Adjarian policemen recognize absurdity of accusations against Batumtsi newspaper staff April 02, 2004 16:23 On March 31, staff of the opposition newspaper Batumtsi were detained and conveyed to an addiction clinic for examination.
Health of Azerbaijan political prisoner Alikram Gummatov deteriorated April 02, 2004 15:49 The resolution on political prisoners in Azerbaijan adopted at the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January 2004 contains the requirement made to the republican leadership to settle the problem of political prisoners by the autumn of 2004. However, under the present circumstances Gummatov may not reach the end of 2004.
Law-enforcement agencies' inactivity indicates their involvement in attack on Mikael Danielian, his wife says April 02, 2004 14:28 Chairwoman of PEN Armenian Center Anna Akopian, who is the wife of chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Association Mikael Danielian, told a press conference on March 31 that she and Mikael Danielian himself rated the March 30 attack on the rights activist as a manifestation of state terror against freedom of speech.
Large-scale purges in Chechen villages April 02, 2004 13:50 Federal security agencies together with Moscow-backed Chechen armed units are conducting large-scale purges in the villages of Sernovodskaya and Assinovskaya in the Sunzha district of the Chechen Republic.
Majority deputies for Aslan Abashidze's party ready to abdicate their authorities as parliamentarians April 02, 2004 13:23 In such a way, the members of the Union of Democratic Revival express their protest against the results of the 28 March parliamentary elections in Georgia under a proportional representation system.
Chief of Aslan Maskhadov's bodyguard surrenders to federal forces April 02, 2004 12:38 Shaa Turlayev gave himself up as a result of special measures taken by the Chechen president's security service and law-enforcement agencies, reported the regional headquarters on the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus.
Plan to establish interim UN administration in Chechnya raises debates among separatists April 01, 2004 23:17 The chairman of the Ichkerian parliamentary committee on foreign relations, Akhyad Idigov, has sent a letter to the human rights organization Sintar via e-mail in which he asserts that Akhmadov's plan is a trap if not reviewed.
First 2004 meeting of expert council attached to Stavropol Region's ombudsman April 01, 2004 22:12 Council members considered the issue of the observance of rights and freedoms of servicemen deployed on the territory of the region.
Sputnik refugee camp dismantled in Ingushetia April 01, 2004 17:42 The last tent was folded there today and the last 137 refugees left the camp for Chechnya.
South Osetian authorities never prevent residents of republic's Georgian villages from taking part in Georgian elections April 01, 2004 15:41 A week before the elections for the Georgian parliament, South Osetia's parliament passed a resolution on the illegitimacy of this procedure on the territory of the unrecognized republic.
Ella Pamfilova: situation in refugee camps in Ingushetia changed for better April 01, 2004 14:18 Addressing the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on March 25, US diplomat Douglas Davidson said: "The United States urges Russian federal and local authorities to support voluntary returns to Chechnya and to provide alternative shelter for IDPs [internally displaced persons] who wish to remain in Ingushetia."
Opposition newspaper staff detained in Adjaria April 01, 2004 13:14 Authorities of the Adjarian Autonomous Republic made an attack on the only opposition newspaper Batumtsi, reported the Our Adjaria political movement.
78 abducted in Chechnya in 2004, according to rights activists April 01, 2004 12:52 "We send a letter asking the prosecutor's office to provide information on virtually every abduction. They open a criminal case following every abduction. Most of the prosecutor office's replies to our requests say that the kidnappers have not been found," the Memorial spokesman, Dmitry Grushkin, said.
Purges in Duba-Yurt village April 01, 2004 12:26 On March 26, Russian soldiers conducted a special operation in the village of Duba-Yurt, Chechnya's Shali district.
Leader of Georgian Laborites disappeared April 01, 2004 12:06 Vazha Shengelia was last seen at 2 a.m. on March 30, in the yard of his brother's house. Members of the party assert he was abducted.
Two servicemen shot dead in Grozny April 01, 2004 11:55 A car with two officers of federal security agencies was fired by unknown people from automatic weapons in the 4th microdistrict of Grozny on March 28.
Trial against Azerbaijan opposition leader continues March 31, 2004 23:19 We call your attention to the information statement by the Committee to Protect Rights of Ilgar Ibragimoglu.
Journalists condemn beating of Armenian rights activist March 31, 2004 22:21 "We consider the happening a sequel to the atmosphere of political intolerance that has been seen in the country recently," reads a statement by the Yerevan Press Club, the Union of Armenian Journalists, Internews Armenia, and the Glasnost Defense Foundation.
Organizer of international criminal group undergoes trial in Rostov Region March 31, 2004 22:14 An unexampled trial has started in Novocherkassk. The one who is standing trial is an organizer of the international criminal group that has been supplying white slaves from Rostov Region to the United Arab Emirates.
Shamil Basayev threatens to blow up and fire Russia March 31, 2004 18:33 Basayev accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ignoring Basayev's earlier call for Russian authorities to observe international law in Chechnya - specifically to end to alleged executions without trial and the disappearance of civilians - in return for an end to Chechen terrorist attacks against civilians in Russia, according to a letter published Tuesday on a rebel Web site.