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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Relatives of Nalchik hard boyz blame repression |
| 2005-12-06 |
| Relatives of men killed in an assault on police in the Caucasus city of Nalchik said in a letter Monday that the violence had been rooted in official repression of Muslims, and accused authorities of beating and torturing the suspects. At least 139 people died in the brazen daytime assault Oct. 13 on law enforcement offices in Nalchik, the provincial capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya, including the 94 accused attackers, according to official tallies. Relatives of the men killed during the fighting said the attack had been provoked by relentless official repression of innocent Muslim believers in the region, which is near Chechnya. âOur sons didnât turn their weapons against the people, they only responded to police violence against them,â said the letter, signed by 62 people and released by the Moscow-based For Human Rights group. Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev, the purported author of modern Russiaâs deadliest terror attacks, has claimed he was behind the Oct. 13 assault. Basayev said the attacks were carried out by local militants affiliated with the Chechen rebels. The letter accused local authorities of allowing Basayev and other rebels to freely move across the region. âArenât there traffic police checkpoints on every step?â it said. The relatives warned that it would be impossible to restore stability in the region without protecting Muslimsâ rights, ending repression and conducting a fair investigation into the Oct. 13 attack. Their letter said several people were found dead after they were questioned by police after the assault, and that many other suspects were beaten and tortured. âItâs a genocide of our people, the destruction of Muslims,â the letter said. Officials said they had checked 2,000 people for being involved in the attack and arrested 50. One of those arrested was Rasul Kudayev, a former prisoner of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Kudayevâs relatives complained he was severely beaten to extract confessions, and his lawyer told Human Rights Watch that he could not walk without assistance when she saw him in late October. âAll confessions made by my client and other defendants have been extracted under torture,â said Kudayevâs lawyer, Inna Komissarova, who was later barred by authorities from defending Kudayev. Another defense lawyer, Larisa Dorogova, also banned from defending suspects, said that officials had launched a rampant campaign to intimidate people in the region. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 the violence had been rooted in official repression of Muslims IMO, should be "unsufficient repression". |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-12-06 21:30 |
| #1 "...said in a letter Monday that the violence had been rooted in official repression of Muslims..." then goes on to say: "...local authorities of allowing Basayev and other rebels to freely move across the region..." WTF am I missing here? |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-12-06 13:24 |