#24 - JRL 2006-215 - JRL Home
Amnesty won't change situation in Chechnya - human rights groups

MOSCOW. Sept 22 (Interfax) - The amnesty for participants in hostilities in the North Caucasus declared by the Duma is a step toward settling the situation in Chechnya, but won't fundamentally change the situation there, said Lyudmila Alekseyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group.

"I am happy about the amnesty because hostilities must be stopped and this is one more step toward stopping hostilities," she told Interfax on Friday.

However, the head of Russia's oldest human rights group does not think the amnesty will fundamentally change the situation. "There are only a handful of militants left in Chechnya, even the most notorious ones," she said.

Alekseyeva said that violations of human rights, primarily by law enforcers, as well as abductions, constitute the greatest problem today.

Svetlana Gannushikina, head of the Civic Assistance committee, has a difference stance.

"This is not a full amnesty. It should not be like that," she told Interfax on Friday.

"It is only an amnesty for those who used to cook for the militants. It won't apply to those who really fought," she said.