16:21, 23 May 2005

Human rights defenders share grave figures

Ninety-seven have been abducted in Chechnya in 2005, including 53 still missing, Dmitry Grushkin of the Human Rights Centre Memorial says.

"Since 2002, 1,579 residents of Chechnya have been abducted according to our information. Of these, 917 have disappeared, 492 have been released and 160 have been found killed. Another ten persons who were deemed abducted are under investigation," Grushkin says.

Besides, he said 3,131 residents of the republic died under various circumstances other than military action in Chechnya between the second half of 2002 and 2005, according to the human rights defenders' information.

"Our monitoring covers just 30% of the territory of the Chechen Republic and even in this territory we cannot register all committed crimes. So the information we provide is not exhaustive," Grushkin said, quoted by Interfax.

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Impunity in Chechnya

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