27 July 2007, 15:12
Contract soldiers from Dagestan think that their discharge from the army is nationality-motivated
According to the information received by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from Lachin Lachinov, Chairman of the Independent Non-Commercial Organization "Nash Kavkaz" (Our Caucasus), contract recruits from Dagestan are not allowed to do their service:
"There is a well-mastered mechanism of 'clearing the ranks'... If they cannot dismiss a soldier through attestation, they try to frame the case as 'misfit' for contract service."
The contract soldiers themselves assert that there is no interethnic enmity or hostility among servicemen, but there is discrimination of Dagestanians imposed from above, by commanders.
According to servicemen, the situation is known by the commissions called to supervise the observance of the law and order, by the FSB and by the Prosecutor's Office, but nobody undertakes any measures.
Only a month ago, 40 contract soldiers from Dagestan were dismissed, the majority of them had both higher education and experience of participation in combat operations, and some of them were awarded with certificates of honour and got honourable mentions.
The illegally dismissed Dagestan contract soldiers (15 persons who served in Military Regiments Nos. 98311, MSP-71 and MSD-42) lodged their first petition to the Ministry for National Policy, Information and External Relations of the Republic of Dagestan and to the Ombudsman's Office in Dagestan.
According to Lachin Lachinov, "the Grozny Garrison Military Court located in Khankala is permanently delaying its judicial sessions."
Author: Timur Isayev, CK correspondent
