: prodvech@ellink.ru> has made a declaration asking that "everyday, at the same time, all central television channels and
Russian broadcasting should inform the population about the
number of people who die in the combatant operations on the
territory of the Chechen republic, indicating their names, age,
position, residence".
ARA CALLS THE AUTHORITIES OF EKATERINBURG TO STOP THE ILLEGALITY
Moscow, December 3. After the incident in Ekaterinburg on
December 1, when the militia impeded the piquet to collect
signatures under the petition "The Third millennium without
conscription slavery", the Secretary of the ARA has sent a
telegram to the Governor and to the Prosecutor of Sverdlovsk
region asking them to identify and to punish the militia
officers involved in these illegal actions and to prevent
similar incidents in the future.
KHRAMOV: "ALTHOUT WE CANNOT AGREE WITH THE POSITION OF THE URF
ON CHECHNYA, THE UNION OF THE RIFGHT FORCES IS STILL THE MAJOR
LIBERAL FORSE"
Moscow, December 3. Nikolai Khramov made the following
declaration concerning the Union of the Right Forces: "Although
we can never agree with the position of the leaders of the Union
of the Right Forces on Chechen war, although in this discussion
between Chubais and Yavlinskii we, antimilitarists and radicals,
side with Yavlinskii, there is no doubt that for today the Union
of the Right Forces is the major liberal and liberist movement
in Russia. I am still convinced that the partisans of the
liberal reforms, of freedom and the right-abiding state should
do everything they can to help the Union of the Right Forces
pass the 5% level".
AN ULTIMATUM TO THE INHABITANTS OF GROZNYI: THE GOVERNMENT
SHOULD REALISE WELL ALL THE EVETUAL CONSEQUENCES
Moscow, December 7. ARA Secretary Nikolai Khramov declared: "An
ultimatum to the peaceful population of Groznyi means that in
five days the army of our country will massacre innocent old
people, women and children that are not able to escape from the
city sieged and doomed to be destroyed. Putin's government,
which - I hope so - can still control the crazy "generals
mladich", should realise perfectly well all the consequences
that large-scale war crimes, committed in peace time by the
Russian Army against peaceful Russian citizens, may have for
Russia. Khramov appeals to the leader of the Union of the Right
Forces Anatolii Chubais with a rhetorical question: "So,
Chubais, is this the Russian Army, "arising again" in Chechnya,
You were speaking about? So, is this the right way to give it
back its self-confidence?"
EUROPEAN UNION MUST SUSPEND IMMEDIATELY THE AGREEMENT ON
PARTNERSHIP WITH RUSSIA
Brussels, December 7. The Radical Party and Deputies of the
European Parliament ("Bonino list") appealed to the heads of
states and governments, participants in the next session of the
European Council, asking them not to confine themselves to an
oral critics of Moscow, "taking into consideration that the plan
of the "final solution", formulated by the Russian government
and Russian generals for the capital of Chechnya and its
civilian population, is unacceptable, because of an open
violation of Geneva Conventions on Human Rights". "It is
necessary to do everything possible in order to stand in the way
of the war crimes that may be committed in Grozny. It is a moral
duty of the European Union to suspend immediately all the
agreements on partnership and collaboration with Moscow", -
declare radical deputies of the European Parliament.
SILENCE + CREDITS = COMPLICITY
Moscow, December 9. Militants of the Radical Party and the ARA
carried out their manifestations at the embassies of the United
States, Austria (actual EU President) and Japan in Moscow
calling them to suspend any financial aid to the Russian
government until the end of the Chechen war. "West, stop
financing genocide in Chechnya!", "Silence + Credits =
Complicity!", "Don't PUT IN money in PUTIN's war" - these are
some of the slogans that the demonstrators have brought to the
Western embassies.
CHECHEN REFUGEES IN GEORGIA. WHERE IS EUROPE?
Brussels, December 10. More than three thousand refugees from
Chechnya are blocked in a Georgian mountain village Shatili, at
the Chechen - Georgian border. In the near future other several
thousands of refugees are expected to arrive here. The
authorities of such a small village (about 100 residents) are
not able to provide meals and medicines for all the refugees and
to assist the wounded. "European Commission has to launch
immediately humanitarian initiatives to stop this catastrophe.
Especially because, as in case of Shatili, there are no
political obstacles to justify the idleness of the Commission.
What is Commissar Paul Nelson is waiting for to start a
humanitarian intervention?" - asks the Secretary of the Radical
Party European Deputy Olivier Dupuis in his declaration.
ANTIWAR MANIFESTATION OF THE RADICALS AND THE DEMOCRATIC UNION
OF VALERIYA NOVODVORSKAYA
Moscow, December 11. "The discussion of the Chechen problem
today at the EU summit was really a shame, - comments the news
from Helsinki the Secretary of the ARA Nikolai Khramov. - No,
there were absolutely no concrete decisions, only an oral
"condemnation" and a usual "preoccupation". This is all they
were able to say after big words pronounced by many European
leaders before the summit!" "Europe has betrayed old men, women
and children of Grozny - may be now they are living their last
hours waiting for "a final solution", promised by Russian
generals last Sunday. And - this is very important too - Europe
has betrayed the few adversaries of the war in Russia for now
they would need so much a help from outside of the stinking
militarist and nationalist atmosphere reigning today in our
country", - says the leader of the Russian radicals.
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COMING SOON
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DECEMBER 15, MOSCOW:
16.00 - Intermunicipal Court Nagatinskii (Kashirskii proezd, 3);
trial of conscientious objector, member of the ARA Aleksandr
Svetlov who has lodged a complaint against the enlistment
commission.
December 15, KALUGA:
12:30 - Manifestation of the Radical Party and the ARA at the
Office of the Public Prosecutor of Kaluga region (ul. Kutuzova,
2a) for the revocation of the unlawful verdict of Dmitrii
Neverovskii, condemned on November 25 in Obninsk to two years of
imprisonment because he conscientiously objected to protest
against the Chechen war.
15:00 - Manifestation of solidarity with Dmitrii Neverovskii and
other conscientious objectors at the prison of Kaluga SIZO-37/01
(ul. Nikolo-Kazinskaya, 110).
17:00 - Assembly of the radicals of Kaluga in Narodnyi Dom
(People's House) (ul. Lenina, 74, small hall). On the agenda of
the assembly: initiatives to help Dmitrii Neverovskii and other
conscientious objectors; initiatives against the Chechen war;
"The Third millennium without conscription slavery" campaign.
With participation of ARA Secretary Nikolai Khramov, Deputy of
Kaluga City Assembly Sergei Fadeev, vice president of the ARA
General Council Ta'yana Kotlyar.
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THE SECOND PAGE
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CIVILIAN IN GROZNY FCING DEATH, POSSIBLE STARVATION
Human Rights Watch press-release office@hrw.glasnet.ru>New York, December 6, 1999 -- Civilians trapped in Grozny face
death and possible starvation in the coming days, as Russian
forces step up their attack on the city, Human Rights Watch said
today. Following weeks of intensive bombing of the Chechen
capital, which has resulted in an unknown number of civilian
casualties, Russian forces have in recent days effected a full
blockade of the city.
"The civilian tragedy in Grozny is very significant, and getting
worse. The Russian forces need to announce a break in the
bombing to let those people out."
Holly Cartner, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe
and Central Asia division.
Human Rights Watch has interviewed more than a dozen civilians
who have fled the city in the past few days and crossed the
border into Ingushetia. They report that a significant
percentage of the population remains behind, particularly the
elderly, poor, infirm, and wounded. They have been pinned down
in their homes and basements under aircraft and artillery fire
for several weeks.
"The civilian tragedy in Grozny is very significant, and getting
worse," said Holly Cartner, executive director of Human Rights
Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The Russian forces
need to announce a break in the bombing to let those people
out."
The city has been without electricity, gas, running water, and
heating supply since at least the beginning of November.
Witnesses relate rapidly dwindling food supplies, and prices
that have escalated threefold for the remaining food. Bazaars
and stores have ceased to operate altogether. Desperate
residents are forced to travel up to three miles under heavy
aerial and artillery fire to fetch fresh water.
According to many medical personnel from Grozny who have taken
refuge in neighboring Ingushetia, the city's hospitals and
medical clinics are completely shut down, leaving civilians
without access even to basic medical care. The doctors told
Human Rights Watch that when they left the city in early to mid-
November there were countless numbers of wounded and sick,
including some who were dying and unable to flee.
Magomet Usmanov, a resident of the Chernorechye suburb of
Grozny, told Human Rights Watch that in late November, residents
regularly fetched water at the only site that remained in the
city, the Groznenskoe water storage tank. On November 29,
however, two bombs fell on that site. After hearing the
explosions, Usmanov went out of his house and met people who had
been gathering water when the bombs began to fall. "Now people
are afraid to go and get water," said Usmanov, "because they
have to cross the road and walk in the open."
On November 25 or 26 at 2:00 p.m., Usmanov continued, three
bombs hit a small bazaar located near the dam. According to
Usmanov, civilians were selling products that they had at great
risk traveled to buy in Goyty. The wounded were transported to
Goyty, about fifteen kilometers south of Grozny. The very next
day, as Usmanov was on the street leading from the center of
Chernorechye towards a dam, a warplane dropped a bomb on the
same site. "Two woman died right before my eyes," he said.
"Their bodies flew up into the air, then fell back on to the
pavement. I was about 200 meters away from the explosion, and it
left a crater about six meters wide by six meters deep. People
are too terrified even to poke their nose outside." Usmanov and
his family fled Chernorechye during the night of November 30 in
order to avoid fire and shelling, traveling on foot through
wooded areas to Goyty. Usmanov's wife, Raisa Usmanova, reported
that three families had remained behind in their apartment
building, and that in the apartment blocks adjacent to the
Usmanov home many civilians remained, lacking the funds to
leave. Usmanov himself claimed that many people remained in the
suburb of Aldy, about five kilometers from the center of Grozny.
The Usmanovs also related that bread was nowhere to be found
when they left Chernorechye at the end of November.
Lyoma Mashtaev, 39 years old, a former driver from Grozny, left
the city on December 1, explaining that Grozny was besieged by
air and rocket fire. He told Human Rights Watch that on November
27 at 10:00 a.m., eight warplanes scored direct hits on Sector
30 of the Oktyabrskii district. Mashtaev's nephew, Khasmagomet
Magomadov, was among the casualties, as were Daud Khushparov,
Rukhman Kaisarov, and an elderly Russian woman and her son who
lived on Dal'nyaya Street." I visited six or seven houses to
express my condolences," said Mashtaev. Mashtaev believed that
seventeen people were killed in the attack, but another Grozny
resident, "Saidmagomed" (not his real name), 40 years old,
claimed that only eight persons had been killed.
"Only old food supplies remain," said Mashtaev. "For water, you
have to go to Chernorechye, a distance of about four kilometers.
There aren't any other fresh water sources." Mashtaev traveled
the road from Grozny to Goyty in order to flee, asserting that
at the time it was the only exit route from the capital. Now,
however, he claimed, the Russian forces had taken up positions
between Goyty and Urus-Martan, both located south of Grozny,
blocking even this exit route.
"People laugh when a humanitarian corridor is mentioned," said
Mashtaev. "Nobody believes it. There aren't any humanitarian
corridors, and in any case, nobody knows about it. There's no
television or radio, and if there were batteries before, they've
long been used up. Nobody knows anything in the city. Sometimes
leaflets calling for the rebel fighters to give themselves up
are dropped."
On November 22, Ruslan Kartoev, 20 years old, a resident of
Katayam suburb, was walking along Nijnaya Street with a
companion when they came under tank fire. "They saw us, we
weren't wearing army outfits, we were transporting water in
wheelbarrows," said Kartoev. "The weather was good and clear,
and one of the rockets fell on a house. There were screams
there, but then I don't know what happened. They brought me out
right away." Kartoev received a shrapnel wound in his right leg.
He also related that the Solyanaya Balka suburb, adjacent to
Katayam, had been razed by shelling and aerial fire. "We drew
warm sulphuric water from the wells there," said Kartoev. "They
know that people go there to get water, that's why they fired on
it."
The Russian government claims that Russian airplanes have
dropped leaflets in the city informing civilians of a
humanitarian corridor. But documentation gathered by Human
Rights Watch on civilian casualties that have occurred since the
beginning of the fighting strongly suggests that Russian
attempts to warn civilians in advance of attacks or to establish
safe exit routes have been sorely ineffective.
"The Russian authorities must take every possible step to ensure
that civilians are made aware of any safe exit route leading out
of Grozny," said Ms. Cartner." Then, Russian authorities must
also protect the corridor so that civilians can leave safely. If
these steps are not taken, the people remaining in Grozny will
be in grave danger."
________________________________________________________________
Visit websites of the Transnational Radical Party
http://www.radicalparty.org
and of the Antimilitarist Radical Association http://www.ara.ru
