12:43, 30 October 2018

Rights defenders point to problem of return of territories to repressed peoples

Yan Rachinski. Photo: RFE / RL https://www.svoboda.org/a/29117182.html

The Law "On the rehabilitation of repressed peoples" has generated a lot of tension, since the return of lands to repressed peoples has become an impossible task. This opinion was voiced by Yan Rachinski, the chair of the board for the international society "Memorial".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 7, Ramzan Kadyrov signed a decree to create a commission to clarify the borders of Chechnya. New borders of Chechnya and Ingushetia made the issue of controversial Chechen villages in Dagestan more acute.

The law on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples was adopted with good intentions, but from the very beginning, it contained prerequisites for a conflict, believes Alexander Cherkasov, the chair of the board for the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

As an example, he mentioned the situation in the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia, where several hundred Ingush families had to move into existing houses or get new housing.

In 1992, an armed conflict occurred between Ossetian and Ingush people in the Prigorodny District in North Ossetia. 583 people were killed and other 939 were injured. Tens of thousands of Ingush people left the place of historical residence in North Ossetia.

According to Alexander Cherkasov, the conflict was avoided when Chechen Akkins returned to the Aukh District of Dagestan, since the solution of the issue was based on the customary law of the mountains.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 30, 2018 at 06:23 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Gor Alexanyan

Source: CK correspondent