More than 12,000 Chechens have filed complaints of human rights abuses by Russian forces in the breakaway republic since last February, an official Russian source conceded Wednesday.
President Vladimir Putin's handpicked rights monitor for Chechnya, Vladimir Kalamanov, cited the figure in an official report to the Kremlin, a spokesman for Kalamanov told AFP.
Many of the Chechen civilians who have filed complaints since Kalamanov was appointed by the Kremlin boss last February, allege wrongful arrests or bribe-taking at checkpoints manned by Russian troops across the rebel republic.
But nearly half the complaints were by anxious relatives who cited the Russian authorities' reluctance to disclose information about people who had been arrested or reported missing.
Kalamanov's 30-page report will be circulated next week to the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe.
Last April, Russia became the first member of the Council of Europe to have its voting rights suspended by the Council, which was set up in 1949 to consider human rights and social affairs in Europe.
The suspension followed widespread reports of Russian human rights abuses in Chechnya, where federal forces have been carrying out a 15-month "anti-terrorist" campaign against separatist Islamic rebels.
Senior officials from the 41-nation Council are set to visit Russia, including Chechnya, next week to review the current situation ahead of a key debate at the Strasbourg-based assembly on whether to reinstate Russia's voting rights -- MOSCOW (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
