, Mr.President.

20.11.2009

Akhyad Idigov
Term Chairman of Temporary Praesidium of the Government of Chechen Republic
Ichkeria�

http://www.waynakh.com/eng/2009/11/congratulatory-message-to-first-president-of-\
eu/


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ichkeria. Clashes in the territory adjacent to Ingushetia

24.11.2009

The occupiers and their accomplices are conducting a so-called "special
operation" in the forest zone between the populated areas of Chemulga,
Dattyh, Bamut and Arshty. Participating in the operation are the gangs
"PMSN-2", "UFSB", "North" and members of the "Defense Ministry" gang.
Artillery and air force are used.

A battle took place on Tuesday in the environments of the village of
Dattyh, Sunzha district, according to the sources. Two occupiers were
seriously wounded as a result of a Mujahedeen attack on an "exit post"
established by the occupiers and their accomplices.

Occupation sources report at the same time that three Mujahedeen were
killed. One of the killed was an inhabitant of the Cossack village of
Sleptsovskaya.

[snip]

IA "Ichkeria.info"

http://ichkeria.info/content/view/6193/48/
[My translation. N.S.]

Two militants killed in Ingushetia's Karabulak

NAZRAN.  Nov  25  (Interfax) - Two militants have been killed after
being surrounded at a property in Rabochaya Street in the town of
Karabulak during a special operation in Ingushetia on Wednesday.

"Two militants were blocked at a private house. When ordered to
surrender they opened fire against police officers. Both criminals were
killed during the clash," a source at Ingushetia's Interior Ministry
told Interfax.

Kidnapped Ingush in Egypt Subjected to Severe Torture

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

According to Masrawy, a news agency in Egypt, with the reference to the
bureau of Amnesty International in Alexandria city of Egypt, Ibragim
Zautdinovich Mankiev are subjecting to severe torture.

Earlier we had reported the kidnapping case of Ibragim Zautdinovich
Mankiev, 32 years old, in Egypt. But later Egypt police had declared
that Ibragim wasn’t kidnapped, he was held by Egypt State Security
Investigations (SSI) officers in the northern coastal city of
Alexandria, and he is in under inquiry.

Human rights defenders had immediately published the statements about
Ibragim Mankiev is at risk of torture and ill-treatment, and may be at
risk of forcible return to Russia. And yesterday Amnesty International
reported that their concerns are came true. Since his detention, Ibragim
is objecting to various forms of torture including electric shocks and
dousing with cold water everyday.

Amnest International believes that Ibragim is probably at an SSI
detention facility in the area of Karmuz in Alexandria. Russian Vice
Council confirmed that Ibragim was still detained, but that no one was
allowed to see him.

Amnesty International urged the authorities to disclose Ibragim
Zautdinovich Mankiev’s whereabouts immediately, and give him access to
lawyers of his choice, urged consular services, his family and any
medical attention he may require; the authorities to ensure that he will
not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated; called on the authorities to
release Ibragim Zautdinovich Mankiev immediately and unconditionally,
unless he is promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offence and
given a fair trial in line with international standards; urged the Egypt
Ministry of the Interior not to forcibly return Ibragim Zautdinovich
Mankiev or any other Caucassians, who would be at risk of torture or
other ill-treatment if returned to Russia.

Let’s remind you, in June 2009 at least six Chechen were forcibly
deported from Egypt -including Maskhud Abdullaev-, following a wave of
arrests in late May 2009 of foreign Moslem students.

If you would like to help Ibragim Mankiev, please appeal to:

Minister of the Interior
Habib Ibrahim El Adly
Ministry of the Interior
25 El Sheikh Rihan Street
Bab al-Louk, Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +20 22 796 0682
Email: moi@...

Prosecutor General
Abd El-Megeed Mahmoud
Dar al-Qadha al-’Ali
Ramses Street, Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +20 22 577 4716

Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights
Wael Abu al-Magd
Human Rights and International Humanitarian and Social Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Corniche al-Nil, Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +20 22 574 9713

and also to diplomatic representatives of Egypt accredited to your country.

www.waynakh.com

http://tinyurl.com/2009-11-kidnapped-ingush-in-eg

Terror on Civilians Continues in Chechnya

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

According to local sources in Chechnya, gang members of puppet Kadirov
grabbed two civilians on November 21-22.

A resident of mountainous Shatoi district of Chechnya was accused with
assisting of food to a mobil group of Chechen resistance fighters in
nearby Urus Martan district, since September 2009. National traitors
grabbed him and claimed that the hostage confessed that he was planning
to join armed forces of Chechen Republic Ichkeria.

The second hostage is 48 year old, a resident of Grozny. The gang
members of national traitors accused that he was a member of Arbi
Barayev’s unit and left from his group shortly before the end of first
Russian-Chechen war.

On the other hand, Russian occupiers introduced the counter-terrorism
operation regime (CTO) in Achkoi-Martan district of Chechnya since
midnight of 23-24 November. Let’s remember that Urus-Martan district was
imposed to the counter-terrorism operation in the begining of this November.

On today morning at 8.00 a.m. the press service of FSB of Ingushetia
declared the counter-terrorism operation in Sunzha region of Ingushetia
which includes Nesteroskaya settlement, Chemulga, Arshty, Galashki,
Alhasty villages.

http://www.waynakh.com/eng/2009/11/terror-on-civilians-continues-in-chechnya/

24.11.2009
Eurasian Secret Services Daily Report
AIA

Russian FSB declared anti-terrorist operation in Sunzhensk area of
Ingushetia and Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechen republic

The counter-terrorist operation regime has taken effect since this
morning in Sunzhensk area of Russia's North Caucasus republic of
Ingushetia, news agency RIA Novosti reports, referring to the press
service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation
Ingushetia directorate.

A FSB directorate’s spokeman told the agency that they had information
that members of illegal armed groups, involved in fulfilment especially
grave crimes, could keep in hiding in the specified area.

"The head of the Operative staff in Republic of Ingushetia declared a
counter-terrorist operation from 08:00 Moscow time within the framework
of the territory limited by settlements of Nesterovskaya, Chemulga,
Arshty, Galashki, Alkhasty and administrative border with the Chechen
republic,” according to the FSB official. According to the FSB
directorate, the zone of counter-terrorist operation is blocked by law
enforcement bodies of Ingushetia.

One person was killed in the republic's largest city of Nazran yesterday
when unknown assailants opened fire on a vehicle driven by a police
officer, RIA Novosti cites Ingush police.

In its turn, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian
Federation directorate in Chechen republic confirmed introduction of
counter-terrorist operation regime in Achkhoy-Martan district to news
agency RIA Novosti. The security forces believe that a group of
insurgents has been hiding in mountain-woody part of the district. The
special regime has taken force in a strip located from eastern suburb of
Bamut settlement through the river Fortanga in southern and eastern
directions, news agency reports.

Attacks on troops, police and other officials have been reported almost
daily in Ingushetia and Russia's other North Caucasus republics in
recent months.

http://axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1954

Police kill three militants in Russia's North Caucasus

GROZNY, November 24 (RIA Novosti)

Police killed three militants in a special operation near the border of
the Russian North Caucasus republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia on
Tuesday, a Chechen representative in the Russian parliament said.

"Three militants were killed during the operation, one of them was
identified as Ibragim Sultygov, an Ingush resident... who was
[previously] listed as missing," Adam Delimkhanov said.

According to the Delimkhanov, no police officers were injured during the
operation held near the vicinity of Chemulga and Arshty.

Chechnya and Ingushetia, as well as other mainly Muslim republics in
Russia's North Caucasus, including Dagestan, have seen a marked rise in
militant violence of late, with skirmishes and attacks on police and
other officials being reported almost daily.

Caucasian Knot

Chechnya has no conditions for rehabilitating children-invalids

Nov 23 2009

Children-invalids from this republic have no chances to receive due
treatment - for more than 40,000 such children Chechnya has only one
rehabilitation centre.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Care of
Chechnya, today the republic has 41,489 children-invalids. Besides, 1300
full and over 25,000 half-orphan live in the country.

According to the spokesman of the Ministry, the overwhelming majority of
children-invalids are victims of warfare. However, the republic is still
facing the challenges of rendering necessary medical and psychological
help to disabled kids.

"Actually, only 1.6 percent of all children-patients receive the
required rehabilitation help," the source said to the "Caucasian Knot"
to the correspondent.

According to his version, under the special statutory act, approved in
Russia back in 1994, every thousand children-invalids should have a
specialized rehabilitation facility. Chechnya has only one such centre,
located in the city of Argun and capable to service no more than 300-350
patients per year.

"In the near future Grozny will start building of the family-type
Republic's Rehabilitation Centre for 220 beds. However, even it will not
able to solve the problem of providing sick children with the necessary
high-quality medical and psychological help," the expert has added.

Author: Muslim Ibragimov

http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/11806/

Caucasian Knot

Russian human rights activists establish Public Commission on Chechnya
for defending its residents' rights

Nov 23 2009

Activists of ten NGOs from different regions of Russia have announced
establishment of the Public Commission on Chechnya, which will have its
main tasks in defending victims of torture and inhuman treatment and
bringing those guilty of rough violations of human rights or of failure
to take the necessary measures to prevent such violations and punish for
them to responsibility.

The Commission will hold permanent monitoring of the situation with the
respect of human rights in the Chechen Republic, make public the facts
of human rights violations, defend and restore the rights of particular
persons, who suffered from violations of human rights in the republic,
and will also draft recommendation for the authorities of Russia and
super-national bodies on normalization of situation in Chechnya.

The Commission is established in the context of continuing stream of
messages arriving from the Chechen Republic about rough and regular
violations of the basic norms of the international humanitarian law and
human rights, including the right to life, freedom and personal
immunity, protection against torture and other forms of inhuman
treatment; however, there is no efficient investigation of violations of
human rights and norms of the humanitarian law in the republic. This is
declared in the statement of the NGOs, which is now at the disposal of
the "Caucasian Knot".

The human rights activists also note that they have convincing grounds
to believe that the reason of kidnappings and murders of Natalia
Estemirova, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", and
employees of the humanitarian organization "Let's Save the Generation"
Zarema Saidulayeva and Alik Dzhabrailov was in the casualties' public
and human rights activities. Therefore, the establishment of the
Commission is a part of the tribute of memory paid to Natalia
Estemirova, Zarema Saidulayeva, Anna Politkovskaya and other human
rights defenders, journalists and civil activists, victims of armed
conflicts in Northern Caucasus.

The statement expresses extreme concern of the initiated criminal
prosecution of Oleg Orlov, head of the HRC "Memorial", for his public
critical opinion about responsibility of the authorities of the Chechen
Republic in the context of Natalia Estemirova's kidnapping and murder.

For working directly in the Chechen Republic, the Commission has formed
a united mobile group from activists and members of human rights
organizations from different regions of the Russian Federation. By
replacing each other the members of the group will be permanently
present in Chechnya. Most of them are professional lawyers, experienced
in defending victims of rough violations of human rights and presenting
interests of victims in Russian and international judicial instances.

The signatories of the statement also call the international community,
structures and responsible officials of the United Nations, Council of
Europe, European Union, OSCE and other intergovernmental bodies to
continue paying steadfast attention to the situation in the Chechen
Republic and taking all possible steps towards termination of rough
violations of the provisions of the international humanitarian law and
human rights in Northern Caucasus.

http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/11802/

Caucasus | 24.11.2009

Human rights watchdog warns Russia on corruption, abuse in Chechnya


Authorities in Russia's Caucasus region must do more to tackle
corruption and protect individual freedoms, according to a report by the
Council of Europe's human-rights commissioner.

Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg published his opinion after a
fact-finding mission to Chechnya and Ingushetia in September.

He urged the Moscow-backed authorities to conduct "effective and
independent investigations" into abductions, disappearances and unlawful
killings of civilians and human-rights activists.

This summer, the murder of rights activist and journalist Natalia
Estemirova in Chechnya provoked widespread outrage.

Concern over 'increased acitivity'

The North Caucus region is not yet stable, and "increased activity by
illegal armed groups, the lack of effective investigations into
disappearances and killings, and murders of human rights activists are
of particular concern," Hammarberg wrote.(*)

The report said public prosecutors estimated that more than 3,000 people
had disappeared in Chechnya in the past nine years. It said Chechen
authorities had discovered 60 mass graves containing 3,000 unidentified
bodies.

Thorough investigations into past disappearances and identifying the
dead bodies buried in the known sites in Chechnya should be carried out,
it said.

"It is essential that the exhumation of corpses takes place in an
orderly and methodological manner, demonstrating due sensitivity to the
relatives concerned," the report said.

The commissioner, who served as the UN's regional adviser on human
rights for the Caucasus region from 2001 to 2003, said he met with many
families during his fact-finding mission whose relatives had disappeared.

Chechen officials estimate 3,704 people have gone missing since 2000.

Hammarberg said he recognized the need for the public to be protected
from terrorism. But, he said, Russia should nonetheless insist
human-rights safeguards are respected.

[snip]

"Human rights standards must be strictly applied in the detention of
terrorist suspects during court proceedings," he wrote.

[snip]

jen/AFP/dpa
Editor: Nancy Isenson

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4920601,00.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

* What does Mr. Hammarberg mean by "illegal armed groups"? He should
start with making his standpoint clear on the 100% illegal Russian
occupation of Chechnya. But I guess that Mr. Hammarberg, as the
representative of the pathetic Council of Europe which lost its
innocence with regard to Russia as far back as 1996, has no intention to
target the main question and is instead asking Russia to improve the
image of its criminal rule in Chechnya by stopping the visible
individual crimes. It's of course positive that Hammarberg mentions the
outrages, but behind this lies the CoE policy to use the criticism of
individual crimes in order to cover the "supreme crime" - preparing and
launching a war of aggression, according to the still valid Nuremberg
principles - and thus to legitimate the occupation. N.S.

One dead in shooting in Russia's Ingushetia

ROSTOV ON DON, November 24 (RIA Novosti)

One person was killed in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia
on Monday when unknown assailants opened fire on a car driven by a
police officer, Ingush police said.

The attack took place in the republic's largest city of Nazran at
"around 8.50 a.m. [5.50 GMT], when unknown assailants armed with
automatic weapons attacked a VAZ-2115 car," the spokesman said.

The police officer behind the wheel was severely wounded in the attack
and a woman identified only as "his relative" was killed.

An investigation is ongoing.

[snip]

Caucasian Knot

Militia post shelled in Ingushetia, one person wounded

Nov 21 2009

An unidentified culprit used a grenade launcher to shell a stationary
militia post in Nazran, the capital of Ingushetia; one employee of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has suffered.

"At about 7:50 Moscow time in the so-called 'Ekazhevo crossroads' an
unidentified person made a grenade launcher shot at the building of the
stationary militia post, where four militiamen were at that moment,"
said the spokesman of the press service of the Ingush MIA. According to
his story, the exploded shell caused fragmental wounds to one
militiaman, who was hospitalized, as reported by the "Gazeta.Ru".

The surname of the wounded militiaman is Emiev. The "Ingushetia.Org"
reports that his wounds were assessed as of medium gravity.

http://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/11792/

Insurgent Violence Reported in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan

Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 217
November 24, 2009

By: The Jamestown Foundation

The Russian federal authorities today imposed a counter-terrorist
operation regime on part of Chechnya’s Achkhoi-Martan district, with the
aim of neutralizing a group of militants hiding out in a wooded
mountainous area. The regime means that military and law enforcement
personnel will have the right to search and demand ID’s from suspicious
individuals, as well as inspect cars and other means of transport. The
inhabitants of some areas within the designated area will be evacuated
and, if necessary, vehicles will be seized (www.newsru.com, November 24).

Today’s announcement of a counter-terrorist operation launched in
Achkhoi-Martan came against the backdrop of reported incidents of
insurgent violence in other parts of Chechnya over the last several
days. Yesterday (November 23), unidentified gunmen in the capital Grozny
shot and killed Roza Almazova, the chief accountant for the Chechen
branch of the Federal Service for Narcotics Control. The incident took
place at the entrance to her apartment building in Grozny’s Leninsky
district. A suspected militant was killed on November 22 in a shootout
between security forces and a suspected group of rebels numbering at
least ten people in a wooded area between the villages of Avtury and
Serzhen-Yurt in Chechnya’s Shali district (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 23).

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov told journalists today that the remains
of Dokka Umarov, the Chechen rebel leader and “emir” of the Caucasus
Emirate, were not found following an operation earlier this month on the
outskirts of the village of Shalazhi in Chechnya’s Achkhoi-Martan
district. Kadyrov had earlier speculated that Umarov’s remains were
among those of some 20 militants killed during the operation by rockets
fired from helicopters. However, a close associate of Umarov, Islam
Uspakhadzhiev, was reportedly among the slain rebels, along with two
other high-ranking militants, Rustam Akuev and Alakhazur Bashaev.
Kadyrov said today that both Uspakhadzhiev and Umarov were known to have
been in the area where the former was killed, which is why he suggested
that Umarov might have also been killed. The Chechen leader said “the
hunt for Umarov is currently being carried out in many directions,”
adding that Umarov, “like a rat, is dug in somewhere in the mountains”
with fewer and fewer fellow rebels “and he will hardly manage to survive
the fall and winter, because they are hot on his heels” (www.newsru.com,
November 24).

In neighboring Ingushetia, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Alikhan
Buzurtanov, the head of the administration of the Nasyr-Kortovsky
municipal district of the city of Nazran on November 23
(www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 23). On November 21, an unidentified
attacker fired a grenade launcher at a police post near Nazran, wounding
one policeman. On November 20, unidentified attackers fired on a traffic
police car traveling on the Kavkaz federal highway in Nazran. One
policeman was wounded and subsequently died in the hospital
(www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 22).

In Dagestan, a policeman was wounded in the republican capital
Makhachkala on November 22 as he was trying to remove an explosive
device from the hood of his car. On November 21, a resident of
Dagestan’s Buinaksk district, Khan Khadisov, was killed while he was
trying to plant an explosive device on a road in the village of Durangi
(www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 22).

Meanwhile, a newly-published report by Thomas Hammerberg, the Council of
Europe’s human rights commissioner, states that the number of terrorist
acts, killings and abductions in Chechnya has increased this year
compared to 2008, despite the fact that the Russian government
officially earlier this year ended the counter-terrorist operation
launched in the republic in 1999. Hammerberg called on the Russian
authorities to clarify the legal norms governing zachistki, or
counter-insurgency sweeps, in the republic, to guarantee the observation
of human rights during such operations, to carry out independent
investigations of violations and to put an end to abductions,
extra-judicial killings and secret arrests.

Hammerberg noted that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
has heard over 100 cases connected to counter-terrorist operations in
Chechnya. According to the report: “in many cases the court has
encountered violations of fundamental rights that are protected by the
European Convention for Human Rights, including the right to life, and
also violations of the prohibition on torture and inhumane treatment”
(www.newsru.com, November 24).

http://tinyurl.com/yl2zwku
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

It's sometimes funny to see political correctness applied by JF's
pundits. The article starts with another large-scale cleansing operation
by the occupation troops and ends with occupation violence against
Chechen citizens, but they let their headline focus on some Newspeak
"insurgent violence". N.S.

Two Russian security officials found beheaded in N.Caucasus

NALCHIK, November 24 (RIA Novosti)

The headless bodies of a court bailiff and a police officer have been
found in the southern Russian republic of Kabardino Balkaria, a security
official said on Tuesday.

The bodies were found on Monday night in the town of Chegen, the source
said.

"The beheaded bodies of the men, a district bailiff and a police
officer, were found in the trunk of a Mercedes," the source said, adding
they were 26 and 27 years old respectively.

The men had been shot with automatic weapons before being beheaded, the
source said. He said police are looking into several theories behind the
crime, including Islamist violence.

[snip]

Ingushetia Boss Admits Corruption Fuels Rebellion
23 November 2009
Reuters


Ingushetia's President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov attending an interview at his office
in Moscow, Nov. 22, 2009. Yevkurov, the leader of the Muslim republic of
Ingushetia, who narrowly survived an assassination attempt in June, conceded on
Sunday that widespread state corruption was helping an Islamist insurgency in
the region.

The leader of the Muslim republic of Ingushetia, who narrowly survived an
assassination attempt in June, conceded on Sunday that widespread state
corruption was helping an Islamist insurgency in the region.

He declined to say what proportion of officials were corrupt, but acknowledged
that the problem was bad enough to fuel a cycle of violence and crime that has
put his impoverished region at the heart of mounting violence across the North
Caucasus.

"Bandits give money to officials, knowing they can be easily paid off,"
Yunus-Bek Yevkurov said in an interview during a trip to Moscow. "This in turn
means officials are [aiding] the terrorists and militants."

He added that law enforcement agencies were also behind eight kidnappings this
year.

The tall, mustachioed leader, who spent two months in hospital including a
fortnight in a coma after a suicide bomber blew up his car in June, said he was
banking on a stabilization program including harsher punishment for corrupt
officials.

When Yevkurov was appointed just over a year ago, he immediately sacked his
entire cabinet, pledging to reduce corruption. He admitted that his efforts had
yet to show progress.

"We underestimated the situation before and this was a mistake. ... But I
believe in myself, that I will control it by punishment," he said, adding that
more officials still needed to be stripped of the power that they had amassed in
the previous government.

The decorated paratrooper, who led Russian troops in a showdown with NATO forces
at Pristina airport during the Kosovo war in 1999, was chosen by the Kremlin to
replace Murat Zyazikov, whom rights groups accuse of murder and corruption.

Yevkurov is largely credited with securing an aid package from the Kremlin worth
32 billion rubles ($980 million) over the next six years.

More than half of Ingushetia's economically active population are unemployed,
and 90 percent of the region's revenues are subsidies from Moscow.

He aims to use the aid package to develop the economy and create jobs, in the
hope that this will reduce crime.

Armed attacks on authorities and law enforcement agencies are a near-daily
occurrence in the region of 470,000 people bordering Chechnya, where Moscow has
gone to war with rebels twice in the past two decades.

President Dmitry Medvedev has described the North Caucasus as Russia's biggest
domestic political problem, and rights groups and analysts say Ingushetia is at
war with Islamist rebels.

But Yevkurov rejected the term, saying the violence stemmed from poverty and
easy access to weapons, as well as abuses and corruption by law enforcement
agencies.

He said his biggest challenge was to prevent "disenchanted, disappointed" young
men from being drawn into the insurgency by creating more jobs and establishing
social programs.

Having grown up with a surge in violence that started after the Soviet Union
fell in 1991, Ingushetia's youth "know nothing but violence, terrorism and
banditry," he said.

Suspected militant killed in Chechnya

MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti)

A suspected militant was killed in Chechnya when police encountered a
group of over 10 gunmen in the Caucasus republic's Shali district, a
police official said on Monday.

The shootout occurred on Sunday in a mountainous wooded area, the police
source said.

"The gunmen opened fire, one of them was killed when police returned
fire, the others fled," he said, adding that no police were injured in
the attack.

The gunman is being identified, the official said.

[snip]

UN Confirms That Extradition of Chechen Refugees Has Risks

Sunday, 22 November 2009

43rd session UN Committee against Torture was held in Geneva during
November 2-20. As a result of the session, UN Committe against Torture
confirmes that deportee Chechen refugees may face a real risk of torture.

43rd session UN Committee against Torture, committe discussed the third
periodic report of Azerbaijan Republic on the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Azerbaijan was represented by 13 state officals. The delegation of
Azerbaijan was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov.

In the session, Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan together with the
International Federation of Human Rights presented their report about
the situation in Azerbaijan. Some parts of the report was related in
Chechen asylum seekers and refugees in Azerbaijan:

“In violation of this law and State Party obligation to not “expel,
return (”refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there
are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of
being subjected to torture” under the Article 3 CAT, cases of
extraditions to the countries with bad human rights records were
registered in Azerbaijan, e.g. Chechens to Russia and Kurds to Turkey.
In these cases, Azerbaijan prefers rather bilateral agreements than
European treaties.

The several thousands of Chechen asylum seekers face permanent problems
with registration of their status. The Azerbaijan State Committee on
Work with Refugees and IDPs still refuses to deal with this group of
asylum seekers and re-addressed this issue to the UNHCR office in Baku.

The Chechens are generally provided with a standard letter confirming
that UNHCR is examining their cases, which helps them to avoid forced
eviction from the country. But even after 3-4 and more years of such
“examination”, they have no official refugee status. Even widow of first
Chechen President Djohar Dudayev and family of Aslan Maskhadov failed to
receive this status and were forced to leave the country.

Although the authorities of Azerbaijan do not practice the formal
refoulement of Chechens, they tolerate the disappearances and extradite
the Chechens in Russia. Since 1999, at least 24 Chechens were illegally
transferred in Russia where they faced torture. Most famous is the case
of Ruslan Eliyevich Eliyev who had been registered by UNHCR as refugee
under No.6032. After his kidnapping in Baku on 09 November 2006, he was
found dead in Samashki, Chechnya in March 2007 with traces of severe
torture, in a bag thrown down from a helicopter. In April 2008, Yusup
Nagayev was arrested for extradition to Russia. He had been registered
by the UNHCR already in 2002 under no. 4338. On February 7, 2009, he was
extradited to Russia. In June 2008, Azerbaijan forcibly extradited a
disabled asylum seeker, Suleyman Ayubov, registered by the UNHCR office
in Baku under No. 6024.

Besides them, at least 18 Chechens were secretly extradited from
Azerbaijan and consequently arbitrarily executed in Russia. Namely, the
representative of Chechen rebels informed in May 2008 about the same
fate of Azimov Kyuri, Aziyev Rasul, Bogayev Hampash, Chuchayeva Aset
Zhavazhbaudinovna, Demelkhanov Zelimkhan Hamzatovich, Dikayev Mussa
Vakhaevich, Edilov Ruslan Muslimovich, Eskiyev Aslan Mogomed-Eminovich,
Gadayev Bislan, Gaziyev Imran, Marayev Dokka Lechiyevich, Mazhidov
Ramazan, Mezhidov Abubakar, Oybuyev Ruslan, Shaipov Shamil
Shamsudinovich, Tsulayeva Zara, and Yandarbiyev Salam.

Therefore, some Chechens try to use the temporary prohibition of
non-refoulement as interim measure of the European Court of Human Rights
(ECtHR). For example, Chechen asylum seeker Hadji Chankayev was
extradited to Russia in July 2006 under the request related to the
terrorist case in Kaspiysk, Russia, despite the lawyer’s request of
interim measure. The ECtHR was misinformed by the Government about the
alleged absence of extradition request of Russia. Only a few days after
the ECtHR negative response, Chankayev was extradited. Consequently, the
Russian law-enforcement agencies did not find his guilt under the
terrorist act and changed the accusation to have him extradited.
Finally, Russian authorities accused and sentenced him for alleged theft
dating back to a decade to justify the extradition request. In another
case, on 30 June 2008, the Azerbaijan authorities arrested Alikhan
Khasuyev who had been registered under no. 786–06c06036. Only an urgent
request of interim measures from the ECHR in the framework of the case
Khatuyeva and Khasuyev v. Azerbaijan and Russia (no. 33810/08) prevented
him from immediate extradition.

The Republic of Azerbaijan arrested and extradited to the countries of
origin dozens of foreigners accused of crimes committed outside of
Azerbaijan. Some of them can be considered as falling under Article 4
CAT. However, the existence of bad practice of torture in these
countries and the lack of effective procedures of appeal raise the
questions under Article 3 CAT. For example, in the case already
mentioned of Mr. Yusup Nagayev, Russian citizen of Chechen origin,, the
Russian authorities demanded his extradition under Articles 111
(Intentional Infliction of a Grave Injury) and 126.2 (Abduction) of CrC
of the Russian Federation. Nagayev was arrested although at the moment
of his arrest, he was registered by the local UNHCR Office under the No.
4338. On 09 May 2008, the ECtHR stopped the extradition and communicated
the parties the respective information. On 13 December, the UNHCR
decided not to provide Nagayev a refugee status. Consequently, on 22
December 2008, the Prosecutor Office decided to extradite him to Russia.
On 23 January 2009, this decision was confirmed by the district court,
and on February 7, he was extradited, reportedly without opportunity to
appeal against the decision.

That is notable that in its judgment on the case Shamayev and Others v.
Georgia and Russia (no. 36378/02, 12 April 2005), the ECtHR decided that
the intention of Georgia to extradite five ethnic Chechens to Russia
violated Article 13 taken in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3 of the
European Convention of Human Rights. That means that before the change
of position of ECHR, the courts of the Republic of Azerbaijan have to
take this precedent into account and not to extradite the Chechens in
Russia and to prosecute them in Azerbaijan if necessary.”

At the last day of the session, UN Committe Against Torture presented
its concluding observations with a report. In the report the committe
draw attention to “non refoulement principle“:

“The Committee is concerned at cases of extraordinary rendition such as
rendition of Chechens to the Russian Federation, based on bilateral
extradition agreements, and Kurds to Turkey, where they may face a real
risk of torture. The Committee regrets the lack of data provided on
asylum applications and refugees, the number of expulsions, refoulement
and extradition cases as well as on the number of cases subjected to
judicial administrative review. The Committee also regrets the absence
of information on diplomatic assurances and any post-return monitoring
procedure established for such cases. (art. 3)”

www.waynakh.com

http://tinyurl.com/2009-11-un-confirms-that-extra

The Times

November 23, 2009

Vladimir Putin is the prisoner of his secrets

The fallout from my husband’s murder reverberates still

Marina Litvinenko


Three years ago today my husband Alexander (Sasha) Litvinenko died in
London in the first ever act of nuclear terrorism — poisoned by
radioactive polonium-210. Sasha’s loved ones will mourn privately and
lament the shortcomings of the world that failed to give them justice.
But it is not just they who are imprisoned by this unresolved case. The
effect is being felt across the world.

First, besides me and my son, there is a small circle of Sasha’s friends
who are determined to keep up the pressure against all odds, and a group
of Scotland Yard detectives who believe they have solved the case and
are frustrated that they cannot have the suspects handcuffed.

Second, there are the two suspects. Andrei Lugovoy, who is the subject
of a British extradition request, is effectively locked in Russia; the
moment he sets foot outside he would be arrested through a British
international warrant. The Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin — whom
Sasha, as he lay dying, accused of ordering his killing — is the
prisoner of his secrets. He cannot relinquish control without risking
that his successor, for his own reasons, would decide to dig into the
Litvinenko murder.

Third, there is another party, trapped in anxious uncertainty by the
Litvinenko case — Russia itself. As a state, it became entangled in the
murder by virtue of giving official backing to the two suspects, adding
credence to the theory that the killing was officially sanctioned. The
cover-up is itself a state crime.

Beyond this, Britain too has become ensnared. On his recent visit to
Moscow, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, had the benign and
rational goal of putting the matter aside as it stands — the extradition
of Mr Lugovoy blocked by the Russian constitutional ban on extraditing
citizens — and proceeding with other pressing issues, such as
non-proliferation or climate change. But his hosts do not care about
loose nuclear weapons or melting Arctics; they want charges against Mr
Lugovoy dropped, full stop. That is something that Mr Miliband cannot
do, even if he wanted to. When he told them so, they got so angry that
they made the Litvinenko case the central theme of the visit.

In his deathbed statement, Sasha said that the echo of his death would
“reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life”. This is
indeed happening because of a simple truth: a nation cannot stay healthy
when something is rotten in the very centre of its political organism.


Marina Litvinenko is the author, with Alex Goldfarb, of Death of a
Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the return of the KGB.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article69\
27573.ece