14:35, 5 June 2007

16 persons kidnapped in Chechnya during three months of 2007

The kidnapping problem in the territory of Chechnya is still unresolved, although the number of this sort of crimes has essentially decreased in comparison with the first years of the "counterterrorist operation."

The Republic's Public Prosecutor's Office has stated that 15 persons were kidnapped in Chechnya, and all of them were later released.

An employee of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial" has reported in his talk to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent: "According to our data, in January-March this year 16 kidnappings were committed in the territory of the Republic. Ten of these citizens were later set at large or released for ransom, three are considered missing, two remain under investigation, and one was found murdered."

According to his story, these data cannot be considered final as the "Memorial" keeps monitoring at least 25-30 percent of the Chechen territory. The human rights activist has explained that during the recent four years a total of 1965 persons were kidnapped in Chechnya, of whom 1046 are considered missing and 190 more were found murdered.

Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent