Attack on HRC "Memorial" office in Chechnya evidences tactics of suppressing the dissent, rights defenders assert

The incident in the office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in the Chechen city of Gudermes, where masked men threw eggs at the women-employees of the office, was the continuation of Ramzan Kadyrov's policy, aimed at destruction of any manifestations of criticism addressed to the republic's leadership. This opinion was expressed by the rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On January 14, five masked men broke into the office of the HRC "Memorial" in Gudermes and threw eggs at the two women-activists of the Centre. The attackers shouted: "You defend Kalyapin!"

As noted by Oleg Orlov, a member of the board of the HRC, this is the first time that the office of "Memorial" in Chechnya was attacked; and earlier there were no threats addressed to the office staff.

According to Sergey Nikitin, the director of Amnesty International's office in Russia, recently we see increased pressure in Russia on all those involved in human rights activities.

In the opinion of Varvara Pakhomenko, an expert on Northern Caucasus, the "Memorial" is one of the few remaining independent organizations, which, along with the "Committee against Torture", has its office and staff in Chechnya and continues providing information on human rights violations in the republic.

Tatiana Lokshina, the head of the Russian branch of the Human Rights Watch, has expressed concern that the incident in the office of the HRC "Memorial" will not be the last one in a series of actions against rights defenders.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.