News

April 01, 2004 12:06

• Leader of Georgian Laborites disappeared

  Vazha Shengelia was last seen at 2 a.m. on March 30, in the yard of his brother's house. Members of the party assert he was abducted.

April 01, 2004 11:55

• Two servicemen shot dead in Grozny

  A car with two officers of federal security agencies was fired by unknown people from automatic weapons in the 4th microdistrict of Grozny on March 28.

March 31, 2004 23:19

• Trial against Azerbaijan opposition leader continues

  We call your attention to the information statement by the Committee to Protect Rights of Ilgar Ibragimoglu.

March 31, 2004 22:21

• Journalists condemn beating of Armenian rights activist

  "We consider the happening a sequel to the atmosphere of political intolerance that has been seen in the country recently," reads a statement by the Yerevan Press Club, the Union of Armenian Journalists, Internews Armenia, and the Glasnost Defense Foundation.

March 31, 2004 22:14

• Organizer of international criminal group undergoes trial in Rostov Region

  An unexampled trial has started in Novocherkassk. The one who is standing trial is an organizer of the international criminal group that has been supplying white slaves from Rostov Region to the United Arab Emirates.

March 31, 2004 18:33

• Shamil Basayev threatens to blow up and fire Russia

  Basayev accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ignoring Basayev's earlier call for Russian authorities to observe international law in Chechnya - specifically to end to alleged executions without trial and the disappearance of civilians - in return for an end to Chechen terrorist attacks against civilians in Russia, according to a letter published Tuesday on a rebel Web site.

March 31, 2004 18:17

• Adjarian leader considers Georgian parliamentary elections rigged

  According to Aslan Abashidze, the decision by the Georgian authorities to conduct preliminary registration of voters led to the reduction in the number of voters in Adjaria.

March 31, 2004 16:21

• Only two parties proceed to Georgian parliament, according to latest data

  Only two Georgian political parties, the ruling party National Movement - Democrats and the Right - Industrialists, have obtained enough votes to be represented in parliament, the Central Election Commission announced on Wednesday, March 31.

March 31, 2004 16:15

• Mass meeting in Grozny

  People came from different districts and towns of the republic. They demand that the authorities should find their relatives and friends abducted by "security officers" recently and should put an end to the arbitrariness of officers of both Russian and local security structures.

March 30, 2004 19:34

• Prima agency correspondent savagely beaten

  Four strangers attacked him when he was going home after a walk with his dog.

March 30, 2004 19:15

• Party of Aslan Abashidze and Right Opposition: Industrialists - New bloc break 7% threshold

  As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 30, 1,055,544 ballots have been processed at the computer center, which constitutes two thirds of the total number of voters who took part in the elections.

March 30, 2004 18:37

• Novorossiysk NGO Frodo stages tolerance poster competition

  The Novorossiysk city public charitable organization Frodo, which has been an assignee of the School of Peace fund since February 2004, is carrying out a project to disseminate ideas of tolerance among people of different ages, nationalities, and social status within the framework of the Your World Behind the Window competition.

March 30, 2004 17:39

• Attack on antiwar picket in Saint Petersburg

  On March 28, an attack was committed on participants in the weekly picket against the war in Chechnya in Saint Petersburg.

March 30, 2004 15:30

• Human rights organization Sintar joins collection of signatures for interim UN administration in Chechnya

  1,618 signatures under the appeal For an Interim United Nations Administration in Chechnya were collected and handed over to the leaders of the Russian Radicals movement by March 28, reported the human rights organization Sintar.

March 30, 2004 14:12

• Another victim of terrorist act on Dubrovka to get compensation

  The Moscow Government is ordered to pay lifelong monthly compensation at the rate of 4 thousand rubles to Petr Sidorenko for the loss of his son.

March 30, 2004 13:47

• Field commander Nurdi Bazhiyev's brother found dead in Grozny

  Abu Bazhiyev took part in the resistance movement but voluntarily surrendered in the spring of 2000 and was amnestied by Russian authorities.

March 30, 2004 13:33

• Armenian society is poorly informed of human rights protections, ombudsperson says

  "The institution of ombudsman in Armenia will be of service if society senses a new structure for the protection of human rights - people have been deprived of it heretofore - has been created," Larisa Alaverdian said.

March 30, 2004 12:52

• Five dead bodies with signs of torture found in Grozny

  Local residents hold that the killed men fell victims to extrajudicial execution by special operations units of the Russian security structures, which are called "death squadrons" in Chechnya.

March 30, 2004 12:31

• NGO Fair Elections publishes results of parallel counting of votes in Georgia

  Experts of Fair Elections think that if to take into account statistical error, the Union of Democratic Revival, led by Aslan Abashidze, still has a chance of breaking the 7% threshold required to gain representation in the parliament.

March 29, 2004 17:48

• US welcomes release of prisoners in Azerbaijan, urges more action

  Deputy US Representative to the OSCE Douglas Davidson noted that none of those pardoned and released were among the detainees arrested following the October 15 and 16 post-election demonstrations.