Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - December 2004

• 2005-01-07
• Europa in de wereld

2 december 2004

- CoE inspectors visit Chechen prisons: A mission from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment has inspected several detention centres in Chechnya, reports Interfax.

6 december 2004

- Putin in India lashes out against unilateralism: Visiting New Delhi last Friday, President Putin stated that alleged attempts to build a “unipolar world” were fraught with “dangerous disproportions in economic and social development” and with growing terrorism, organised crime and drug-trafficking. Putin criticised the West for setting double standards on terrorism, pursuing Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan and Iraq while giving refugee to terrorists demanding Chechnya’s independence. He also stressed that “out-of-bloc interaction between Russia, India and China could contribute to global stability and progress”. (Interfax, Kommersant, MT)

- Putin begins visit to Turkey: After completing his visit to India yesterday, President Putin arrived in Ankara for an official visit to Turkey. Turkish Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is quoted by Interfax as saying that a package of bilateral agreements is expected to be signed during the Russian President’s visit. Izvestia (Saturday’s issue) reports that the Turkish police has arrested 12 armed Chechens on the eve of Putin’s visit. (Interfax, RIAN, RG, Kommersant, Izvestia)

8 december 2004

- Moscow seeks more cooperation with Turkey on “Chechen dossier”: (i) Visiting Turkey yesterday, Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov expressed willingness to work in close cooperation with Turkey in revealing all links between terrorists active in Chechnya and “to learn more about those who have been killed in Chechnya”. (i) S. Ivanov also stated that Russia is considering declaring the Kurdistan Workers Party as a terrorist organisation at the request of Turkey. (Interfax, RIAN, Kommersant, Novye Izvestia)

- Chechen law-enforcement agencies checking compensation payments: Kommersant and Rossiyskaya gazeta today report that Chechen First Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov was appointed head of the governmental commission on compensation payments. According to the dailies, Chechnya’s law-enforcement agencies have started checking the legacy of compensation payments for the destroyed housing. (Kommersant, RG)

10 december 2004

- Gas pipeline blown up in Dagestan: Several leading dailies carry front-page articles reporting on an explosion of a gas pipeline in Dagestan, in which 22 people were injured. Gazeta highlights that it was the fifth in a series of similar incidents on the Dagestani pipeline in the last two years. According to Izvestia, investigators have no doubt that it was a terrorist attack. In the paper’s view, the date of the incident is another proof to the investigators’ theory, as it was exactly ten years ago when Boris Yesltin signed an instruction on the prevention of illegal armed formations’ activities in Chechnya [which preceded the start of the first Chechen war] (All media).

- New Chechen Election Commission head elected: Ismail Baikhanov was elected Chairman of the Chechen Election Commission yesterday. Although a lack of legal training was used as a pretext for the replacement of the Commission’s former head, Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, it is apparent that the reshuffling is linked to the upcoming Chechen parliamentary election, says Kommersant (Interfax, Kommersant).

- Pre-emptive strikes on Georgia’s Pankisi gorge being prepared?: Nezavisimaya gazeta cites its sources in the Defence Ministry, according to which the Russian military are prepared to deal pre-emptive strikes on Chechen terrorist bases in Georgia’s Pankisi gorge. The paper also refers to a recent statement by Russian top military official in the North Caucasus, Ilya Shabalkin, who pointed to mass concentration of Chechen militants in the gorge (Nezavisimaya gazeta).

20 december 2004

- Chechen woman accused of terrorism to go on trial in Moscow: Several dailies report that the Moscow City Court scheduled for 22 December an open hearing of the case of a Chechen woman, who is charged of organising a series of terror attacks. (Interfax, Kommersant, Izvestia, Gazeta)

21 december 2004

- Putin, Schroeder discuss economic, trade ties: (i) President Putin arrived in Germany yesterday to discuss bilateral economic and trade ties in the framework of the intergovernmental consultations in Hamburg and Schleswig. The media quote Putin as having confirmed his readiness to discuss all issues with Chancellor Schroeder, including the media situation in Russia and events in Ukraine. (ii) According to a source in the Russian delegation accompanying President Putin, Germany has proposed deeper EU involvement in “normalising economic and social aspects of life in the Caucasus, in particular the Chechen Republic”. (Interfax, RG, Kommersant, Gazeta, Trud, MT)

22 december 2004

- Russia ready to cooperate with foreign countries in rebuilding Chechnya: Visiting Germany yesterday, President Putin expressed a readiness to cooperate with foreign countries in rebuilding the Chechen economy and underlined that he accepted the point that “we should provide more information about events” in Chechnya. Switching to German, Putin stated that “we have enough problems in this region” and that “we are ready to work very openly with our partners in Europe and Germany”. He also argued that “the war in Chechnya ended three years ago”. (Interfax, NG, Novye Izvestia, Vremya novostei, RG, MT)

- Belgian FM on EU-Russia relations: (i) Visiting Moscow yesterday, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht expressed hope that Russia and the EU agree next spring on road maps on the creation of the four ‘common spaces’ and that both sides would come to an agreement over easing visa formalities before the May summit in Moscow. (ii) The media report that Mr De Gucht reiterated his country’s position that Chechen separatist envoy Akhmed Zakayev, who has received political asylum in the UK, would not be permitted to travel to Belgium. (Interfax, Kommersant, MT)

- Czech humanitarian organisation denies links with Chechen rebels: In a front-page article, Vremya novostei today quotes Marek Vozka, coordinator of the humanitarian mission in the Northern Caucasus of the Czech NGO People in Need, as having stressed that the rebel printing house and a cache with ammunition, which the Chechen authorities uncovered in the same building as the organisation’s office in Grozny “came as a total surprise” for the mission. (Vremya novostei)

23 december 2004

- EC ready to take part in Chechen reconstruction, Commission’s representative: (i) ITAR-TASS quotes Commission Spokeswoman, Emma Udwin, as having stressed at a briefing yesterday in Brussels, that the European Commission is ready to take part in the reconstruction of Chechnya if Russia assumes its own role in that process. The media recall that visiting Germany, President Putin expressed readiness to discuss the problems of Chechnya with partners in Europe and cooperate in the reconstruction of Chechnya. (ii) Following talks with Belgian Foreign Minister De Gucht yesterday in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that that Russia “would never reject aid in the reconstruction of Chechnya”. “If Western partners are prepared to provide it”. (ITAR-TASS, Interfax)

- Alleged Chechen recruiter trial: Several dailies report that the Moscow City Court yesterday started open hearings of the trial of Zara Murtazaliyeva, a Chechen resident, who accused of recruiting female suicide bombers to carry out attacks in Moscow. (Interfax, Kommersant, Izvestia, Gazeta, Vremya novostei, MT)

24 december 2004

- Putin’s press conference high in the news: All media report on the annual press conference given by President Putin yesterday in the Kremlin, pointing out that the press conference lasted over 3 hours. Putin answered 51 questions of the journalists ranging from the progress of administrative reform to foreign policy issues: (...)
Putin recalled that there will be no army conscripts in Chechnya starting from 1 January 2005, and no Interior Ministry conscripts as of 1 January 2006.

- Qatar hands over convicted Russians: Referring to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the media report that “Qatar agreed to the Russian government’s request to hand over two Russian citizens to their country to serve the rest of their prison sentences handed down by a Qatari court in a Russian prison”. The media recall that Qatar handed over the two Russian intelligence officers, who were convicted of assassinating Chechen separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in February 2004. Electronic media today report that the two Russians have already arrived in Moscow. Some observers had predicted that the men would eventually be freed under a deal between the two countries. Nikolai Klen, Vice-President of the International Union of Barristers, is quoted by Gazeta as arguing that the move is “more a political than a legal act”, adding that “this is an issue of Russia’s relations with the Arab states”. (All media)

28 december 2004

- Defence Minister: no conscripts left in Chechnya: Addressing yesterday’s meeting of the government, Defence Minister Ivanov said that there are no conscripts left in Chechnya, and contract servicemen make up 100% of Russian military personnel in the republic (Interfax, Izvestia).

30 december 2004

- Ramzan Kadyrov named Hero of Russia: President Putin has issued a decree awarding Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen Deputy PM and the son of the late Chechen President, the Hero of Russia award “for courage and heroism in the line of duty” (Interfax, Kommersant, Vremya novostei, Izvestia).

31 december 2004

- Moscow vetoes OSCE’s border monitoring mission in Georgian-Russian border: Radio Liberty reports that the OSCE has failed to reach agreement on continuing the monitoring of Georgia’s border with Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan, as Russia has reportedly vetoed a draft agreement to extend the mandate for another six months. Russia also refused to endorse the OSCE’s budget for next year, meaning that the organisation will have to limp along on emergency funding until the crisis is resolved, reports Radio Liberty.

- Chechen President says 1994 federal troops entering in Chechnya was a mistake: Chechen President Alu Alkhanov says in a front-page interview with Rossiyskaya gazeta that the entering of federal troops in Chechnya on 31 December 1994 was a mistake, as the opposition to Dudayev at the moment was gaining considerable momentum, and he would have lost a new election. However, the entering of the federal troops made Dudayev a consolidating figure for Chechens, Alkhanov says (Rossiyskaya gazeta).