At first the negotiations platform gave hopes for better control over human rights abuses, committed by federal forces. The possibility of direct talks with prosecutors and federal forces representatives allowed human rights groups to pass them information on torture, murder, ransacking Chechen homes and disappearance of civilians. It proved impossible to stop the practice of zachistka (supposedly sweeping an area of terrorists) (during which most abuses take place) altogether so NGOs offered the system of measures to put them within a legal framework. These proposals formed the basis of the notorious Moltensky order #80 of 27 March 2002.
Unfortunately, said Oleg Orlov, the head of the Memorial human rights centre, the first success was short-lived. All consecutive meetings were held under the sign of unsuccessful fight for its implementation. The relationship the prosecutor’s office wasn’t very easy either. Having received the information on abuses, provided by human rights groups, the prosecutor’s office refused to inform them on the progress of investigations. They only gave out names and quantity of cases. But experience shows that only a tiny proportion of cases ever reach the hearing stage.
Realizing that the effectiveness of these meetings was very low and authorities were turning it into a political shield for continuing abuses in the Chechen Republic, representatives of Chechen NGOs left the working group in June. As a last resort, on 7 July large NGOs addressed president Putin aide Sergey Yasterzhembsky and to president’s special envoy on human rights in the region Yuriy Puzanov. No response followed from either.
The last meeting of the working group was held on 8 July. No representatives from the federal forces came to attend. As usual, neither FSB nor the prosecutors were willing to provide any information on measures taken to improve the situation. This leads to believe that no measures are actually taken while human rights abuses are regular and widespread.
It became clear that the situation came to a dead end and NGOs decided to pull out of the working group and effectively stop it’s work.
Authorities are not ready for dialogue with society on observing human rights in the Chechen Republic – concluded human rights groups. None the less this doesn’t mean that all the interactions with authorities are brought to an end. Activists stressed that they intend to continue contacts, but with each of them separately.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the head of Moscow Helsinki Group supported Oleg Orlov, saying, “in the Chechen Republic we didn’t suffer defieght, but we achieved only a little. And though the prosecutors started to accept information from us, the order #80 was issued. We can’t allow using us as a shield and we need to speak publicly about all the difficulties we had in the relationship with authorities. But we can’t afford not to use even the smallest opportunity for talks with the government since many lives depend on that and not only in the Chechen Republic. I have been a human rights activist for 35 years and know that nothing happens quickly here.”
