12:53, 21 September 2005

Public meeting held in Grozny

A protest action organised by parents of deaf-and-dumb children occurred in the capital of Chechnya on 20 September.

The public meeting began in the centre of Grozny, in Druzhby Narodov St. Participants (deaf-and-dumb children and their parents) demanded that authorities should return them the former building of a dedicated boarding school for disabled children.

"Our sick children are currently huddling together in a private house. There are no normal living conditions there, and less so learning conditions," says one of the participants, Maret, 38, resident in Grozny. "An international organisation has allocated office and other equipment for the deaf-and-dumb children, but there is nowhere to install it. Meanwhile, authorities do not care about our problems."

According to Maret, the former boarding school is now occupied by the Russian military. "We have repeatedly addressed the government and we have even written a letter to the leadership of the South federal district with a request to influence the military, but, unfortunately, no response followed," she says.

Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent