North Caucasus NGO Monitor
Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 21:40:35 +0300 (EET DST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: North Caucasus NGO Monitor
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Andre Kamenshikov <[email protected]>
North Caucasus NGO Monitor
Throughout the last month the situation in the North Caucasus has
seriously deteriorated. Fighting has been taking place in various
districts of Dagestan. In this issue we will focus on the NGOs which
exist and are currently working in this region. Obviously, the current
situation influenced their normal operations, and forced to make
significant changes in their future plans. Thus the information about
their activities, that has been gathered recently but before the
outbreak of violence may be outdated (new information has been
difficult to obtain, due to communication problems). We believe,
however, that it is essential to at least know of the existence of the
following NGOs, which are located in the very center of the current
ongoing conflicts.
Also, we are including in this issue a description of our efforts to
prevent another inter-ethnic conflict from developing between local
Chechens and other peoples of Dagestan.
1. Association of Women of Dagestan
The regional social organization "Maternal Hearth" was founded on June
8, 1999.
The main focus of activity of the Association is the preservation of
peace, maternity and childhood by consolidating efforts of women of
Dagestan.
The Association is promoting healthy way of life, struggling against
addiction to: drugs, alcoholism, decline of ethics and morality, etc.
The activists of "Maternal Hearth" were able to close a 24-hour
alcohol shop in the Zarechenskii part of the city of Hasavyurt.
Currently they are demanding to move the clinic for sexually
transmitted diseases from the highly populated center to another less
populated place.
The Association also participates in the search for a peaceful
solution of the potentially explosive conflict situations in
Novolakskii, Kazbekovskii and other districts of the Republic.
For successful resolution of these existing contradictions members of
the Association consider it necessary to establish mutual
collaboration between local NGOs. The Association plans to develop a
net of NGOs, in collaboration with the Dagestan Regional Charitable
Fund "SOS-Salvation"(formerly - the Hasavyurt Regional Charitable Fund
"Salvation").
Address: Zarechnaya St., 3
Hasavyurt
Phone: 36-64
Chair: Chermaeva Raisat Tahtabievna
2. Supporting disabled children, orphans and providing psychological
rehabilitation for children affected during the war in Chechnya.
Since June 1999 in Dagestan the Social children's Fund "Mother's
Heart" began providing social support for disabled children, orphans
and offering psychological rehabilitation to children - victims of the
war in Chechnya.
In June 1999 200 orphan children were taken out for a 20 day excursion
to Azerbaijan. The Fund began collecting information about orphaned
children, disabled children and children requiring psychological
rehabilitation from the Chechen Republic Ichkeriya.
The Fund has a concrete plan of activities, agreements were reached
with a number of recreating centers in Azerbaijan, Dagestan and other
regions of Russia.
Address: Nefteprovodnaya St., 45
Hasavyurt, Dagestan, Russian Federation
Chair: Meshieva Tamusya Said-Alievna
3. Repatriation and defending the rights and interests of refugees and
forced migrants
The Hasavyurt region of the Dagestan Republic is one of the
territories with the greatest concentration of refugees and forced
migrants from the Chechen Republic. This category of citizens still
remains socially unprotected and deprived of their civil rights.
In June 1999 members of the Regional Charitable Fund "Repatriate"
began to conduct work on social protection of refugees and forced
migrants from the Chechen Republic. They also plan to promote the
return of refugees to their homes by establishing accommodation and
employment opportunities in the Chechen Republic.
Currently the Fund "Repatriate" is monitoring the refugee situation in
order to determine the required resources for supporting their
repatriation and also for determining such resources in the towns and
districts of the Chechen Republic.
Address: Komsomolskaya str.,126
Hasavyurt, Dagestan, Russian Federation
Chair: Sadykhova Malica
4. Charitable hospital in Dagestan
In the previous issues of the bulletin we wrote about the activity of
the League for the Protection of Mother and Child. Now we would like
to complete the information with new facts.
The Charitable hospital founded by the League has received 186
patients (pregnant women and women with gynecological diseases) during
the last month, 40 of which have staid in the hospital. The hospital
has 20 places; therefore the possibilities of stationary treatment are
limited. Care of the patients is carried out by the efforts of 3
doctors, a hospital nurse examining at home and nurses on duty. Plans
exist to include a doctor on duty into the staff and also to organize
a surgery room. The organizers of charitable hospital see the need to
develop a similar medical facility in the city of Derbent, in a
district where receiving medical aid is difficult due to mountainous
landscape. So far they were unable to achieve this task due to the
lack of support.
Members of the League did not remain unaffected by the current
situation in Dagestan. In reply to the tragic events taking place they
have prepared an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation
with an initiative to establish a group for conducting negotiations in
order to put an end to the armed conflict.
Address: Ermoshkina St., 3,
Mahachkala, Dagestan Republic,
Russian Federation
Phone: 8 (8722) 67-29-74
Concerns over Dagestan - will the current war lead to civil strife
within the republic?
Our organization, Nonviolence International, is currently trying to do
its most to avoid a civil conflict in Dagestan which could develop as
a result of the ongoing hostilities.
The fighting today is taking place in some western districts of
Dagestan between intruders from neighboring Chechnya and the federal
troops, supported by most of the local population. However, this
picture is complicated by the fact that a large percent of the
population in the districts where the fighting is going on are local
Chechens (also known as akkin-chechens). The majority of the Chechen
population in Dagestan denounced the invasion and announced that they
were ready to fight in order to protect their homes together with
other peoples of Dagestan. However, certain incidents were reported in
the media of some local Chechens supporting the invaders. Though while
the fighting continues it is difficult to verify these reports, they
have already created a wave of negative attitudes toward the Chechens
in Dagestan. It is important to understand, that though the invaders
came from Chechnya and a significant portion of them are ethnic
Chechens, there are also many ethnic Dagestanee's among them, as well
as people of other ethnic origin.
The danger today is that as the number of incidents between local
Chechens and other people increases, a danger develops of serious
inter-ethnic clashes, since both sides bear a significant amount of
arms and are not known for being well disciplined. If that is to
happen the whole context of the current fighting will change and the
extremist forces will multiply. The Dagestan Chechens risk being
deported from their homes. Leaflets, calling for a total deportation
of the Dagestan Chechens are currently being circulated in Dagestan,
the source of these leaflets is unclear at this moment.
The situation, however, is not hopeless. On Thursday, the 16th the
head of the Dagestan State Council made a strong statement defending
the Chechens of Dagestan. (This came in contradiction to calls from
some local "strong men", who tried to solve their peoples problems at
the cost of the local Chechens.) So today the situation is at a stage
where it can turn both to the better and to the worst.
In this situation even minor efforts to avoid a deterioration of the
situation may play an important role. Nonviolence International is
working in close contact on one hand with members of the leadership of
the Dagestan Chechens, on the other - with some deputies of the
Russian State Duma (lower house of the Russian Parliament) who have
good contacts with members of the executive branch of the Russian
Government. We believe that at this point we will be able to prevent a
new escalation of violence.
Help is urgently needed, however. At the current moment we are trying
to achieve the following:
- Set up reliable communication with the local Chechen leadership in
Dagestan (unfortunately the only available mean for that are satellite
phones, since local phone lines are unreliable and cellular phone
systems don't cover all the necessary points and have been switched
off by the Russian authorities).
- Provide the leadership of the Dagestan Chechens with copying
equipment, so they could respond to provocative leaflets by informing
people about their true position, and call on people to maintain
inter-ethnic peace, etc.
- Engage both the Chechen and the non-Chechen population of the
bordering districts in joint humanitarian activities, in helping
victims of the conflict. This joint work must help people overcome
their prejudice and strengthen inter-ethnic ties.
- Distribute information about the situation in the mass media,
prepare appeals to maintain inter-ethnic peace, highlight the fact
that any other option will be disastrous for all people of Dagestan.
Today we don't think that the local population at this particular
moment would properly understand appealing to the international
community. However, it might become a necessity in the near future, if
things continue to deteriorate.
What is needed at this point is financing (at least on a small scale -
but urgent) and possibly - humanitarian aid for victims of the
conflict.
Together we shall be able to prevent another war!
----------------------
"North Caucasus NGO Monitor" is a publication produced by members of
the Nonviolence International - Newly Independent States" (NI-NIS) on
a fellowship from the Open Society Institute in Budapest. Its goals
are:
- to help in exploring new approaches for humanitarian activities
which allow supporting elements of civil society in the North
Caucasus, while significantly lowering the security risks associated
with such activities;
- to provide continuous information about constructive activities of
NGOs on a community level in areas of tension and conflict in the
North Caucasus;
- to highlight the work of dedicated local activists, who despite
extreme difficulties work toward peace, reconciliation, social and
economical revival of their communities.
Phone and fax numbers in the bulletin are given with the Russian
internal area codes. When dialing from outside Russia or the CIS
states, the numbers provided must be preceded with 7 - Russia's
country code.
Names are given according to the Russian standard - surname before the
first name.
For questions and comments as well as to get additional information
about NGO activities in the North Caucasus please contact:
Nonviolence International - Newly Independent States,
Contact person - Kamenshikov Andre
Luchnikov Lane, house 4, entrance 3, room 2
Moscow, Russia, 103982
Tel. (095) 206-8618 or 351-4855, fax 206-8853,
E-mail: [email protected]
http: www.glasnet.ru/~ninis
--
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe
Submissions: [email protected]
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected]
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================