Grozny hosts picket in support of victims of violence

On June 26, in Grozny, human rights defenders and relatives of kidnapped people took part in the picket in defence of victims of violence, which was held in Journalists' Square at the Press House.

According to Dmitry Laptev, a representative of the Chechen Branch of interregional public organization "Committee against Torture", the purpose of the picket is to attract the attention of the authorities and the public to the problem of human rights violations.

In 1997, by the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council, the UN General Assembly declared the day of June 26 the International Day of United Nations in Support of Victims of Torture.

According to Dmitry Laptev, the city authorities gave no official permission to hold a rally.

"We have notified the city authorities in accordance with the legal procedure; however, we received no signals from them. In accordance with the law, had they any objections, then they should have informed us about that in written form or by contact phone numbers that we had left them in our notification of the picket," Dmitry Laptev said.

Therefore, in accordance to the Russian legislation, the organizers of the picket considered that the action was sanctioned.

"When people began to gather in the park at the Press House, it naturally attracted the attention of the police. Senior officer came up to me and correctly asked me what a rally was to be held there. I explained that was not a rally, but a picket, and it would be held it in support of victims of torture, and that the city authorities had been informed of the action. The incident was over," Dmitry Laptev said.

By 11:00 a.m., in accordance to the plan, people began to gather at the place of the picket. Most of them were women, and many of them held in their hands portraits of their sons, who were kidnapped or who got disabilities as a result of torture.

According to Dmitry Laptev, the picket was attended by more than 20 relatives and friends of those people, who had been kidnapped or suffered as a result of torture. Apart from the aggrieved persons, representatives of the human rights organizations of the Chechen Republic also came to the park at the Press House.

It should be noted that in 2011, a similar action was held by staff members of the Chechen representative office of the "Committee against Torture" at the centre of Grozny. Then, according to the representative office, the event was attended by more than 40 persons. The picket was sanctioned by the authorities; however, it was interrupted by policemen because of the poster reading: "We are against tyranny of police!"