Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - augustus 2006

• 2006-09-01
• Europa in de wereld

1 augustus 2006

- Deadline for militants’ surrender extended: The National Anti-Terrorist Committee has announced that the deadline for the voluntary surrender of Chechen militants had been extended until 30 September 2006. It is expected that by then, the State Duma will pass a document granting amnesty to militants and federal troops who had been convicted of crimes committed in Chechnya. According to the Committee, 63 militants have surrendered to the authorities in the Northern Caucasus since mid-July, after the head of the Committee and director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Nikolai Patrushev offered militants to lay down arms. (Gazeta, Interfax, Kommersant, Novye Izvestia, RG)

2 augustus 2006

- Putin backs amnesty for militants: Meeting Cabinet members yesterday, President Putin praised a decision to grant amnesty to former members of illegal armed formations in Chechnya, but pointed to the need to step up security in Chechnya and the Northern Caucasus in general. In an interview with Gazeta, deputy speaker of the Federation Council, Alexander Torshin, expressed the hope that the current, eighth, amnesty would lead to an end of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya. Novye Izvestia reports about ‘telephones of confidence’ installed by Chechen authorities for militants. (Gazeta, Interfax, MT, Novye Izvestia)

- Government plans to complete rebuilding of Chechnya within 3 years: At a government meeting yesterday, 1st Deputy PM Medvedev and the ministers comprising the Government Commission for the Reconstruction of Chechnya, reported to President Putin about the meeting of the Commission in Groznyy on 25 July. Economic Minister Gref said that, by 2010, all the after-effects of the war in Chechnya would be removed, and that the Chechen economy would start functioning ‘on its own’, like in other Russian regions. Vremya novostei recalls that originally, Kadyrov’s administration sought for Chechnya a special economic and tax regime until 2013. Finance Minister Kudrin revealed that RUR5bn (roughly $190m) would be spent this year on Chechnya’s reconstruction, or almost 5 times more than in 2004 (VN).

3 augustus 2006

- Military court to retry ‘Ulman case’: A North Caucasus military court is set to retry without a jury Captain Eduard Ulman and his comrades, who had been accused of killing six civilians in Chechnya in 2002, but acquitted twice by the Court. (RIAN, VN)

- Jordanian mercenary put on wanted list in Chechnya: (i) Chechnya’s prosecutors have submitted to the Interior Ministry documents requiring that a mercenary of Jordanian origin, Abu-Havs, be put on an international wanted list on charges of committing serious crimes in Chechnya. (ii) Nikolai Patrushev, the director of the Federal Security Service, told journalists yesterday that more than 70 militants had surrendered in the Northern Caucasus after the federal authorities offered militants an amnesty. (Interfax, NG, VN)

4 augustus 2006

- Chechen President proposes to extend deadline for militants’ surrender: At a press conference yesterday in Moscow, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said that he had sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin with a request to extend the deadline for the voluntary surrender of militants until 1 January 2007. In his view, several hundred militants in the Northern Caucasus, whose total number he put at about 500, may lay down arms. Alkhanov also reiterated his position that President Putin should be given an opportunity to run for a third term. (Gazeta, Interfax, Izvestia, NG, VN)

- NGO reports on situation in Chechnya: Kommersant cites an annual report released by the Memorial society on the human rights situation in Chechnya for the period from July 2005 until July 2006. The report points to a decrease in the number of killings and abductions in Chechnya compared with the previous year, but highlights the atmosphere of fear in Chechnya for which Memorial blames Chechen PM Ramzan Kadyrov and his security structures. (Kommersant)

- Prosecutors probing judge in high-profile Budanov case: According to media reports, since last year, military prosecutors have been investigating Judge of the North Caucasus Military District Court, Vladimir Bukreyev, who had convicted former Col. Yury Budanov of killing a Chechen girl and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Commentators do not exclude that the investigation could be retaliation for the ruling. (Gazeta, Kommersant, MT)

9 augustus 2006

- Federal troops to be withdrawn from Chechnya by 2008: President Putin signed a decree, ordering the Russian Ministries of Interior and Defence to take steps for a gradual withdrawal from Chechnya by 2008 of federal troops which are not deployed in Chechnya on a permanent basis. Vedomosti argues that the move is a political victory of Chechen PM Ramzan Kadyrov. (Vedomosti, Lenta.ru)

- More than 80 militants surrender in Chechnya: Yesterday in Grozny, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov announced that 84 former militants had voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement agencies in Chechnya. He also confirmed that Magomed Khambiyev, former Ichkerian/Chechen defence minister and current member of the Chechen Parliament, is holding talks with so called “representatives of former Ichkeria”. (Interfax)

10 augustus 2006

- Chechen PM praises withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnya: Dailies comment on the decree signed by President Putin on a gradual withdrawal from Chechnya in 2007-2008 of federal troops which are stationed in Chechnya on a temporary basis. The move was welcomed by Chechen PM Ramzan Kadyrov. Kommersant asserts that to become “a sole master” of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov “has only to secure control over Chechen oil resources”. (Kommersant, VN)

- Attempt on Ingush district prosecutor: Electronic media report about an attempt on the life of an Ingush district prosecutor, Irikhan Khazbiyev, made in Ingushetia on Thursday. A series of bombings killed the prosecutor’s brother and wounded 11 other members of his family. Ingush police sources did not rule out that the attempt might have been revenge by militants for the recent killing of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev. (Interfax)

14 augustus 2006

- Chechen Security Council reorganised: The media report about the formation of a new Economic and Public Security Council, in line with a decree by Chechen President Alu Alkhanov on the transformation of Chechnya’s Security Council. German Vog has been appointed the head of the new Council. (Interfax, Kommersant, RG)

- Chechen PM denies he has presidential ambitions: In an interview with Nezavisimaya gazeta, Chechen PM Ramzan Kadyrov dismissed reports that he has presidential ambitions, adding that the goal of his team was “to end the war and to start the rebuilding of Chechnya”. (NG)

17 augustus 2006

- Chechnya to present investment projects: (i) Vremya novostei reports that the Chechen Government has drafted eight investment projects with a view to attract both domestic and foreign investors to Chechnya. (ii) Vedomosti reports that Russian tycoons are expected to discuss investments in the Northern Caucasus at a meeting with President Putin in Sochi later this month. (VN, Vedomosti)

18 augustus 2006

- Chechnya to convene a constitutional assembly: Vremya novostei reports about an upcoming constitutional assembly in Chechnya to amend the Chechen constitution to remove the stipulation that the head of Chechnya is universally elected. The assembly is scheduled for the beginning of September. (VN)

- Over 100 Chechen militants surrender: Chechen officials yesterday announced that more than 100 Chechen militants voluntarily surrendered after the director of the Federal Security Service and the head of the National Anti-terrorist Committee, Nikolai Patrushev, called on them to lay down arms. Nezavisimaya gazeta writes, however, that many of the surrendered militants are not on the police books. (Interfax, NG)

21 augustus 2006

- Doku Umarov's Brother Surrenders: Chechen officials said that rebel leader Doku Umarov's brother had surrendered in response to an amnesty for rebels who lay down their arms. Officials initially said Umarov himself had surrendered. A man who identified himself as Umarov's older brother, Akhmad, told reporters he surrendered voluntarily on Friday. Federal authorities and their Chechen allies have used clan ties in their fight against separatists, detaining or abducting relatives in order to force fighters to give up. Akhmad Umarov told reporters that he wanted to search for his father, who was kidnapped by unidentified abductors a year ago. (All media)

22 augustus 2006

- Nurgaliyev orders plan for stage-by-stage withdrawal of troops from Chechnya: Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev has issued instructions to devise a plan envisaging the stage-by-stage withdrawal of troops deployed in the republic. The drafting of the plan is due to be completed by December 2006 the Interior Ministry said in a press release. (Interfax, Kommersant)

23 augustus 2006

- Four injured in explosion in Chechnya: Four servicemen were injured when their Ural truck was blown up in Chechnya's Grozny district, a source in the Combined Federal Group in the North Caucasus told on Tuesday. The truck was blown up when the convoy was moving across the territory of the Grozny district on Tuesday afternoon. Four servicemen sustained injuries as a result of the blast. (Interfax)

24 augustus 2006

- Moscow pays tribute to late Chechen leader: Moscow on Wednesday paid tribute to Akhmad Kadyrov first president of Chechnya, on what would have been his 55th birthday. Despite heavy rainfall, officials from many government bodies came to the Federation Council building that houses the representative office of Chechnya. They laid flowers beneath a bas-relief of Kadyrov at the entrance to the building. Akhamad Kadyrov was assassinated in Grozny stadium by a bomb blast under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade on 9 May 2004. (Moscow Times, Interfax, Gazeta)

- Possible surrender of militant figure will improve situation in Chechnya: If Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov turns himself in, he can count on fair treatment, Ziyad Sabsabi, deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya and its envoy in Moscow said. He said that Doku Umarov can count on the fair documentation of his surrender and fair treatment. Meanwhile, a federal law enforcement spokesman in Grozny told that Umarov cannot be amnestied or pardoned. He said that the amnesty to Umarov is absolutely groundless and does not take into account all the circumstances related to the personality of the militant figure. (Interfax)

25 augustus 2006

- Russia may sent peacekeepers to Lebanon: According to information from the source at the Ministry of Defence, in the next few days Russia will make a decision whether to send peacekeepers to Lebanon. It could be Muslim military contingent from the troops now stationed in Chechnya. The Federation Council will be ready to approve Russian contingent's participation in the peacekeeping operation in the Lebanese-Israeli conflict zone if the Russian President submits this initiative, the chamber's Speaker Sergei Mironov told on Friday. (Kommersant Daily, Interfax)

- Federal troops in Chechnya cut to 20,000: The Defence Ministry has cut its forces in Chechnya to fewer than 20,000 in the past six years as the situation in the southern Russian republic has returned to normal, Russia's defence minister said Friday. Ivanov said that local police and other security forces are increasingly taking over law enforcement functions from troops. (Ria-Novosty)

- Reporter kidnapped in Chechnya: An international media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders expressed concern for a missing newspaper reporter in Chechnya who it said had been abducted. Yelina Yersenoyeva, a reporter for the daily Chechenskoye Obshchestvo, or Chechen Society, was put a bag over her head and bundled into a car on a street in the centre of Chechnya's capital Grozny on Aug. 17. Her aunt was also seized, but was released hours later, the group said. According to Kommersant Daily, Ms. Yersenoyeva is a widow of Shamil Basayev, and kidnappers demand his money and documents in return for journalist’s freedom. (The Moscow Times, Kommersant)

28 augustus 2006

- Rebel attacks spike outside Chechnya: Chechen attacks against Russians in neighbouring provinces are skyrocketing as law enforcement agencies in Chechnya crack down on rebels, forcing them to look elsewhere for targets. There were 18 attacks in Ingushetia and 11 in North Ossetia from January through July of this year, 50 percent more than during the same period in 2005, Nikolai Patrushev, director of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and chairman of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, or NAC, said at a NAC session Friday in Rostov-on-Don. (All media)

- Basayev's Secret Bride Vanishes: Chechen woman believed to be the last wife of Shamil Basayev is being held by law enforcement agents, who are pumping her for information on her infamous late husband, human rights activists say. Elina Ersenoyeva, 26, disappeared in Grozny on August 17. Law enforcement agents abducted her with the aim of getting their hands on $7 million in cash ostensibly stashed away by Basayev and on the fighter's personal archive, said Taisa Isayeva, spokeswoman for the Chechen Council of Nongovernmental Organizations. (Moscow Times)

29 augustus 2006

- Alternative report on the Beslan siege published: An alternative report on Beslan was prepared by the member of Parliamentary Investigation Committee on Beslan, Yuri Saveliev. According to the lengthy report there were at least 60 attackers swooped down on the school, not 32 as officials say. Police in Chechnya learned about the planned attack three hours in advance but did not alert law enforcement officials in neighbouring North Ossetia to tighten security in Beslan schools. The report was published by Novaya Gazeta just days before the second anniversary of the attack that killed more than 330 people, more than half of them children. (Novaya Gazeta, Kommersant, Moscow Times)

- Chechen PM announces voluntary surrender of 49 militants: Forty-nine members of criminal armed groups voluntarily laid down their arms in Chechnya on Tuesday after arriving at the base of Special Police Regiment No. 2. Totally 49 men have voluntarily surrendered, among them the 'emirs' of various districts," Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov told after meeting with the militants. (Interfax)

30 augustus 2006

- 50 Chechen Fighters Accept Amnesty: Fifty Chechen fighters said Tuesday that they were setting down their weapons under an amnesty and urged remaining fighters to halt their 12-year insurgency. The men were presented in Gudermes, Chechnya's second-largest town, with Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov looking (OR “pointing to”?) on and a cache of weapons displayed nearby. The men, all in civilian clothes and well groomed, appeared relaxed and swapped stories with Kadyrov and other officials. (All media)

- Right groups want Chaika to oversee ’Bride of Basayev’ case: Representatives of human rights organizations have called on Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to begin supervising the investigation into the disappearance of Elina Ersenoyeva, a correspondent for the Chechenskoye Obshchestvo (Chechen Society) newspaper, in Chechnya. Ersenoyeva was Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev's last wife, earlier media reports said. (Interfax)