Violations of journalists' rights in Chechnya - December 2002Monitoring of violations of rights of journalists, the press and conflicts connected with media coverage of the events in the territory of the Chechen Republic in December 2002 Compiled by the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations. Translated by Prague Watchdog.
November 29
The “United Russia” party announced it had started setting up 15 teams of regional journalists who will record footage of the life of people in different regions of Chechnya in the course of a single day at the beginning of 2003. The obtained material will be used for preparing the film “Chechen Days”. Commenting on the decision, the chairman of the central executive committee of the party Aleksandr Bespalov stated that Chechnya is currently under an information embargo.
December 4
The command of the Joint Troops Group (OGV) in the Northern Caucasus announced that provocative materials had been discovered in a number of Chechen districts. According to OGV, leaflets threatening local schoolteachers with physical elimination were confiscated in the Shalinski district. Flyers requesting local inhabitants to stop going to work, stop watching television, stop trading and give up their secular life for a wahhabi way of life had been distributed in the Shatoiski and Achkhoi-Martanovski districts. The Russian military claims they have confiscated copies of the “Islamskaya Molodyozh” newspaper in the village of Bolshie Varandy, containing an appeal by Aslan Maskhadov to launch a new stage of the “liberation of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from Russian usurpers”.
December 5
The Chechen Minister of the Press, Broadcasting and Mass Media and Deputy Prime Minister of the Moscow-backed Chechen government Bislan Gantamirov sharply criticised the line-up of the cabinet. In his opinion the composition of the government “does not correspond to the needs of the anti-terrorist operation carried out in Chechnya, because it demonstrates no coalition of political forces or interests”. Gantamirov made these statements in an interview given to the official paper “Vesti respubliki”. He said “key offices are held by people who systematically change their position depending on changes of the political line and leadership of Ichkeria and Chechnya”. He also claimed the results of the upcoming elections of the president of the republic will depend on him irrespective of whether he will run alone or he will join some grouping.
December 8
The staff of human rights centre Memorial visited the village of Alkhan-Kala, where the former head of the local administration Malika Umazheva had been murdered. According to their report, the family of the deceased refuses to talk to anyone, blaming human rights campaigners and journalists that they turned out to be incapable of protecting Malika.
December 10
Ruslan Yusupov, associate editor of the Gudermes district newspaper “Gums”, became one of the laureates of the “Journalism as a Deed” prize conferred by the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Civic Center. The Chechen journalist submitted a series of his publications for the competition in 2002. For his achievements, which were announced on December 10 – Human Rights Day, Yusupov was invited to attend a solemn ceremony in Moscow, where he received a diploma and a valuable gift.
The “Journalism as a Deed” prize is conferred annually to the editors of mass media and journalists for reports, the preparation and publication of which constitute a moral deed, and which convincingly and honestly present social problems, issues of war and peace. In his letter addressed to the jury of the competition Ruslan Yusupov wrote: “I have written not a single word in the interest of the authorities, while I have delivered so much criticism on their account that frequently some readers on meeting me express their surprise that I am still alive.” He also wrote: “During the entire period of the Dudayev regime I was the most published author in republican papers, which were openly opposing the regime.” In those years Yusupov was deprived of the “Best Journalist of the Republic” prize due to intervention from the then vice-president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev.
Referring to federal troops, the journalist claimed “hardly anyone else in Chechnya has launched as many angry lines against military offenders as the author of this letter”. Speaking on the issue of censorship in the Chechen mass media in an interview with “Radio Svoboda”, Yusupov said there is no specific document restricting journalists, nevertheless, there are certain unwritten conditions and the editors get to have a feeling for what they may and what they may not publish.
December 11
On December 11 in Saint Petersburg, on the eighth anniversary of the beginning of the armed conflict in Chechnya in 1994, the Anti-War Committee carried out a protest action near the television building. The picket started at 5 PM at the “Peterburg” television channel building at the Chaplygin Street. Fifteen participants of the action unfurled flags, posters and banners with slogans “Freedom for Chechnya!”, “Down with state terror!”, “Against the policy of Russian authorities in North Caucasus!”, “Soldiers go home, Putin go to war!”, “Stop now!”. The action took place under police surveillance. Police representatives also informed the protesters about law restrictions of their rally. None of the mass media covered this action. Reflecting this fact the protesters raised the slogan “Shame on the official television! Shame on mass media supporting the colonial war!”
December 12
The Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations published a special report by its expert Tamerlan Aliyev “The Press in the Chechen Republic” on its website (http://www.cjes.ru/bulletin/special/015.php).
December 17
The Moscow-backed Chechen government announced that Chechen fighters are establishing an extensive information structure on the Internet and at the same time they are organizing the printing of publications with information of anti-Russian nature. The government statement claims that the intention of the leaders of armed groups is to have a structure consisting of a large number of Internet websites based in several different countries. The Chechen government expects “Kavkaz-Centr” to remain the base website, while its branches will be located in Georgia, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Jordan, the Czech Republic and in a number of other countries. According to information from the authorities of Chechnya, in the Czech Republic journalist Petra Procházková is involved in setting up the website, while in Georgia there are plans to publish a printed version of “Kavkaz-Centr” under the auspices of the editors of the Georgian Times newspaper.
December 17
Chechen separatist information sources announced that the Ingush police groundlessly detained the Agence France Presse North Caucasus correspondent Alik Astamirov. As reported by these sources, the journalist said he was detained together with his brother Umar without any charge, after which they were taken to the criminal investigations division of the Ingush Interior Ministry. In the course of several hours the Astamirov brothers were subject to interrogation accompanied by insults and threats of physical elimination. Both detainees were released late at night.
December 18
The US newspaper “Christian Science Monitor” newspaper published an article “Life among Grozny’s ruins” by its journalist Fred Weir. In the article the author writes: “The Kremlin takes journalists on a tour to show that Chechnya is returning to civilian normalcy. But is nightly mortar fire normal?” The journalist who stayed in Chechnya with a group of representatives of western mass media, who visited the republic on invitation and in accompaniment of Russian authorities, noted that “Chechnya's single, state-run television channel paints a rosy picture of normal life returning to this war-ravaged republic: homes being rebuilt, services restored, and people enthusiastically embracing the latest Kremlin-authored peace plan.”
Fred Weir writes that “off-camera, some of the TV employees tell a different story”, such as that “severe Russian security measures and nightly rebel activity make life among the Chechen capital’s ruins far from normal.” The journalist reported that every night the Russian military hurried to transport the western media representatives to the Khankala military base before the fall of darkness and the beginning of artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire. Fred Weir also recalled the incident when Russian soldiers “forcibly prevented journalists from making contact with about 20 elderly Chechen women who attempted to reach them, bearing portraits of sons and husbands who have disappeared.”
December 19
Russian human rights defenders reported that the population of the Achkhoi-Martanovski district of Chechnya was caught in an information vacuum, due to periodical shortages of power supply to houses. The inhabitants now frequently learn about events occurring in Chechnya from Russian mass media news programmes with a delay of 5 to 10 days. For example, the information about the Congress of the Chechen Nation, which took place in Gudermes on December 11, came as a surprise to the population of the Achkhoi-Martanovski district, according to the human rights activists.
December 19
Chechen human rights campaigner Ruslan Badalov accused the editors of Russian newspaper “Nezavisimaya gazeta” of publishing materials made-to-order. In his announcement he claims that the article “Threatening refugees with their homeland” by Alla Kheynonen, published in the issue of December 17, “carries very clear signs of being made to order.” Badalov states that “the piece correlates with the usual general line of the official Kremlin propaganda, primarily aimed at creating a negative stereotype of Chechens.” Badalov also refuted Alla Kheynonen’s statement that human rights activists are “henchmen of [Chechen] gang formations”. “The author carelessly equates those who fight with those who campaign against war,” the Chechen human rights activist noted.
December 19
The Nizhegorodskoye telegrafnoye agenstvo (NTA) news agency reported that one of the organizers of the provocation connected with Mikhail Kasyanov’s presidential candidacy, co-chairman of the inter-regional civic organisation Society of the Russian–Chechen Friendship (ORChD) Ruslan Kutayev, carried out Aslan Maskhadov’s special orders. According to the agency, the co-chairman of the Society from the Russian side, Stanislav Dmitrievski from Nizhegorod, travelled repeatedly to Chechnya under the pretence of searching for captive Russian soldiers – and established contacts with representatives of the Chechen fighters. NTA reported that the ORChD engages in disseminating information, including information obtained from leaders of Chechen units. Some of these materials were published in Nizhegorod media, in particular in the “Valentina Buzmakovaya’s political kitchen” programme of the Volga television company. Information about ORChD activities is also spread by the “Pravo – Zashchita” newspaper, published with the support of Jordanian citizen Riyad Ahmad Abu Hadir and Syrian citizen Juni Jamal Adel.
December 20
In the Permskaya oblast region, human rights activists Sergey Isayev and Evgeniy Kozminykh announced their intention to carry out their own investigation into the circumstances of the death of Salman Raduyev, who ended in one of the Perm area prison camps. They sent a letter to the Perm region attorney Aleksandr Kandalov requesting him to provide the inspection materials and the resolution on the refusal to reopen the criminal case on Raduyev’s death. It is known that a range of mass media published speculations that the death may have been caused by fasting and refusing to take food, beating, etc. The human rights activists intend to carry out an objective analysis of the facts and they promised to publish their conclusions in the media.
December 23 – 27
Chechen governmental newspaper “Vesti respubliki” published drafts of the Chechen constitution and draft acts on presidential and parliamentary elections in the Chechen Republic. An additional issue of the Vesti respubliki with these documents was released on December 27. The chairman of the initiative group for holding a referendum on the Chechen constitution Khasin Taymaskhanov said the intention behind the release was to disseminate the contents of the draft documents among the entire population of the republic.
December 27
Several journalists from various Russian media – including the central media – sustained injuries during the terrorist act in Grozny, in which two vehicles laden with explosives blew up the building of the Moscow-backed Chechen government. Russian news agency “Interfax” reported that its correspondent, who was himself injured, drove his colleagues to the hospital and returned to the site of the attack. “RIA – Novosti” correspondent Kometa Tepsayeva was also among the injured.
December 27
Representatives of the Chechen State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company received in Stavropol a new digital equipment from their colleagues, purchased with funds raised by regional television companies with active support from the All-Russian State Television and Radion Broadcasting Company. In the opinion of the Stavropol television staff, the digital equipment will help the Chechen television staff to achieve new creative and technical standards.
December 30
The editor-in-chief of the Gudermes district newspaper “Gums” Khozh-Baudi Borkhadzhiyev announced that starting from the new year “Gums” will become an inter-regional newspaper and will be distributed in the Gudermes, Kurchaloyevski and Nozhai-Yurtovski districts. The print run of the newspaper will increase from 7 to 20 thousand copies.
December 30
The press service of the President of Ingushetia made a statement entitled “Another lie from Interfax”. The statement notes that Russian website “Gazeta.ru”, referring to Russian news agency Interfax, claims that Chechen field commander Ruslan Gelayev “visits Ingushetia and was seen in the vicinity of several Ingush villages.” The press service announced that this information is not founded on facts. The Ingush First Deputy Interior Minister Kh. Albakov stated there have been no fighters and no field commanders in the territory of Ingushetia, and the information in question is merely a journalist’s vivid imagination. The press service of the President of Ingushetia announced that the “dissemination of false information” is considered as an attempt to destabilize the situation within the region. The press service intends to take all measures necessary to “hold false informers responsible by law”. Meanwhile the information on Gelayev’s movements was broadcast with reference to Chechen law enforcement authorities.
Compiled by Ilya Maksakov. Based on materials of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, CJES expert on Chechnya and Ingushetia Tamerlan Aliyev, news agencies “Interfax”, ITAR-TASS, RIA “Novosti”, “Prima”, newpapers “Kommersant”, “Obshchaya Gazeta”, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”, “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, “Novaya Gazeta”, radio stations “Echo Moskvy” and “Svoboda”, and internet publications “Strana.ru”, “Regiony.ru”, “Chechenpress” and “Kavkazski Vestnik”. (J/T) |
