Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Chechnya Under Reign Of Terror, Say Rights Groups

The groups say kiddnapping and torture are common in Chechnya (RFE/RL)

November 22, 2006 -- A human rights report published today accuses security forces in Chechnya of imposing a reign of terror in the breakaway Russian republic, where hostage taking, kidnapping, and torture are widespread.

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November 22, 2006

A joint dossier compiled by Russia's Memorial rights group and the France-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said Chechen and Russian security forces acted with impunity in Chechnya, where 143 people have been abducted this year so far. Some 54 are still missing.

MORE: Coverage in Russian from RFE/RL's Russian Service.

Svetlana Ganushkina of Memorial told a Paris news conference that the abuse of human rights in Russia is "not an accident, it is not the exception, it is not a lapse, but the rule."

The report, 109 pages in its Russian-language version, urges Russian authorities to investigate abuses in Chechnya.

FIDH Executive Director Antoine Bernard said the leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany, and the European Union should "give the same priority to human rights as they give gas."

(Reuters)

Remembering Anna Politkovskaya

Anna Politkovskaya at RFE/RL in July 2006 (RFE/RL)

A BRAVE VOICE SILENCED. Prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed on October 7 in her Moscow apartment building. An outspoken critic of the Kremlin, she was best-known for her reporting on the conflict in Chechnya. Former Soviet President Gorbachev called her slaying "a true political homicide, a vendetta."

Chechens Mourn Politkovskaya As 'Last Hope'

Politkovskaya Investigating Chechen Torture At Time Of Death

Her Last Interview

Where Was Putin?

Two Journalists Die In Contract Killings A Year

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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin covers his face during a conference of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow on February 9.

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Syrians in the northwestern town of Kfar Nubul pose with a cartoon depicting Russia

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Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

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