Five people abducted in Chechnya

Grozny, January 5th, 2004 (RIA Novosti correspondent) Unidentified people have kidnapped five persons in Groznyy's Staropromyslovskiy district, the Chechen Interior Ministry has told RIA. "Preliminary reports have it that on Sunday night [4 January] 10 armed people in uniform broke into block of flats No 23 in the suburb of Mayakovskiy and kidnapped a man and four women living there," the Interior Ministry said.

Measures are being taken to find the kidnapped. They are Magomed Musayev, 25, Luiza Musayeva, 30, Yelizaveta Musayeva, 28, as well as Potimat Gambulatova, 55, and Salmatu Khasuyeva, 37. A search for the kidnappers is in progress, the Interior Ministry said.

http://www.newsru.com/russia/04jan2004/jhgch.html (quick tr. by M.L.)

Abduction of people - the main obstacle for stability in Chechnya, assert human right activists

Violations of the human rights and hostage taking remain the main obstacle for any stability in Chechnya, asserts the chairman of Moscow Helsinki group Ludmila Alekseeva.

"The hostage taking and crimes against innocent civilians remain a major factor, which impedes any stabilization in Chechnya", - she stated to Interfax on Sunday.

"The inhabitants of Chechnya are telling : we don't need any compensation and aid for us, we will rebuild and restore everything ourselves, provided that they leave us in peace and these zachistki and abductions will stop ", - she said.

In her opinion, violations of human rights in Chechnya contribute to the reinforcement of 'bandformirovaniy'[illegal military units]:"Some of the victims who have suffered in the course of zachistki depart for the mountains, fearing, that they will go after them again".

Oleg Orlov, the leader of human rights organization Memorial already earlier, at the press conference, asserted that the special services are behind a majority of hostage taking in Chechnya. "This means that's not necessary the federal troops, boyeviks can take people too, but in a majority of cases these forces are under control of the federal troops - increasingly more and more frequently these are siloviki, who are controlled by Kadyrov"- he noted.

Orlov said that from January through November 2003 in Chechnya 431 people have been kidnapped. 137 people have been freed, 47 people were found to be murdered, 247 have disappeared and their fate hasn't been established.

According to the human rights activist, the Memorial's monitoring of cases of hostage taking is carried out only on 25-30% of territory of Chechnya, as they don't have any access to the mountain regions. "According to our rough estimations, the total numbers of abduction of citizens on the territory of the Chechen republic can be 3 to 4 times higher, than according to the information available to the Memorial -, he noted.

Meanwhile the commander of the united group of troops in the North Caucasus Colonel General Valery Baranov stated earlier to the journalists that only bandits are taking hostages, these who earn money for continuation of their bombing work against the organs of authority.

"A capture, work on any case and the punishment of guilty ones - this is a complex, tedious work. But we will do everything in order to free the republic's population from the threat of abduction and to put to an end this criminal business " - said Baranov.

According to him, in Chechnya they investigate all cases of kidnappings. "Today not one such crime remains without some investigation and opening a criminal case. I'm confident, that the criminal cases for these facts will be investigated and on each of them our courts will found the legal solutions " - emphasized commander.

Baranov assumes that a creation of interdepartmental commission on the problems of kidnapped and disappeared without a trace people will lower criminal situation in Chechnya. "This interdepartmental commission, in the first place, will considerably accelerate the investigation of casesof these disappeared without a trace, and in the second place, it will protect people from abduction, and over the long term it will create a situation in the republic, which will prevent any cases of hostage taking" - said Colonel General.

memo.ru

5/1/2004

Dozens of Chechen refugees blocked by Ukrainian military men at frontier with Russia

Chechen refugees who were going to their relatives in Ukraine called the Kavkaz Center agency. Military men made several families, altogether 21 people with small children, get out of the Baku-Kiev train near the Ukrainian frontier station "Red Grave" late in the evening on January 1.

As the refugees report, the senior of the military men, who had introduced themselves as Ukrainian frontier guards, told about the reason of their illegal actions that there was an order [not?] to let Chechens in Ukraine by Russia's request.

People were left to the mercy of fate. They had neither money nor food and in fact were in the position of hostages.

The Chechen refugees' relatives who live in Ukraine require to let the people go. But Ukrainian authorities keep absolute silence.

It should be pointed out that it is not the first case of such a kind. To please the Kremlin, the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly made Chechen families get out at the frontier, not letting them in Ukraine.

Source: Kavkaz Center Website