Lev Ponomaryov: authorities cannot stop killings in Kabardino-Balkaria

Torture, which power agents apply to detainees, contributes to leaving of young people "for the forest". This was stated by Maryam Akhmatova, the leader of the public organization "Mothers of Kabardino-Balkaria for Protection of Citizens' Rights and Freedoms", at the conference, held in Nalchik and dedicated to the 15^th anniversary of the movement "For Human Rights". Lev Ponomaryov, the leader of the movement "For Human Rights", recommended local human rights defenders to complete an analytical note on the existence of opinions about how to administer the situation in the republic from one centre and promised to bring it to the authorities of the country.

Maryam Akhmatova called torture, which power agents apply to detainees, as one of the reasons for the fact that young people in the republic leave "for the forest". Often, young people go to militants, "having committed nothing illegal". This was stated by Maryam Akhmatova at the press conference, held on July 28 at the Public Human Rights Centre of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

"If in 2005, a public commission that would look into the causes of what had happened were established, perhaps, the present situation would be different. However, at that time, no one needed it," Maryam Akhmatova stated.

In her turn, Irina Kishukova, the head of the "Development" Charity Foundation, has stated that the reasons for leaving "for the forest" are not so clear.

"I work much with young people, and I see how during two months, normal young men change, when they began to pray. We need to figure out what they do with them and why they leave 'for the forest'," Irina Kishukova has emphasized.

Lev Ponomaryov has stressed that the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus became a result of military campaigns in Chechnya. "This is a complex phenomenon. However, the fact is that authorities cannot stop killings and behaves incorrectly," Lev Ponomaryov has stated.