Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - september 2016

• 2016-10-03
• Democratie & mensenrechten Europa in de wereld

14 september 2016

Ecological NGO recognised 'foreign agent': The Russian Justice Ministry has included the 'Ecological Watch on the North Caucasus' ['Ekovakhta'] in the register of NGOs performing functions of a 'foreign agent'. Kommersant recalls that last week, volunteer firefighters from 'Ekovakhta' and Greenpeace were attacked in the Krasnodar territory. (Kommersant; see also editorial lines)

Editorial lines
Vedomosti, 14 September
'Ecologist turns to be an enemy'

Vedomosti reports that firefighters from Greenpeace and Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus were attacked and two of them severely beaten by masked men in Krasnodar region. Local police regularly stopped them under different pretexts. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice labelled Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus a 'foreign agent'. Experts say, volunteers, even if carrying out socially useful activities, are 'undesirable partners' for the state which tends to control everything. http://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/articles/2016/09/13/656823-ekolog-stanovitsya-vragom

16 september 2016

Novaya Gazeta, 16 September

'50 attempts to leave Chechnya'

Novaya Gazeta reports about Chechen refugees who every day try to cross the Belarus-Poland border. However, in most cases they are denied political asylum because the war in Chechnya is over, and because Europe is not ready to accept more Muslim refugees. Reportedly, the reason of the exodus is that Chechens are afraid of repressions of the 'iron hand' regime of Ramzan Kadyrov. http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/74572.html

20 september 2016

Results of regional elections: Acting heads of regions have won Sunday's governor elections in nine regions. Acting head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov gained 98% of the vote in elections in Chechnya, acting Tula governor Alexei Dyumin 84.17% in Tula gubernatorial elections. Vedomosti notes that only in two regions – the Transbaikal territory and Ulyanovsk region - candidates from the ruling party gained slightly more than 50%. Kommersant points out that Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democrats came second in many regions where regional legislative elections were held on Sunday. (Kommersant, MK, Vedomosti) 

21 september 2016

Massive resettlement of labour force proposed: The Migration Commission of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations proposes to massively move excessive labour force from Central Russia, the Southern Federal District and North Caucasus, where there is its surplus, to sparsely populated areas of Russia's Far East and Siberia. According to the Commission, between 500,000 to 1 million people from these regions are ready to relocate. Labour force is urgently needed for the territories of advanced development. (Izvestia)

27 september 2016

Russian Defense Ministry to revive motorized rifle division in Chechnya: According to Izvestia, the Russian Defense Ministry intends to form the 42nd motorized rifle division on the basis of three motorized rifle brigades stationed in Chechnya. The newspaper reports that the division will be formed in 2017. (Izvestia)