Russian human rights defenders tell US Congress about situation in Ingushetia

The Security and Cooperation Commission in Europe (The US Helsinki Commission) held a briefing on June 19 in the US Congress with participation of Russian experts on Northern Caucasus dedicated to aggravation of situation in Ingushetia.

Presentations to the briefing were made by Russian experts, who are dealing with human rights problems in Northern Caucasus.

Eliza Musaeva, former head of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial" in Chechnya, told about the behaviour of law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia. Then Gregory Shvedov, editor-in-chief of the Internet media "Caucasian Knot", made a summing-up report on basic trends of further development of the situation in Northern Caucasus - terrorism, weakening of the federal control, radicalization of the population and support of the militants by the population; the speaker accented his attention on rough violations of human rights in the region - not just in Ingushetia, but also in Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkesia, Dagestan and North Ossetia. Мagomed Mutsolgov, chairman of the "Mashr" human rights organization, told about murders committed in the Republic.

"The main message that we tried to bring is that Ingushetia today is one of the most problematic point of the Russian Federation, and the situation there demands the maximum attention of international community," Eliza Musaeva told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent in her telephone interview from Washington after the end of the event.

The briefing attended by more than 65 persons was organized with assistance of the American Committee for Peace in Northern Caucasus (ACPC).