- CHECHEN REFUGEES IN AZERBAIJAN ASK FOR HELP Kavkazky Uzel reported on January 10 that the Council for Chechen Refugees in Azerbaijan had sent an appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, stating that the situation surrounding Chechen refugees in Azerbaijan... MORE

- MEDVEDEV OPTIMISTIC ABOUT CHECHNYA’S DEVELOPMENT During a meeting with journalists in the Southern Federal District on January 17, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the social and economic situation in Chechnya in 2006 gives reason for moderate optimism, ITAR-TASS reported. Asked about... MORE

- EUROPEAN HR COURT FINDS RUSSIAN MILITARY GUILTY OF TORTURE The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled on January 18 that the Russian military tortured two Chechen brothers held in detention in 2000, the first such conviction of Russian servicemen, Reuters reported. Adam... MORE

- CHECHEN LEGAL AID GROUP DENIED REGISTRATION On January 25, Reuters reported that the Russian government had refused for a second time to register the Moscow office of Russian Justice Initiative, a Dutch-based human rights group that gives legal aid to Chechens who have accused... MORE

- KILLERS OF SVERDLOVSK POLICE IN CUSTODY On February 5, the deputy chief of Sverdlovsk Oblast’s main police department, Viktor Berdnikov, told journalists in Yekaterinburg that all of the suspects in an attack on Sverdlovsk policemen in Chechnya in September 2006 have been arrested, ITAR-Tass... MORE

- BUDANOV DENIED PAROLE Andrei Koshkin, the head of the Volga River region Penitentiary Department, said at a news conference on February 20 that a court in the town of Dmitrovgrad had denied a parole request from Yuri Budanov, the Russian colonel who is serving... MORE

- RAMZAN PROPOSES TO MRS. KENYA The Daily Telegraph reported on February 28 that during a visit to Chechnya by participants in the 2007 Mrs. World pageant, Chechnya’s acting president, Ramzan Kadyrov, offered Caroline Varkaik, Kenya’s contender in the contest, the opportunity to become one... MORE

- Kadyrov Appoints His Cousin Prime Minister The Associated Press reported that Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov announced on March 8 that he had nominated his cousin, Odes Baisultanov, who was previously a first deputy prime minister in the republican government, to be Chechnya’s prime minister.... MORE

- YEDELEV SAYS ONLY 450 REBELS ARE LEFT Kavkazky Uzel, on March 19, quoted General Arkady Yedelev, head of the Regional Operations Headquarters for the Anti-Terrorist Operation, as telling reporters in Grozny that rebel forces in Chechnya currently consist of 37 armed groups totaling 450... MORE