Council of Europe thanks Ingushetia for helping Chechen refugees

The Council of Europe is grateful to Ingushetia for rendering assistance to refugees from the Chechen Republic. This was declared yesterday, on April 22, in the city of Magas by Thomas Hammerberg, CE's Commissioner for Human Rights.

"The Council of Europe and the international community as a whole are grateful to the Republic of Ingushetia for the help rendered to the Chechen people during the armed events in the Chechen Republic," the ITAR-TASS quotes Mr Hammerberg as saying.

The "Caucasian Knot" has already informed that prior to his voyage to Ingushetia Thomas Hammerberg had visited Chechnya. There he met not only the Chechen leadership, but also ordinary citizens. Accompanied by Ali Tagirov, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for the city of Grozny, Mr Hammerberg visited the Grozny Centre for Social Help to Families and Children and the 9th City Hospital.

The CE's Commissioner for Human Rights also visited the so-called ORB-2 (Special Search Bureau), where former administration was blamed by human rights organizations of tortures. After replacement of the Bureau's head, the situation here has changed for the better, and, as Hammerberg has noted, "he talked to inmates and understood that no violence is applied to them by law enforcers."

During his visit to Chechnya, Thomas Hammerberg promised that the Council of Europe will help Chechnya's authorities to start a laboratory for exhumation and identification of bodies, having noted that the Republic badly needs such unit.