Society "International Non-Violence" has published an appeal on December 16:

Open Appeal of Peace-Making and Legality Protecting Public Organizations to the President, Government, Federal Council and State Duma of Russian Federation

Dear Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr-s Ministers and deputies,

We appeal to you concerning tragic events in North Caucasus. We are sure that no problems or conflicts can be resolved via violence. Violence gives rise to distrust and hatred, and only increases and misleads conflict situations. Acts of violence, that are advantageous to anti-democratic and criminal groups of different kinds, cast peoples and states into decay and degeneration.

We consider that only non-preconceived and productive negotiations, hard and long as they are, can provide peoples with stable and peaceful democratic development.

We propose:

1. To take Russian military squads from places of direct armed clashes for the time of negotiations between Russia and Chechnia.

2. To provide all officials, representatives of elected bodies and public organizations of Russia and other countries with abilities to observe openly the preservation of constitutional rules, rights, and freedoms of citizens.

3. To use independent Commission to begin open and public investigation of all facts of sale, transfer, and other ways of weapons and ammunition supplying of illegal armed bodies, facts of death of defenceless population, and facts of lies and slander, that entail rouse of national discord and war.

The appeal was signed by:

Mikhail Bogomolov, society "International Non-Violence";

Alexei Smirnov, member of Moscow Helsinki group, director of Moscow Center on Human Rights;

Natalia Chalmanova, association "Resurrection";

Andrei Babushkin, Society of curators of penitentiary institutions;

O. Chirikov, union "Right to Live and Civic Dignity;

Sergei Strelnikov, association "Civic Forum";

Galina Griaznova, director of Soldiers' Mothers' Committee of Russia;

Tair Tairov, association "Civil Peace";

R. Iliukhina, co-chairwomen of Russian Peace Society;

Angela Atamalian, Moscow Committee of Refugees' Rights Protection;

Valeri Abramkin, director of public Center of Supporting Reform of criminal justice;

Vladimir Sukhov, peace-making society "Omega";

Irina Osotina, Independent Peace Service.

The appeal remains open for signatures of everybody who agrees the appeal.

FAX: 206-88-53