The YABLOKO party has once forwarded a letter to President
Medvedev calling him to take under his personal control the
investigation of the crimes by St.Peterburg riot police in
Noviye Aldany village, Chechnya. YABLOKO also asks the President
to transfer the case from the republic to the federal investigators.
About 10,000 residents lived in the village, located on the
southern outskirts of the capital of Chechnya – Grozny. In
December 1999 and January 2000, when the federal troops surrounded
Grozny and tried to take it by storm, Aldi, as well as other
areas of the Chechen capital, was bombed and shelled. People
were hiding in the basements and cellars, whereas there were
no militants in the village.
On February 3, 2000, the residents of the Noviye Aldy, mostly
elderly people, under a white flag came to the location of
the federal forces. The group's representatives met with the
commander of the 15th Motorised Rifled Regiment, Colonel Lukashov.
They said that there were no militants in their area, and
that the Russian military can freely enter the village. The
residents of the village asked the federal troops to stop
bombings. The colonel promised to immediately cease fire.
On February 4 there was silence. The residents of the village
got out of the basements and cells, began repairing their
roofs, made reserves of water and cleaned the yards. On February
5, a large group of soldiers from St. Petersburg riot police
(OMON) entered Noviye Aldy. For several hours, they were firing
and robbing the houses, shotting the civilians and raping
women. By evening, 114 residents of the village were killed
or were missing. On the following days the residents buried
82 corpses. Among the dead there were no militants – all were
civilians: old people, disabled persons and women ...
On the application filed by several of the village in the
European Court of Human Rights, the Court found the Russian
Federation guilty in the crime.
According to the answers made available to YABLOKO after
its appeal to the President in late 2010, the guilty of the
crime have not been found. The society also does not know
whether any actions have been made by the law enforcement
so that to identify and punish the perpetrators.
According to YABLOKO, one of the reasons behind the low efficiency
of investigation of the crime is the lack of effective mechanisms
for coordination between the investigating authorities and
the law enforcement of St. Petersburg and Chechnya. Therefore,
the Bureau of the party initiated the appeal, where it proposed
to the President to transfer the case to the federal investigative
bodies.
"We are convinced that identification and punishment
of those guilty of the crimes committed in the Chechen Republic
in the second half of 1990 and early 2000s is a must on the
road to installing peace and stability in Russia's North Caucasus,"
stated YABLOKO’s Bureau.
Draft document was submitted to the Bureau of the party by
YABLOKO’s member and Vice-President of St. Petersburg Yabloko
Nikolai Rybakov. The Bureau meeting was held on January 29,
2011.
See also:
Human
Rights
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