Appeal of the Georgia Based Coordinative Council for Chechen Refugees

To Georgian Minister of Refugees and Accommodation, Giorgi Kheviashvili,
The head of the UNCHR Mission, Navid Hussein,
The Chairwoman of the Human Rights Parliamentary Committee, Elene Tevdoradze,
Public Defender, Sozar Subari
The head of the Human Rights Center, Ucha Nanuashvili,
The chairman of the Red Cross International Committee, Bernard Bentrankur,
OSCE Mission in Georgia,
UN Association in Georgia

There is a proverb: “Disaster occurs in your life when you least expect it.”  However, we have been expecting the disaster for thirteen years already. This feeling is horrible like death. We do not worry about ourselves. We are afraid for our relatives, families and friends who are scared by Russian barbarity. When a person permanently expects something bad, he gets exhausted.

Chechen refugees, residing in the Pankisi Gorge, have spent seven years in permanent nervous tension and stress. The disaster did not make them wait for a long time. On March 9, an assassination took place in the village of Jokholo in Akhmeta District. Hasan Shahbulatov, who was born in 1966, was brutally murdered when he was leaving the mosque. He was shot three times in his head. On March 13, another Chechen refugee, Ruslan Timaev, born in 1973, disappeared. On the second day, law enforcers found his car near Tbilisi. There were three bullet shells and blood stains in the car. The law enforcers have not been able to find any traces of Ruslan, yet.

Everything could have happened in a different way. Before his death, Hasan used to say: “I doubt to involve the resettlement program and return to Chechnya. The only hope I have is-maybe the government will issue “transportation documents”. Those people, who have suspended this process, should be responsible for the death of the Chechen man. Similar tragic events have become more frequent. Thus, we appeal to government bodies to take all necessary measures to resolve the problem. The total number of the Chechen refugees is 350. I want to enclose an excerpt from the report prepared by the Human Rights Centre, “Silence Kills” (the report reveals the atmosphere that exists in the region). “Chechen refugees reside in the Pankisi Gorge and cannot return back to their homes. Third countries refuse to accept them.  These people can neither find employment nor become citizens of Georgia. The people, who fled the Chechen conflict, live in constant fear that they will forcibly resettled to Russian federation…”

The unbearable conditions compel us to ask all international organizations and human rights organizations for help. A wife and her two young children are waiting for Ruslan Timoev at home. His relatives and friends hope that he will turn up alive soon. In addition to that, we do need your support. We should remember that “rescuing one man means rescuing mankind.”

The refugees do not doubt that the recent events that threaten their lives have a political nature. The activities that breed fear in the people serve to destabilize the region. You have the power to prevent criminals from continue their activities.

Ziaudin Idigov,
The Head of the Chechen Refugees Coordinative Council in Georgia