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TITLE: Chechnya - Another Andrei Babitsky? |
AUTHOR: Miriam Lanskoy |
PUB: |
DATE: January 17, 2001 |
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Ken Gluck, an American relief worker with the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), was seized by masked men on 8 January -- almost one year since the detention of Andrei Babitsky and the start of his ordeal. It also coincides with the return of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assistance mission to Chechnya and the arrival of the inspection team from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. The latter will report to the Council of Europe (CE) prior to its 22 -26 January meeting, when the CE will consider the possibility of reinstating Russia's voting rights, which were suspended last April due to violations of humanitarian law in Chechnya. The Russian military and FSB spokesmen have blamed the Chechens for Gluck's disappearance. Chechen spokesmen deny that they are holding Gluck and President Aslan Maskhadov has offered a reward for information leading to Gluck's return. (ITAR-TASS, 0785 GMT, 11 January 2001; via lexis-nexis) In contrast, Lieutenant General Ivan Babichev claimed that the MSF and Gluck are to blame for failing to notify the army of their travels. Putin's human rights envoy to Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, came to a similar conclusion -- "some humanitarian organizations ignore security issues and the rules of the stay in Chechnya." (ITAR-TASS, 12 Jan 01; via lexis-nexis) The Nobel peace prize-winning organization vehemently denies such charges. In fact, every two weeks Babichev himself signs the paperwork approving the travel plans of the MSF personnel. (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 16 Jan 01) All of this sounds eerily familiar. First the authorities denied that Babitsky was in custody, and intimated that his disappearance was his own fault for reporting from Chechnya in the first place. Then they said he was collaborating with the enemy. Eventually they admitted he was being held in a filtration camp. Eventually they let him go, but subjected him to a trial. In December 2000 Gluck appeared on a Russian talk show and criticized the war, visibly upsetting the Russian officials present. Then he became the target of harassment at checkpoints where he was repeatedly accused of "collecting military information." "From our point of view," said Liphan Basaeva, a representative of a leading Russian human rights group, Memorial, the "kidnapping was either an organized and well-planned action [by the Russians] or an initiative of some Russian military groups controlled by nobody." (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 16 Jan 01) Another highly regarded human rights group, Glasnost, reports that the residents of Starye Atagi believe that the Russian security services are responsible for the abduction. A Chechen policeman confirms that there were orders to arrest Gluck and several operations to capture him had failed. (GLASNOST DAILY NEWS SERVICE, 15 Jan 01) Russian humanitarian groups issued an appeal begging international NGOs not to abandon Chechnya. Those who perpetrated this crime wanted the foreigners to leave. "We are convinced that the masterminds of this kidnapping are seeking the termination of the work of the foreign representatives there in order to isolate Chechnya completely from the world community and bring down an iron curtain behind which they can perpetuate their heinous crimes. If you suspend your work now, you will be doing exactly what they planned." (GLASNOST DAILY NEWS SERVICE, 15 Jan 01) The town where Gluck was kidnapped is the same from which Fred Cuny, an American relief worker, disappeared in April 1995. In 1996 the murder of four Red Cross workers persuaded foreigners to leave on the eve of the Chechen election -- that was at Starye Atagi as well. Last week UN and EU agencies pulled out of Chechnya. It works every time. Dyarchy again? If not for the war, this month would mark the end of the term in office for President Aslan Maskhadov, who was elected in January 1997. However, his press service has announced that, in accordance with article 71 of the Chechen constitution, the term of office is being extended until 27 January 2002. (GLASNOST DAILY NEWS SERVICE, 10 Jan 01) The Russian government is no hurry to take advantage of this opportunity to hold new elections in Chechnya. The director of the Audit Chamber and former prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, commented explicitly against the idea of Chechens voting and "making a difference." (GLASNOST DAILY NEWS SERVICE, 10 Jan 01) Instead there is the expectation of the appointment of the former governor of neighboring Stavropol krai, Stanislav Ilyasov, to serve as Chechnya's prime minister, under Archmad Kadyrov. (ITAR-TASS, 1635 GMT, 13 Jan 01; lexis-nexis) Stavropol krai has a substantial Cossack minority that still hankers for the three northern districts of Chechnya which were transferred to the republic when it was reconstituted after the Chechens were allowed to return from internal exile in Central Asia in 1956. END |