Joint letter to President Putin on abduction of Arjan Erkel

Moscow, August 12, 2003

Mr President,

We are writing to you because exactly one year ago, on 12 August 2002, Mr Arjan Erkel, a citizen of the Netherlands, was abducted in Makhachkala, Dagestan, whilst serving as Head of the "Doctors Without Borders" Switzerland Mission to the North Caucasus. As is well known, "Doctors Without Borders" is a registered, professional, non-governmental organization which works closely with the Russian Ministry of Health, and with the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office and the United Nations, to provide essential medical assistance to people in need in this region.

Despite all efforts to find him Mr Erkel's whereabouts remain unknown to this day. The case of Mr Erkel was raised at the EU-Russia Summit in St. Petersburg on 31 May 2003 and during the recent visit of Mr. Pascal Couchepin, President of Switzerland, to Moscow. On these occasions you stated that Russia would continue its efforts to rescue him safely. We welcome the concern you have expressed for Mr Erkel and we would like to respectfully urge you, and the Russian authorities on the ground, to spare no efforts in securing Mr Erkel's swift and safe release.

Please accept, Mr President, the assurances of our highest consideration.

Yours sincerely,

H.E. Gianfranco Facco Bonetti
Ambassador of Italy to the RF

H.E. Richard Wright
Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Russia

H.E. James Sharkey
Ambassador of Ireland to the RF

H.E. Tiddo Hofstee
Ambassador of the Netherlands to the RF

H.E. Alexander Vershbow
Ambassador of the United States of America to the RF

H.E. Walter Fetscherin
Ambassador of Switzerland to the RF

Mrs. Rosemary McCreery
UN Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. in the RF