23:30, 18 March 2019

Residents of Chechnya complain about search of disappeared people by authorities

Relatives of the people disappeared during the war at a meeting with Alexander Mukomolov, a member of the presidential Human Rights Council (HRC), in March 2019 in Grozny. Photo from the website of the HRC, http://president-sovet.ru/presscenter/news/read/5345/

The authorities are too slowly looking for the remains of Chechen residents who disappeared in 1995-2010, state their relatives. They have proposed to create a special group for exhumations.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since the spring of 2013, Chechnya issues genetic passports for relatives of the people disappeared or kidnapped during the war. By August 2017, according to the Chechen Ministry of National Policy, Information, and Press, more than 900 people received such genetic passports.

The number of residents of Chechnya who disappeared in 1995-2010 reached about 5000 people. The database of the NGO "General Lebed Peace Mission" contains enquiry forms for 4300 of them.

Most of participants in the meeting in Grozny have voiced their dissatisfaction with the manner used by the authorities when searching for the disappeared people. Relatives also insist that the collection of genetic data should be continued.

The NGO "General Lebed Peace Mission" was established in Northern Caucasus in 1998. Since its establishment, NGO members found and reburied the remains of 18 people.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 18, 2019 at 04:02 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.