In 2008, most complaints of Karachaevo-Circassian residents to Ombudsman were against power agents

On April 28, the building of the Administration of President of Karachaevo-Circassia hosted an open meeting with participation of ministers and regional heads, where Vladimir Titarenko, Ombudsman in Karachaevo-Circassia, told about citizens' appeals in 2008 and served his report to the President.

"In 2008, 927 persons applied to me, while in 2004 - only 201. All the complaints can be split as follows: against law enforcement bodies - 28% (excess of power, torture, beatings, protracting the investigation); 19% - on social issues; against administrative and municipal authorities - 16%; on housing problems - 16%; on violations of labour legislation - 12%; on land problems - 4%," said Mr Titarenko.

At the meeting, in particular, the work of one of GAI (Road Inspectorate) check posts was reported; this post in the Urup District operated illegally for 13 years. "This post exists since 1996; it was set up not by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) but by district GAI bosses," said Boris Ebzeev.

The Ombudsman said that elementary order is absent in GAI's work. "Cars drive where and how they want, and in the highway we see civil cars with tinted windows; then, someone jumps out and starts stopping other cars. When asked what he is doing there, he answers quite simply: 'I'm in ambush.' Same with stopping cars at night: someone unknown but armed jumps out and starts stopping. A driver doesn't know whether to stop or not: if not - there's a risk to be shelled; if he or she stops - it's not clear who the stopper is," said Mr Titarenko, adding that these "posts" do a lot of harm to Republic's residents.