Rights defenders demand to return Chechnya to law

At the All-Russian Congress of Human Rights Defenders held in Moscow, participants have adopted the resolution on violations of human rights in Chechnya and the need to abolish the law on foreign agents and the Chief Department for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

The Congress was convened by the decision of the Human Rights Council of Russia. The organizing committee included members of the Moscow Helsinki Group, the movement "For Human Rights", the "Civil Assistance" Committee, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the Public Verdict Foundation, and the movement "Golos" (Vote).

The resolution refers to "totalitarian personal power" in Chechnya.

"All kinds of dissent are being suppressed, and critics are being severely punished. A system of collective responsibility has been introduced, and family members of suspects are being expelled from villages and towns and even from the republic," states the resolution.

Its authors have also reported of calls for execution without trial, kidnappings, torture and killings committed with involvement of law enforcers.

The Congress has requested the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), the Prosecutor's Office, and the President "to take measures to return the situation in Chechnya to the law," the "Kavkaz.Realii" reports.

Lev Ponomaryov, the leader of the movement "For Human Rights", has also stated that under the flag of the fight against terrorism, human rights are being limited. He has been supported by Oleg Orlov, the chairman of the board for the HRC "Memorial", who criticized law enforcers for introduction of police prevention registration lists of religious extremists in Northern Caucasus.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.