On the 3rd of June 2005, at around 15:00, military personnel from OMON led an unauthorized operation to detain suspects who helped militants in the Chechen Region of stanitsa Borozdinovskaya. They blew up the houses of local inhabitants, made the men sit in cars and took them to the local school. The Soldiers made people lay face down on the ground and pulled their shirts over their heads. Military personnel beat everybody, even teenagers, elderly people and handicapped, on their feet and with the butt of their guns. Soldiers kept people in the rain till late evening. At 21:00 Military personnel took eleven people, who have still not been found. (30-JUNE-05)
At the same time, another group of military personnel from OMON burnt down several houses, after having evicted the inhabitants. Several days later, inhabitants of stanitsa Borozdinovskaya, found amongst the ruins of the burnt houses, the charred remains of several people. Inhabitants were indignant towards the police because of this, but the police beat and took two people, who have not yet to be found. To keep the public from talking about the brutality, police went on a campaign of fear – driving down streets and shooting into houses and apartment buildings. On the following day, 16th of June, 230 families collected what belongings they had, left their homes and headed for the Chechnya-Dagestan border. These people, constantly living in fear of being killed or taken prisoner, have no desire to return to the Chechen Republic.
Statistical information
In the Chechen Republic, the Russian human rights centre “Memorial” recorded 1610 kidnappings from 2002-2005. In 2005 (from January to mid June) 128 people were kidnapped; of those kidnapped between 2002-2005, 513 were released. 53 people have been released from those kidnapped in 2005. Between 2002- 2005, 162 people have been found murdered; 5 have been murdered, so far, in 2005. There are 925, unsolved, disappearances between 2002-2005, and 68 since the beginning of 2005. Regarding investigations – there are 10 for those killed between 2002-2005, and another 2 for those from 2005.
Source: http://www.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/news/id/818544.html
Refugee Camp
On 20th of June, at the refugee camp ‘Nadezhda’- in Dagestan, police tried unsuccessfully to force the camp inhabitant back to the Chechen Republic. The people replied “Do you want to throw us out of Dagestan, back to Chechnya? They are kidnapping and killing us there. That is why we left. It’s better for you to kill us here, because we’re not going back” The residence of stanitsa Borozdinovskaya did not want to leave the refugee camp until the police had found the 11 missing people. At this moment one woman suffered a heart attack, and lost consciousness. She was taken to a hospital in Kizlyar. Local inhabitants, living near the camp, gathered near by to watch and support the refugees. Seeing this, the police, deciding not to attack the camp, left the area.
Comments of human rights organizations
This situation was commented on by the head of the Russian Human rights Centre “Memorial”, Oleg Orlov (picture). He said that the government powers shouldn’t make refugees from stanitsa Borozdinovskaya violently leave Dagestan if people don’t want to return to the Chechen Republic. Any attempts to throw them out will be infringements on basic human rights. (http://www.hro.org/war/2005/06/24-2.php)
The supervisor for the Europe/Central Asia Department of Human rights Watch, Rachel Denber, said that this situation is really worrying from the point of view of Human Rights. She said “The people, who carry out these crimes, such as this operation, are not being punished”. (http://www.hro.org/war/2005/06/23.php)
Statistical information
According to Svetlana Gannushkina (picture), leader of the network “Migration and the law” of the Human Rights Centre “Memorial”, there are, officially, 210.8 thousand people in temporary placement camps in the Russian Federation. 23.9 thousand Refugees located outside the Chechen Republic. There are 23.7 thousand in the Republic of Ingushetia. Svetlana Gannushkina said that the official information didn’t correspond to information given by outside organizations. For example, according to the information from the Danish Counsel of refugees, in Ingushetia there are thirty three thousand people.
The situation is getting worse because a lot of the people can’t receive refugee status. In 2003 there were thirty two thousand Russians claiming refugee status, but only 3,255 thousand could receive refugee status abroad. Svetlana Gannushkina said that their present state was deteriorating because they were the most vulnerable people and there were a lot of cases when the rights of refugees were violated by law-enforcement agencies. (http://www.hro.org/editions/refuges/2005/06/20-2.php)
Reaction
Thanks to the attention of Mass Media and Human Rights Organizations the refugees from stanitsa Borozdikovskaya have not been forcefully returned to the Chechen Republic. On 29th of June, representatives of Chechen power went to the refugee camp for talks. Ramzan Kadyrov, the first deputy of the the Chechen Republic Prime minister, tried to persuade the residents of stanitsa Borozdinovskaya that he would solve this problem and find the 11 people still missing.
While some refugees decided to return to the Chechen Republic Residents, the majority of them do not believe Ramzan Kadyrov’s arguments and decided to stay in Dagestan. The refugees from stanitsa Borozdinovskaya still need immediate help from the international community.
Photo: www.hro.org
