Oslo: – The parliamentary elections in the Chechen Republic on November 27 will not be democratic, because people are too scared ,Aage Borchgrevink, advisor  in the Norwegian Helsinki Committee says. In a new report written together with International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Center “Demos” and the Human Rights Center ´Memorial´, the organisations analyse the political process in the Chechen Republic, described as a cynical and dangerous game, which has contributed to the establishment of a climate of fear. (25-NOV-05).

The report “In a Climate of Fear: the ´Political Process´ and the Parliamentay Elections in the Cheche Republic”refutes claims of the Russian government that the situation in the Chechen Republic has stabilized and returned to peaceful life. There is no authentic conflict resolution. Instead, the policy of the Russian government only intensifies the “Chechen deadlock”, reads the press release from IHF. 

Parliamentary election on Sunday November 27
According to Moscow Times the new Chechen parliament, which will be elected Sunday, looks likely to be packed with allies of powerful Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, and their main mandate promises to be to prepare the way for a Kadyrov presidency.”The lawmakers will not be allowed to lobby for any interests but Kadyrov´s,” said Alexander Cherkasov, a representative of Memorial, the respected human rights organization that has been sharply critical of both Kadyrov and the elections. Kadyrov leads a paramilitary force of 5,000 men, many of them former rebels, that human rights groups have often accused of brutality and arbitrariness toward ordinary Chechens.

Analysis of the political process
The first section of the report, “The Essence of the Political Process in Chechnya”, gives an analysis of the dynamics of the “political process in the Chechen Republic” from the Referendum of 2003 to the parliamentary elections of 2005, including the present situation of media and the
campaign. The second section, “In a Climate of Fear”, covers activities of the Chechen fighters, as well as activities of federal and local pro-Moscow security agencies such as hostage taking and vendetta through abuse of official power, torture, the fabrication of criminal cases, and abductions.

The report can be found in its Russian original and English
translation at: http://www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_id=3&d_id=4161.
For more info in Norwegian: www.nhc.no