Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva said that protecting human rights in Chechnya is crucial to accelerating reconstruction in the republic, Interfax reported on January 3. "First of all, it is necessary to ensure that security agencies act in compliance with the law and observe... MORE

--BODY COUNTS The Federal Security Service claimed that more than 200 separatist fighters were killed and more than 900 people detained on suspicion of "involvement in terrorist activities" in Chechnya during 2004, Gazeta.ru reported on January 3. The rebels, for their part, claimed they killed... MORE

After last week's intense media speculation, yesterday Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced an overhaul of key ministries. That same day, December 14, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania announced the structural and personnel reorganization planned for the rest of the ministries. "We are doing this to make... MORE

December 11 marked the tenth anniversary of the Russian military intervention that began the first of the two modern Russo-Chechen wars. Russian, Western and Chechen media alike featured commentaries on the start of then President Boris Yeltsin's campaign to "restore constitutional order" in the breakaway... MORE

Speaking at Columbia University in New York on December 9, President Vladimir Putin's adviser on Chechnya, Aslambek Aslakhanov, reiterated the Kremlin's policy of rejecting negotiations with rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, calling him "just a banner" around which rebel groups rally. "Without him, they are only... MORE

Nezavisimaya gazeta on December 10 quoted "informed" military sources as saying that Russia's Defense Military is ready to launch "preventive strikes on terrorist bases" outside Russia. "One can assume with a high degree of probability that this relates above all to the bases of Chechen... MORE

Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has said that all officials involved in machinations with compensation payments for war-damaged dwellings should be prosecuted and named publicly in order to shame them, Rossiiskaya gazeta reported on December 11. Earlier, on December 4, Kadyrov told a meeting... MORE

On December 8, a huge explosion in the Caucasian republic of Dagestan damaged a segment of the pipeline for exporting natural gas from Russia to Azerbaijan. Local security officials almost immediately admitted that the blast was an act of sabotage. On December 9, NTV quoted... MORE

--ONE CIVILIAN KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN ROCKET ATTACK Kavkazky Uzel, citing the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, reported on December 14 that a brother and sister were being treated in Grozny's Hospital No. 9 for serious wounds they received on December 3, when a helicopter gunship fired... MORE

After two days of media speculation, there are signs that the rumored imminent reshuffle of Georgia's power ministries may contain a grain of truth. On December 8 both Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania made statements that pointed toward a forthcoming reorganization.... MORE