Moscow, 21 February: Following in the footsteps of several leading Russian nongovernmental organizations, the international rights organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have decided not to send their delegates to the human rights conference the Chechen authorities are planning to hold in Groznyy on 1 March.

"We have received an invitation to participate in this conference but we are not going. Unfortunately, the invitation arrived rather late, after our organization had already made plans for 1 March. But this is not the only problem," Rachel Denber, a deputy director of the Human Rights Watch department for Europe and Central Asia, told Interfax today.

She said the invitation, sent by Chechnya's ombudsman, indicated that the conference was being held at the initiative of acting Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

"What constructive discussion could one hold with Mr Kadyrov, given that there is quite a great deal of information that the republic's security and law-enforcement structures under his control are involved in human rights violations?"

"Mr Kadyrov has done little to hold these people legally accountable. What could be expected from such a conference? Will it be productive and constructive?" Rachel Denber asked.

Head of the Russian office of Amnesty International Sergey Nikitin said that his organization had also been invited to the 1 March conference in Groznyy. "However, I received the invitation just three weeks before the event. Given that our schedule is normally made in advance and covers a far more extended period, it would not be realistic to go to Chechnya on 1 March. For these reasons, I do not deem it possible to participate in the event," Nikitin told Interfax.

Representatives of a number of major Russian rights organizations are also planning to snub the conference in Groznyy.

"We consider it impossible for us to take part in the human rights conference in Groznyy being held by Ramzan Kadyrov," head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseyeva, leader of the For Human Rights movement Lev Ponomarev and several other rights advocates say in a statement circulated in Moscow today.

Lyudmila Alekseyeva told Interfax that she had been invited to the conference in Groznyy but would not go there because she "does not think that it is possible to discuss human rights with Ramzan Kadyrov". "I do not want to be part of a pretty picture on television standing next to Kadyrov. Otherwise, people might think that human rights champions have recognized him," Alekseyeva, head of Russia's oldest human rights group, said.

Head of the Civil Assistance (Grazhdanskoye sodeystviye) committee Svetlana Gannushkina told Interfax that she had received an invitation from the Chechen authorities but would not be able to come to Groznyy on 1 March. She will be receiving a human rights award in Prague on that day.

"The current political situation in the Chechen Republic is tense because of the change of leadership and I do not consider it necessary to participate in the conference. However, I deem it absolutely necessary to cooperate with the authorities on specific matters concerning human rights, including with Ramzan Kadyrov," she said. "But for the time being, I do not think such a meeting will suit the purpose it has been assigned," Gannushkina said.

The Russian president's aide, Aslambek Aslakhanov, has said the criticism of Ramzan Kadyrov voiced by the rights campaigners is not productive. "Ramzan Kadyrov is more than anyone interested in bringing about order in the sphere of human rights and in the struggle against abductions. Judging from the demands Kadyrov has made on the Chechen system of law enforcement, he is indeed engaged in ensuring order and I would like to wish him success in these activities," Aslakhanov told Interfax yesterday (on 20 February). (passage omitted).