"Demos": criticism of the work of "Memorial" in Chechnya is unjustified

The "Caucasian Knot" has informed that on May 30 a meeting was held in the city of Gudermes of President Ramzan Kadyrov with representatives of the Republic's NGOs. During the event, the region's leader criticized the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial." "For two months in a row, the "Memorial" was disseminating information in the media that the Kadyrov Charitable Public Foundation had allegedly made exactions, but when we tried to get into it and started to investigate who, when and where had exacted money for deduction into the Foundation, they could not give us any particular example," Mr Kadyrov stated.

Tatiana Lokshina, Chair of the Board of the "Demos" Information and Analytical Centre, gave her comments on the statement in her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent: "President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov is unfair in his criticism of the HRC 'Memorial.' The 'Demos' Centre and all the well-known international human rights organizations involved in the region - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Helsinki Federation - are very actively using the "Memorial" information, since this is the only human rights organization, whose employees are working right in Chechnya on a permanent basis, and we find this information completely reliable, it is of great help in our work," the Moscow human rights activist who is working a lot in Chechnya asserts.

The HRC "Memorial" itself responded to the accusations of Chechen President on May 31 by its special statement named "On Our Work in the Chechen Republic" that was sent also to the address of the "Caucasian Knot."

Among other things, the human rights defenders write that the "Memorial" was indeed approached by the people "who had suffered from such exactions, in particular, firemen from Grozny whose bosses had demanded huge sums of money 'into the Foundation' in exchange for re-approval in their positions." This information proved to be true, the "Memorial" employees assert: "Application of the firemen were delivered by the 'Memorial,' in particular, to the address of Ramzan Kadyrov. Consequently, he dismissed the Republic's Deputy Minister for Emergencies, and then even referred to this example in his speeches." "What are then the claims towards the 'Memorial'?" they express their surprise.

In the opinion of the Human Rights Centre, the accusation of the "Memorial" of its intent to destabilize the situation in Chechnya is same groundless.

"Our work is aimed at counteracting violations of human rights and restoration of the encroached freedoms. Therefore, it can only contribute to establishment of civil peace and stability based on the rule of law. We have always tried to keep a dialogue with the power, and we'll persist in our attempts," the human rights activists promise.