Picket of missing persons' relatives held in Chechnya

On June 1, 2010 in the centre of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, in the Journalists Mini-Park, women, whose relatives disappeared in 2000-2010, held a picket. Their action was dated to the International Children's Day. Over 50 women held photos of their sons, brothers and fathers. The regional organization named "Parents' Alarm" was the organizer of the action.

Let us note here that last year by official data the number of kidnapped or missing people in Chechnya made 24 persons. Eight of them came home by their own, three were found dead, and one more, by operative data, is a member of illegal armed formations.

The protesters tried to draw attention to the problem of missing persons in their republic by means of posters and headers they held: "How long should we - sick mothers - wait for our sons?", "Where's my daddy?" and others, as reported by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

According to the HRC "Memorial", in 2009, as compared with 2008, in Chechnya, the number of kidnappings went up. As reported by rights defenders, in January-November 2009, 90 persons were kidnapped in the republic; of them 58 were released or let off, 10 were found dead, 18 disappeared and four were under inquiry. During the same period of 2008, 28 persons were kidnapped: 15 of them were released or bought out for ransom, nine disappeared and five were under inquiry. The HRC "Memorial" includes people detained without observance of the appropriate procedures into the list of kidnapped persons.