Encyclopedia

Ruslan Kutaev (born in 1957, resident of Achkhoi-Martan village, Chechen Republic) is the President of the international public-political movement "Assembly of Caucasian Nations", head of the international committee on North Caucasus problems, member of the Supreme Political Council of the party ‘Alliance of Greens and Social Democrats’. Kutaev has been kept under arrest since February 20, 2014 on charges of illegal drug possession. On June 19, 2014, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" recognized Kutaev to be a political prisoner. On July 7 he was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in general regime colony.

On July 9, 2013, in the outskirts of Makhachkala, our colleague, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev, was shot dead. He set the bar high: being in one of the hottest regions of Northern Caucasus, he wrote on hot topics: human rights violations in Dagestan, crimes committed by law enforcers, and persecutions of religious communities and individual believers. He became the 17th journalist killed in Dagestan in the last 20 years and the second employee of the "Caucasian Knot" killed during performance of his professional duties. We bow our heads before him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has compiled a set of most serious environmental problems associated with the Olympic Games in Sochi. The below chronology is based on the materials of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondents for the period from 2006 to 2013.

Nikolai Yarst is a journalist, a correspondent of the "Russian Public TV" TV Channel in Sochi. On May 31, 2013, he was charged with drug possession. The journalist himself and his colleagues believe the charge was fabricated.

Andrei Rudomakha is a social activist, a coordinator of the NGO "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", Chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Branch of the "Yabloko" Party, a member of the international public organization "Network of Black Sea NGOs".

Suren Gazaryan is an activist of the public organization "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", who was fighting for the preservation of the environment of the Krasnodar Territory, despite being persecuted by law enforcers.

Evgeny Vitishko is an ecological activist from Sochi, Chairman of the public organization "Tuapse Public University", and a member of the Board of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus".

Mikhail Savva (born November 19, 1964, in Krasnodar) is a Russian human rights defender, political analyst, social and political activist.

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the city of Sochi are more and more often an object of attention of Russian and foreign mass media. Journalists try to get information about what happens in the city not only from official sources, but also from civil society activists. In order to help our Russian and foreign colleagues, the editorial board of the "Caucasian Knot" hereby presents a brief directory with contact data of independent Sochi activists, lawyers, ecologists and politicians, who are ready to communicate with media people. The directory also provides contacts of the city and territorial officials and power bodies.

According to calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot", starting from 2000, the territory of Russia saw 81 terror acts, involving 123 suicide bombers with at least 52 female suicide bombers among them. The terror acts killed 1216 persons and wounded more than 3260 persons.

In 2013, in the Krasnodar Territory, a broad range of civil and political activists were persecuted by local authorities. The pretexts were the campaign launched by the authorities to tighten control over non-profit organizations (NPOs) and the growing social tension related to the upcoming Olympic Games in Sochi. The "Caucasian Knot" has compiled the most notable cases of pressure on activists in Krasnodar and Sochi.

As a rule, elections in the Republic of Armenia are accompanied by numerous violations of the law and tricky falsification mechanisms; thus, the legitimacy of the bodies recognized elected by these elections and the existence of the constitutional electoral system as a whole are challenged. Meanwhile, transparent and free elections are the key element of democracy and a prerequisite for existence of a democratic state. Only such elections can guarantee the core principle fixed in Article 2 of the Constitution, reading: "The power in the Republic of Armenia belongs to the people..."; and only the state authorities formed by the people and enjoying the people's confidence are able to ensure efficient political, economic and social reforms in the country.