Statement of independent Chechen NGOs concerning elections for Russian State Duma

On December 1, activists of independent Chechen NGOs issued a statement in Nazran, the Republic of Ingushetia, concerning the forthcoming elections for the Russian State Duma. There are 23 signatures under the statement.

We call your attention to some extracts from this statement.

"Despite the genocide in the Chechen Republic, which has been perpetrated for more that four years, the Russian authorities mislead the international community by pursuing the policy aimed at the legitimation of violence and terror in the zone of this bloody conflict.

A number of "democratic actions" have already been carried out under the conditions of continued mass violations of human rights and freedoms since the spring of 2000. These were the "election" of the Russian State Duma Deputy for the Chechen Republic in the person of Aslambek Aslakhanov, the March "referendum on the Constitution of the republic", and the "presidential election". And now a new "election of the State Duma Deputy for Chechnya" is coming."

"But for all that, functionaries in Moscow and Grozny are little embarrassed that all these procedures are not legal and legitimate."

"The overwhelming majority of the residents of Chechnya boycotted the authorities' actions in fact, in that way showing their attitude to what was happening. According to the data of human rights activists, in the aggregate, not more that 10% of the republican population took part both in the "referendum" and in the "election".

Moreover, both the "referendum on the Constitution" held in March 2003 and the October "presidential election" have not been acknowledged by international organizations, the mission of which is to observe human rights and freedoms, as these actions did not meet the code of conditions of the Council of Europe and other international standards that make it possible to carry out democratic procedures, such as referendums and elections."

"In our view, the persons who are standing for the Chechen Republic in the Russian State Duma elections warrant killings and complete disappearances of tens of thousands of their nationals and give the Russian authorities carte blanche as to the policy of genocide of the Chechen people."

"We have perfect confidence that there is the only way to stop war and violence in Chechnya, that is to say, by consolidation of all the sound forces in the Chechen society. Neither "referendums" nor "elections" will bring peace to our land.

The situation in the republic can be stabilized only when the war is ceased under the aegis of the OSCE, negotiations with the opposition party in the persons of President Maskhadov and the Parliament of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria publicly elected in 1997 are launched, and activists of the Resistance are involved in the process of the full-fledged Russian-Chechen political settlement."