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TITLE: Chechnya's Demands |
AUTHOR: Luisa Timagova |
PUB: The Moscow Times |
DATE: December 29, 2000 |
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An open letter from Chechen students studying at Grozny State University.Vladimir Vladimirovich! When a ship is sinking, it calls for help, sends out an SOS signal everywhere. And for us, residents of the Chechen republic, the time has come to ring all the bells with a demand that the persecution of an entire people - an entire nation - be stopped. Apparently, your inner circle is not letting you know the real truth about the situation in Chechnya. And the situation here is such that people are living in inhuman conditions, in conditions of persecution and tyranny. The rules of the war with Chechnya are not clear to us. Although it's clear even to a baby that this chaos is taking place with the mutual consent of representatives both of the Chechen and Russian authorities. There is no battle with the so-called bandit formations. No creation of "constitutional order" is apparent either, since absolutely innocent people are being killed and the federal forces don't spare even old people or women or children. The mass destruction of a people is taking place. At the checkpoints, personal dignity is violated, the rights of each Chechen, and they are violated only because their nationality is Chechen. Almost every day inspections (zachistki) take place. The Russian OMON are engaged in robbery. Men are taken from their own homes and kept in intolerable conditions. As a result, the detained are found in camps, maimed, beaten half to death (and sometimes even to death) and they are ransomed either for large amounts of money or for weapons, which are bought from the federal forces. So the Russian army has found a means to amass a fortune. There is no peace, neither in the daytime nor at night, due to the explosions of shells and frequent exchanges of fire (which take place between the Russian OMON and soldiers). This chaos can't be called war because there is no resistance from the Chechen side, because when the forces were brought into Chechnya in September 1999 war was not declared. The requirements of the Constitution of the Russian Federation are not being fulfilled in relation to the Chechen people. If the Russian Federation is a lawful state, then why does it not fulfill its obligations, as set forth in Article 2 of the Constitution: the acknowledgement, observance and defense of the rights and freedoms of people and citizens? If one believes Article 69 of the Constitution, then why is the Russian state waging war against its own subject? The impossibility of realizing one's natural rights (to life,freedom, honor and dignity, to personal inviolability, the right to social welfare equally accessible to all) is undermining the strength and patience of the Chechen people. How long will this chaos continue? To whose advantage is this? How long is it possible to amass fortunes at the expense of the rights and sacrifices of an entire people? Finding no answers to all of these questions, we are setting forth our demands: 1. To halt the violence against the Chechen people! 2. To sit down to the negotiation table and solve many questions related to the fate of the Chechen people, by peaceful means! 3. To pay reparations as compensation for the damage inflicted on the Chechen republic by military action! 4. To restore the Chechen Republic, to restore what has been destroyed! 5. To restore the right to be regarded as a nation that is not "branded!" 6. To stop the genocide and ecocide! 7. To restore peace and order on the territory of the Chechen republic! Luisa Timagova and 29 others in Grozny END |