From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 2/23/2006 3:26 PM
Chechnya: Danish Ban Angers Locals

23-Feb-06

Consternation at Grozny government decision to stop work of Danish Refugee Council in Chechnya.

By Luiza Zamayeva in Grozny (CRS No.328, 23-Feb-06)
There has been condemnation of the decision by the Chechen government in Grozny to suspend the work of the Danish Refugee Council in the republic following the scandal over the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed in the Danish press.

Russian human rights groups and organisations helping those displaced by the conflict are alarmed by the move, saying the agency does vital humanitarian work in the region, which has benefited large numbers of local people.

Moscow officials, who have responsibility for issues of cooperation with foreigners and non- governmental organisations, have not yet publicly commented on the Chechen decision, which was announced by the acting prime minister of the republic Ramzan Kadyrov announced the decision February 6.

But in the first indication that the federal government might be concerned about the move, Dmitry Kozak, Russia’s presidential representative for the North Caucasus, signalled his disapproval by telling journalists on February 23 that his office had formally asked the general prosecutor’s office to investigate the legality of the Chechen government’s action.

The DRC has temporarily halted its work here and closed its office in Grozny, to ensure the safety of its staff.

Chechen deputy prime minister Halid Vaikhanov said the reason for the decision was not just the cartoon scandal but fears about the reaction to it from Chechnya's Muslim population. He said the government was concerned that there might be repercussions for DRC staff.

However, it has emerged that the cartoon furore is not the only sore point between the Chechens and the Danes. “We had serious cause for complaint even before the row over the cartoons,” said Vaikhanov. “There is evidence that this organisation, whether it realised it or not, has been supporting [rebels].” Ramzan Kadyrov also accused the Danish group of working in Chechnya as spies.

Vaikhanov said the ban was “final” and “not subject to review”.

The DRC office in Grozny opened only a few months ago, although the agency has been working in the North Caucasus since 1997. The Chechen authorities have complained about its work several times before. At one stage Chechnya refused the DRC access to the republic after humanitarian aid supplied by the organisation was allegedly found at rebel bases.

The Danes categorically reject these allegations, and say that their work is entirely transparent. Its staff report regularly to the authorities and provide detailed information about their operations.

According to official figures, over 200,000 people in Chechnya today are in need of humanitarian aid and the DRC is helping more than 190 thousand of them. Last year the Danish agency distributed more than 20 thousand tonnes of food to the population in 12 of the republic's largest regions.

There are approximately 20 humanitarian organisations working in Chechnya today and the DRC is agreed to be the most active. In partnership with the UN, it is running a series of humanitarian programmes to provide food, healthcare, education and reconstruction in Chechnya.

A DRC staff member told IWPR that the group has been rebuilding homes in Chechnya. This involves 806 houses in Grozny and its environs alone. In parallel, the DRC is carrying out repair and rebuilding work.
Around 300 Chechen families are taking part in a micro-finance home-building project at the moment. The Danish council has requested over 18 million dollars for humanitarian work in the North Caucasus for 2006.

It is now unclear whether these programmes will be able to continue.

An employee of the human rights organisation Memorial condemned the government’s move as cynical.

“The DRC has distanced itself from politics and does not comment on the human rights situation: it has been concentrating solely on humanitarian work,” said the human rights monitor, who asked not to be named. “The organisation has paid for the reconstruction of thousands of houses and has saved tens of thousands of people from starvation.

“The fact is that the [DRC] has done far more for the Chechen people than the government has. In today's situation, the authorities shouldn't be impeding the work of an organisation like this.”

The head of the Committee for Protecting the Rights of Displaced Persons, Aslambek Apayev, was more critical still. In his opinion, the government in Grozny was overstepping its competence, but he also suspected the hand of the central authorities in the decision.

“Kadyrov is fairly malleable, and I don’t think this is his personal initiative,” said Apayev. “The fact that the centre is in no hurry to get involved suggests that the action of the Chechen government is in line with Moscow’s policy of driving foreign humanitarian and human rights organisations out of the North Caucasus.”

Beryozka on the edge of Grozny is one of the most damaged villages in the republic. After two military campaigns, its residents have been left without homes, property and livelihoods. People cannot return and begin to rebuild their homes because many of them have still not received any compensation.

The villagers’ hopes are pinned on the Danish council. “Up until now, the authorities have not solved the people’s problems - they have given us nothing but words and promises,” said resident Imran Gatsayev. “But the Danish council has given us real help. It is no secret that today some families only survive thanks to humanitarian aid from the Danes.”

Chechnya residents displaced from their homes by war, and now living in temporary resettlement centres in Chechnya, are also indignant. Umar Saidov, who lives in the Okruzhnaya refugee centre in Grozny, said, "Like any Muslim, I condemn the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, but I can't understand what a humanitarian organisation, which has been helping people to survive since the beginning of the war working in extremely difficult conditions, has got to do with it.

“If the authorities ban them, it is we, the people living in the resettlement areas, who will be the first to suffer.”

Luiza Zamayeva is the pseudonym of a journalist working in Chechnya.
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=259827&apc_state=henpcrs