News

October 24, 2003 16:56

• Deputies appointed commissioner for human rights

  On October 23, deputies of the State Duma of the Astrakhan region voted unanimously to appoint Vladislav Vinogradov commissioner for human rights in the region.

October 24, 2003 14:22

• International observers estimated state of Turks-Meskhetians

  Representatives of the OSCE, UNHCR, Council of Europe, and International Organization for Migration finished their working visit to the Krasnodar region.

October 24, 2003 14:19

• "Brigade general" Vakhid Mukhayev detained in Chechnya's Itum-Kali district

  Colonel Ilya Shabalkin stressed, "Murders of some elders and village chiefs of the Itum-Kali district, as well as an attack against soldiers of the federal troops, are on the list of crimes committed by Mukhayev.

October 24, 2003 12:16

• Chechnya: attempt to detain human right activist

  Threatening with guns, drunk servicemen made Ezhiev go into the guard-room and said he was to be detained as the activity of human rights activists on the whole and of the Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship in particular is directed at discrediting the army, which "fulfills its complicated urgent tasks".

October 24, 2003 12:14

• 91 per cent of Russians find it possible that events similar to hostage taking in theatre center on Dubrovka will be repeated

  These data are the result of a public poll held on the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy in Moscow.

October 24, 2003 11:17

• Workshop "Journalist's Rights and Juridical Aspects of Responsibility" took place at Sukhumi Media Club

  The workshop participants, journalists from both independent and national media, discussed different forms of "non-violence" they can use in their work.

October 23, 2003 19:23

• Leaders of national communities of Kuban learnt not to be afraid of police officers

  Leaders of the Turkish-Meskhetian, Tajik and African communities participated in the workshop "Protection of Rights of Ethnic Minorities during Examinations of Papers by Police". Invited lawyers helped them to enrich their store of knowledge in the field of human rights.

October 23, 2003 19:19

• Federal national and cultural autonomy of Chechens was founded in Karachaevo-Cherkessia

  The federal national and cultural autonomy of Chechens will be engaged in solving problems of not only Chechens, but of all the displaced persons from Chechnya, regardless of their nationality. It will advocate preservation of the language, national culture and originality of the nation.

October 23, 2003 17:01

• Residents of Dagestan held unauthorized meeting on Red Square

  80 residents of the Kazbek district of Dagestan held an unauthorized meeting on Red Square on October 22. They arrived in Moscow to complain about officials of local authorities.

October 23, 2003 16:59

• Movement "For Human Rights" made request to Moscow prosecutor's office to bring criminal actions in connection with operation for liberation of hostages on Dubrovka

  According to the head of the movement, Lev Ponomaryov, punishment must be borne by officials, security services' chiefs, as well as high-ranked medical personnel.

October 23, 2003 15:52

• Human Rights Watch demands to end repressions in Azerbaijan

  On October 22, the international human rights organization "Human Rights Watch" published a statement in which it roundly denounced the massive arrests of opposition activists and frauds in the course of the presidential elections of October 15.

October 23, 2003 15:49

• Disappearance of people is still central problem in Chechnya

  Moscow Helsinki Group Chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseyeva holds such an opinion. On October 22, the MHG presented a report on the human rights situation in the Chechen Republic.

October 23, 2003 14:36

• Azerbaijan journalist has been concealed by police for seven days

  Missing Azer Garachenli was kept in a ward of one of the police stations in Baku's Banagadinsky district.

October 23, 2003 14:34

• OSCE Chairman-in-Office met with activists of human rights organizations of Azerbaijan

  Director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus told a press conference, the activists informed the guest about numerous violations in the course of the election campaign and the voting of October 15 itself.

October 23, 2003 13:05

• Georgia deported three Chechen refugees detained in Pankissi Gorge to Russia

  Chechen human rights activist Aslambek Abdurzakov has said that the detainees, Vakha Bukeyev, Adam Makalov and Musa Islamov, are Chechen refugees who did not have refugee cards on them.

October 23, 2003 13:02

• Demonstration of solidarity with Azerbaijan journalists

  Some thirty Georgian journalists demonstrated outside the embassy of Azerbaijan on October 20 in solidarity with Azerbaijan journalists and opposition members.

October 23, 2003 13:01

• "Yalta Initiative for Peace in Chechnya" announces new deadline for "Peace Prize" competition applications

  Not all those who wanted to send in their applications and nominate themselves for getting the prize had time to do. The new deadline for applications is December 15.

October 22, 2003 19:19

• IDEE's observers about presidential elections in Azerbaijan

  After familiarizing themselves with the OSCE/ODHIR preliminary report of October 16, 2003, all 188 observers from the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe (IDEE) are declaring a votum separatum, a dissenting opinion.

October 22, 2003 19:03

• Pressure on Azerbaijan human rights defenders raised in post-election time

  The Federation of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan urges the foreign diplomats, intergovernmental organizations and foreign human rights defenders to express concern to the government about the new wave of pressure on human rights defenders in Azerbaijan.

October 22, 2003 14:23

• Azerbaijan in atmosphere of terror and torture

  The appeal of the Federation of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan and list of people who were severely beaten, arrested and who disappeared in Azerbaijan after the presidential elections of October 15, 2003.