Chechnya Under Reign Of Terror, Say Rights Groups

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.


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)