UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers praised the positive developments in the situation of Chechen refugees. Lubbers also called on Chechens to stop fighting with each other and on Russia to hand over police duties in Chechnya to native Chechens and reduce the number of check-points.
During the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Paris, French President Jacques Chirac called on his Russian counterpart to resume peace negotiations with Chechen separatists and to not limit the Chechen conflict "to its sole terrorist aspect."
Wednesday, Jan 16
Russian Presidential Aide on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzembski, said it would be "shortsighted" to rule out any further talks with Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov – on condition they are in line with Russian President‘s requirement to lay down arms.
The village of Bachi-Yurt in the Kurchaloyevski district in the southeast Chechnya has been blocked within a special operation of Russian forces.
The Russian republic of Ingushetia called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers for assistance on the return of about 180,000 Chechen refugees. International medical relief organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) called Lubbers to ensure that the poor living conditions of the displaced Chechens in Ingushetia will be improved, after the plight of the displaced population has lost the attention of the international community.
Polish organisation Svobodny Kavkaz, in cooperation with the Chechen Information Centre in Krakow and other organisations, carried out an unsanctioned rally in protest against the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Poland. Polish police and security agents dispersed the rally, detaining several participants.
Thursday, Jan 17
There have been some "tangible improvements" in the difficult humanitarian situation of refugees and displaced persons in Chechnya and Ingushetia, said Tadeusz Iwinski, chairman and rapporteur of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe after his visit to refugee camps in Znamenskoye (Chechnya) and Karabulak (Ingushetia) on January 14-15. Iwinski believes that some 30 per cent of the refugees and displaced persons in Ingushetia could be considered as economic migrants. – Council of Europe
Russian President’s special representative for human rights and freedoms of the citizens of Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, stated that tent refugee camps in the Chechen territory would be completely removed and the 1,500 people who reside there would be moved to eight accomodation facilities in Grozny.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers said Aslan Maskhadov is not a terrorist but a key figure to a political solution of the conflict in Chechnya.
Unknown armed people unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Movsar Temirbayev, the mayor of Argun.
Friday, Jan 18
A series of special operations in late 2001 – early 2002 undermined the resistance of Chechen fighters in the republic, Russian federal and local power structures stated.
Russian Presidential Aide on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzembski, ruled out the Federal Security Service (FSB) was going to hand over the control of the operations in Chechnya to the Interior Ministry in the near future.
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