Summary of the main news related to the conflict in Chechnya. Compiled by Prague Watchdog.
Monday, March 11
The Secretary General of the Transnational Radical Party and member of the European Parliament (EP) Olivier Dupuis ended his three-week hunger strike, which he launched on February 21, having called on the President of the European Parliament Pat Cox and other EP members to stop the genocide of the Chechen nation. At the same time, the Transnational Radical Party suspended its two-day fast ("Satyagraha for Chechnya"), scheduled for March 12-14, after the campaign achieved a small but positive response in EP.
The Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe approved a report on Russia's honouring of the obligations and commitments it undertook on becoming a member state of the Council of Europe in 1996. The report, which should be debated during the second part of the 2002 session of PACE on April 22-26, says that the greatest problem remains compliance with the commitment to settle the conflict in Chechnya by peaceful means and reiterates the call to conduct a proper investigation into all cases of human rights violations and the abuse of power in Chechnya, and to prosecute their perpetrators irrespective of their functions.
Representatives of several thousand Chechen refugees in Azerbaijan complained to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers that the staff of UNHCR’s office in Baku demand bribes before releasing humanitarian payments to the refugees. -- Azeri news agency Turan
Tuesday, March 12
United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson accused Russia of failing to conduct "credible" investigations into accusations of rape, torture, and looting by Russian troops in Chechnya. Robinson also called on Chechen fighters to stop attacks on federal and local authorities. A day later Russian presidential envoy for human rights in Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, rejected Robinson’s criticism as misplaced.
Peace talks on the termination of the armed conflict in Chechnya with Russian President’s envoy in the Southern Federal Region, Viktor Kazantsev, ended, failing to start, said Ichkerian Vice-Premier Akhmed Zakayev, who was charged by Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov to hold the talks. -- Prague Watchdog
Wednesday, March 13
Several dozen residents from Starye Atagi put burnt corpses of people killed during a recent Russian mopping-up operation in their village on display in front of the building of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration in Grozny. The protesters stated that the bodies belonged to civilians, while representatives of the Russian military claimed that they were of Chechen fighters and that the rally was organised to order. An investigation into the mopping-up operation was launched.
Thursday, March 14
Bart Staes, Chairman of the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, received in the European Parliament in Strasbourg three ministers of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, namely Vice-Premier Akhmed Zakayev, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ilyas Akhmadov and Minister of Health Umar Khanbiev, chiefly thanks to the activities of the Transnational Radical Party.
Friday, March 15
A "public consultative council", which should help find a political solution to the conflict in Chechnya and work under the auspices of the Joint Working Group on Chechnya of the Parliamentary Assembly and Russian State Duma, was set up in Moscow. The Group's executive secretary Khakim Sultigov was appointed coordinator of the 30-member council.
Saturday, March 16
No major events.
Sunday, March 17
An explosion levelled a mosque in Gudermes. Chechen Prosecutor General Vsevolod Chernov said preliminary investigations suggest the explosion was caused by a gas leak, but that a terrorist act cannot be excluded.
The views expressed on this web site are the authors' own, and don't necessarily reflect the views of Prague Watchdog, which aims to present a wide spectrum of opinion and analysis relating to events in the North Caucasus.
