Rights defenders support renaming of two streets in Nalchik

The activists' demands to rename the Nalchik streets named in honour of Soviet generals Zakharov and Kozlov are reasonable, Valery Khatazhukov and Zaur Shokuev, activists of the human rights centre of Kabardino-Balkaria, have pointed out. Balkars treat these generals as perpetrators of the punitive action in the Cherek Gorge in 1942, but Moscow does not seek to disclose the archival evidence, Khakim Kuchmezov, a member of the "Yabloko" Party, has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 30, participants in the mourning gathering held in the Balkar village of Sautu marked the 80th anniversary of the Cherek tragedy, by commemorating the residents of the gorge, killed in November 1942 by the NKVD (Interior Commissariat) troops.

The Balkars still demand to rename Zakharov and Kozlov Streets, said Ismail Sabanchiev, the head of the Council of Elders of the Balkar people. He has noted that on November 30, the participants of the mourning gathering wanted to hold another action, but they were not allowed to.

"The aim of the action was to express our disagreement with the policy of hushing up the tragedy. The NKVD troops massacred four villages; hundreds of people were killed, including 156 children, babies among them. Absolutely innocent people perished. How long can they keep silent about this tragedy? We demand the recognition of the historical fact," Mr Sabanchiev has stated.

Khakim Kuchmezov, the head of the local branch of the "Yabloko" Party, has suggested that the republic's authorities "are not independent in this issue," and Moscow "wouldn't open all the archival materials telling about the tragedy."

Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Regional Human Rights Centre, has supported the idea of renaming Zakharov Street. "The erection of a monument to this man is an unfair decision that should be reconsidered," he has stated.