To: Acting President of the Russian Federation

Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation

Moscow, Kremlin

Mr. Acting President;

We, the undersigned, are sending you this petition; by doing so, we realize our right to appeal to organs of state power guaranteed to us by Article 33 of the Russian Constitution.

We declare our strong protest against the continued hostilities in Chechnya. We can see that behind the veil of official rhetoric about 'the fight against terrorism' a real war against all Chechen people is going on.

We do not believe that the mysterious explosions which occurred in living quarters of some Russian cities - regardless of who, in fact, caused these explosions - can justify the destruction of dozens of towns and villages, the deaths of thousands of peaceful civilians, as well as Russian soldiers and officers, and the plight of thousands of refugees, given that no known terrorists have been detained and prosecuted as of now.

We express our strong protest against the increasing militarization of all aspects of life in our country, and the crackdown on the media freedom which are taking place in the context of this new Chechen war.

We demand that you take all measures required

* To put an immediate end to hostilities waged by the federal armed forces in Chechnya;

* To start negotiations between the Russian federal authorities and the legitimately elected government of the Chechen Republic, in particular, with the Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov whose legitimacy is recognized by the Council of Europe, and was recognized, until recently, by the Russian Government;

* To initiate an immediate investigation into all military crimes committed in Chechnya, and to prosecute offenders;

* To end the information war against the Russian society by the federal authorities, to provide accurate information about the events in Chechnya to the Russian public, and to prohibit the illegal military censorship;

* To provide, without delay, all types of assistance needed to refugees who have fled Chechnya;

* To ensure free and unconditional access to the conflict zone for international and Russian observers.

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This petition was initiated by the Committee of Antiwar Actions which includes: Memorial Human Rights Center, Union of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, Democratic Perspective, Antimilitary Radical Association (ARA), Radical Party, Antifascist Youth Movement, Human Rights Youth Center, Anarchist Antiwar Movement, Human Rights Network, Democratic Union, Party of Economic Freedom, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Independent Women's Forum Information Center, Non-Violence International, Human Rights Youth Movement, and other organizations, as well as individuals not associated with any movements.

Committee of Antiwar Actions

c/o Transnational Radical Party

Pechatnikov Pereulok 6, 103045 Moscow, Russia

phone (095) 208-4902, fax (095) 208-1805

E-mail: war@hro.org; Web Site: www.hro.org/war