Moscow: round table discussion on Akhmadov's plan

The round table discussion "Akhmadov's Plan as a Way of Peaceful Settlement in Chechnya" took place at the Andrey Sakharov Museum and Public Center in Moscow on December 12. This action was initiated by the Viktor Popkov Information and Analytical Center and the Sintar human rights organization.

About 20 people were participants in the discussion, including Sulumbek Tashtamirov (Sintar), Lev Ponomaryov (For Human Rights), Nikolay Khramov (Transnational Radical Party), Ruslan Kutayev (Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship), Mikhail Roschin (Oriental Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences), Givi Givishvili and Svetlana Neugodova (Russian Humanistic Society), Anatoly Dotsenko (Deutsche Welle), Natlya Nelidova (Warm Home), Boris Stomakhin (Revolutionary Contact Association), human rights activists Andrey Mironov, Galina Zaurbekova and Stanislav Bozhko.

Most of the speakers agreed the Russian-Chechen conflict had no military resolution and could be settled only by political means. They also agreed that no political settlement had started in Chechnya yet.

At the end, the discussion was summed up. 11 people agreed to the assertion that "the Chechen problem could be solved only with the participation of the third party in the person of the UN or the Council of Europe." 10 people said they "seconded Akhmadov's plan and declared for the establishment of the interim international administration in Chechnya, with all the power in the republic being handed over to it, all the Russian troops being withdrawn simultaneously and all the Chechen units being disarmed."

During the discussion much was said about the informational blockade around the situation in Chechnya and about the fact that appeals creating interethnic strife were repeatedly broadcasted by central TV channels, including NTV.