In an interview appearing in the November 29 issue of the Paris-based weekly Russkaya Mysl, human rights activist Sergei Grigoryants, chairman of the "Glasnost" Foundation, commented on his own participation and that of other human rights defenders in the "Civic Forum," an event held in... MORE

On December 3, the online news service Lenta.ru reported that the deputy procurator general of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal District, Sergei Fridinsky, had announced that "public human rights organizations will be permitted to investigate crimes committed in Chechnya." "Nongovernment human rights organizations,"... MORE

The first attempt to call up Chechens into the ranks of the [Russian] Armed Forces," journalist Dmitry Bal'burov reported in the no. 49 (4-10 December) issue of Moskovskie Novosti, "has taken place. And it has failed." In the middle of November, fifty-five young Chechen men... MORE

On December 4, the Landmine Monitor Report issued a summary of a survey conducted by the Chechen NGO "Refugees against Landmines." Chechen refugees living in northern Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and a small number living in Ingushetia and Chechnya were interviewed for the project. "Chechen [separatist]... MORE

On December 6, Lord Frank Judd, co-chairman of the joint working group of the Russian State Duma and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on human rights in Chechnya, told a press conference held at the Interfax news agency building in Moscow that... MORE

In a statement issued over Ekho Moskvy Radio, the Russian presidential spokesman for issues relating to Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, underscored his belief that the current winter will be the last for the resistance in Chechnya. "The affair is coming to an end," Yastrzhembsky asserted. The... MORE

In an interview with the weekly Obshchaya Gazeta (no. 50, December 13), Adlan Magomedov, the official representative of the pro-Moscow Chechen civilian administration to Moscow, observed: "The situation in the republic can calm down within three months' time, but only if the whole plenitude of... MORE

While Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen official spokesmen were predicting a speedy end to the present conflict, events in the town of Argun suggested that the separatists still had considerable fight left in them. According to the online daily Gazeta.ru: "After several days of fierce clashes... MORE

On December 11, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that Russia has strengthened its control over the entire length of the Russian-Georgian border. "In Georgia," he remarked, "there are districts which are controlled by no-one and are de facto occupied by foreign mercenaries. From this... MORE