MSF CONDEMNS GROZNY RELOCATIONS.

On July 9, the Nobel-prize winning medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) issued a press release in which it condemned “the forced relocation of displaced Chechens and Russians to temporary locations in Grozny, where violence and insecurity are a common feature of life. The closure on Sunday [July 7] of a camp in Znamenskoe, in northern Chechnya, was accomplished by an organized campaign of harassment and coercion by the authorities…. MSF condemns the Russian authorities for this action and find the inaction of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations, and the international community unacceptable in light of clear evidence of widespread coercion and harassment…. MSF considers that any campaign of voluntary return includes the option of staying behind. Essential services and facilities should remain in place for those who want to stay” (MSF press release, July 9).