Representatives of PACE: In Chechnya, human rights are still violated

At the end of last week, a visit to Russia of the PACE speakers in Chechnya Andreas Gross and Russia in Rudolf Bindiga ended. Their main goal was to visit the North Caucasus. This was the first arrival of PACE representatives in Chechnya over the past year and a half. Upon returning from Grozny, Rudolf Bindig gave an interview to the “Independent Gazeta”. According to him, "the situation in the North Caucasus is distinguished by duality. On the one hand, there is some progress in areas such as education, health care ... But, on the other hand, there is still a huge problem of security and respect for the principles and standards of human rights."

Bindig believes that after the murder of Kadyrov in the political space of Chechnya, a hole was formed, a kind of political vacuum, "which cannot be filled with local politicians. "I am of the opinion that it is necessary to bring together all the political forces present in Chechnya - with the exception of extremists and terrorists who committed crimes. For example, Basayev should not be. But other political figures and forces that are not terrorists should be represented. They must participate in the general search for a political decision. However, the Russian side does not accept this way Representative PACE.

Speaking about a violation of human rights in Chechnya, Bindig noted that he had many evidence at his disposal that people were arrested and torture, many simply disappeared. At the same time, it is almost impossible to determine the perpetrators in crimes, since in Chechnya several different law enforcement and power structures are acting, "each of which falls guilty for violations of human rights to others."

According to Bindig, Pase has not yet decided whether to send a group of observers to the coming presidential elections in Chechnya at the end of August, since "it is impossible to carry out normal observation of elections in Chechnya." “Normal observation is when, on the eve of voting or early on the morning on the day of voting, observers can freely and freely go to one or another village, whether in the mountains or on the plain - without preliminary notification of the authorities,” says Bindig. “In Chechnya, this is impossible due to security. We can only move, accompanied by 20-30 armed soldiers, and then within two or three pollutants. Normal elections? "

Speaking of Vladimir Putin’s policy, Bindig diplomatically noted that "the people gave him an unconditional mandate for several years to come. Now it all depends on himself - in which direction he will use his power." If Putin strives only for the further concentration of power in his hands, and not for the construction of civil society, then this, according to the representative of PACE, "will become noticeable already in the next six months to a year."

In addition, Bindig evaded a direct answer to the question of Putin’s criticism in the message to the Federal Assembly of non -governmental organizations, noting only that "Russian human rights organizations ... are vital for democracy. The source of independent information should always be preserved in society."