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TITLE: When Will Aid Return? |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: The Moscow Times |
DATE: February 12, 2001 |
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After 25 days of captivity in Chechnya, Kenneth Gluck, the head of the North Caucasus mission of Mïdecins Sans Frontiers, was released unharmed last week. Thank goodness for that. Gluck's mysterious disappearance and reappearance, though, have raised disturbing questions. MSF, for instance, reports that they were never contacted by the kidnappers nor asked to pay a ransom. Gluck told journalists on Thursday that his kidnappers told him that his abduction had been a mistake. "They said that no international humanitarian agencies would be attacked in the future," Gluck said. If only it were that simple. But reality is certainly more complicated. The Interior Ministry reports that more than 700 people are currently being held for ransom in the region. Unofficial reports indicate that figure is actually far higher, as families often prefer to resolve such problems without involving the authorities. Complicating matters further is the uncertain role of the Russian security organs, which managed to particularly disgrace themselves in the case of Radio Liberty correspondent Andrei Babitsky. Babitsky, it will be recalled, was kidnapped by federal agents last January and held for nearly three weeks. The authorities handed him over to Chechen "terrorists," in a move both Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo and President Vladimir Putin said was justified. The failure of the president and his administration to condemn Babitsky's detention has done much to doubt the state?s credibility now and encourages speculation that a similar abuse of power may have taken place in the Gluck case. After all, Gluck had been openly critical of Russian policy and actions in the region, and the authorities have been notoriously hostile to outside criticism. As a result of all this, the vast majority of international aid organizations suspended operations in the region, many in direct response to the Gluck kidnapping and many much earlier. The government has been none too vocal lamenting these decisions and none too active establishing acceptable conditions for these groups' return. One encouraging sign, though, came last week when an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe aid group that had pulled out of the region in 1998 because of kidnappings announced that it would return. This announcement came after a meeting with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Details of that meeting were not disclosed, but if this group and the Russian government have hammered out an acceptable solution to this conundrum, we hope that they will let us in on the secret. A lot of people down there need help pretty badly. END |