ACPC Weekly News UPDATE
November 16, 2009 – November 22, 2009

Human rights sidelined as strategic issues dominate EU-Russia summit

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso described the annual summit between the European Union and Russia, which was held in Stockholm, Sweden on November 18, as “one of the best meetings we have had” despite little substantive progress after almost five hours of talks. Particularly disconcerting for the Russian human rights community was the lack of a strong stance on the part of the European Union against recent killings and the persecution of human rights activists in Russia’s North Caucasus republics. Leading up to the summit, Russian NGOs issued a statement insisting that the European Union and the government of Sweden, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, step up pressure on Russia and “demand the respect for human rights,” but despite the fact that at least three activists have been killed in recent  months in Chechnya and Ingushetia, the EU failed to make human rights a focal point of its dialogue with the Russian Federation.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Prime Minister of Sweden, said he “exchanged views on human rights, the rule of law in Russia and democracy” with President Medvedev and stated that the human rights situation in Russia is an “increasing cause for concern,” but he was unable to secure concrete pledges from his Russian counterpart who chose not to respond to the critique during the post summit joint statement.

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Ongoing violence continues to claim lives on both sides of the battle in the North Caucasus

On Sunday, the son of the mayor of Buinaksk, a town southwest of the capital Makhachkala, was released days after he was kidnapped by gunmen while inspecting the construction site of a family home. Authorities arrested two men in connection to the kidnapping but it was unclear whether they were members of the militant underground or had criminal ties. Cases of abductions and disappearances are regular occurrences in Dagestan and other North Caucasus republics, but most of them are believed to be carried out by local and federal security services targeting alleged militants. According to experts, inter-ethnic strife as well as criminal gang activity, among other factors, contribute to the violence in Dagestan.

Also in Dagestan, a police officer was severely wounded when an explosive device planted on the hood of the officer’s vehicle detonated. In another incident, authorities killed a militant who was attempting to install a roadside bomb in the town of Durangi, in south central Dagestan.

In Ingushetia, hours after a traffic police officer was killed during an attack, militants carried out two more successive attacks on a police checkpoint located just outside of Nazran, the largest city in Ingushetia. Initially, gunmen attacked the checkpoint with rocket propelled grenade fire, injuring a police officer in the process. Militants then attacked the investigative team that arrived at the checkpoint, injuring two more police officers. The attacks suggest an increased agility and improved organizational skills of the militants operating in Ingushetia, raising doubt about the effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations carried out by the security services in the republic.

For a more in depth analysis of the situation in Ingushetia, read “The Yevkurov Expirment: an assessment of Ingushetia president’s first year in office”published by the American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus.

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