|
Chechen
–Press agency and ministry for foreign affairs of CRI speared text of
president of CRI Aslan Maskhadov’s letter to participants of G8 summit in
Genue.
“I
am Aslan Maskhadov, democratically elected president of Chechen republic of
Ichkeria, write to you this desperate appeal on behalf of my nation, victim of
genocide war, the nation that is killed everyday and this still must awake
conscience of the world. We are so
unfortunate, bloody and enslaved, as you are rich, powerful and free.
You will soon gather Genue in magnificence of ceremony that befits to
your place in first class of nations.
Guard
of honor will greet you; you will meet in palace and the world will listen to
your every word. However, I am
writing to you form place of murder, rotten through with slaughter and I am
pursuit in my own country like my fellow-citizens.
By voting papers, I also received privilege and responsibility to lead my
nation, but Moscow calls me a bandit, terrorist and criminal.
Outside of my tiny country my words seem to mean not much the same as
poignant cry of my nation, astonishingly but still lefts you deaf and dumb.
So,
I will continue to write till silence disappears. You will participate in your
meeting on highest level and consider possibility of decreasing promissory notes
to countries of the third world. This
is praiseworthy aim. Undoubtedly,
countless millions of people are hoping that humanities concern will motivate
strong people of this world to search for end to hard poverty of weak.
Why do you turn away from us?
We,
who are dying in fire of dirty war of Kremlin, do we really less deserve
compassion? What made us invisible
for you? I am afraid I know the
answer. I am afraid that cold
calculations of real policy guarantee your interests and predetermine our fate.
To not damage your doubtful relations with fragile and unsteady Russia,
you are ready to turn away from nation being destroyed.
In your eyes we are destroyed nation for big interests. You represent
place behind the table of worthy guests to Russian President Vladimir Putin and
shake his hand as of leader of big democracy, greet his as reformer, who shares
your values.
If
you could see real face of Chechnya under agony of Russian occupation, could you
continue such praising? Seventh
part of the nation that was numbered in one million some times ago is killed.
250 000 of our civil dwellers became refugees.
Lacking of most elemental needs, many are destroyed by diseases and
malnutrition, especially elder and children.
More
than 20 000 civil people and combatants are enduring imprisonment in new Gulags,
the so-called filtration camps. They
are held in degraded, dirty and primitive conditions, without any medical
service, in conditions that many times exceed worse standards of Russian
criminal system. Life in improvised
camps consists of sadist and systematic tortures.
Burning with cigarettes, scourging with knifes, tortures with electricity
and violence, these are only some of usual methods.
Many prisoners are killed at the end.
Of course, this must be long-awaited deliverance from hell for some of
them.
Our
prisoners of war are usually shot at place.
Our women are exposed to mass violence.
Our populated areas are exposed to routine and repeated policy of robbers
and destruction, where all men population, including 15-year-old and even
younger children routinely disappears. Any
Chechen can be arrested or can get highest measure of punishment without any
judge. Arbitrarily arrests of men,
women and children of all ages occur everyday.
Corpses of killed are often deliberately disfigured and are demonstrated
not allowed to bury.
Our
killed people also serve as sources of income for Russian soldiers who force
relatives to pay big ransoms before they can receive remains of their relatives.
Countless mass graves are hidden in landscape of destroyed villages and burning
ruins. Our towns and villages do not exist any more.
Only during last weeks dozens of south, west, east Chechen villages were
again exposed to hell, more than 300 civilians were killed in systematic
cleansing and thousands of other people were imprisoned, tortured and violated.
This is dark side of real policy. Terror,
massacre and madness are price, which we must pay for pragmatism of
international diplomacy.
In
1945 you won evil of militarism, fascism and Nazism.
Those nations among you, which gave a birth to monstrous Kholokost of
world’s war swore to not repeat the same fatal mistakes and as a result, in
new spirit proudly stood between democratic countries.
During more than half century you together built new institutions of
association of nations, UN, NATO, OSCE, ES and other regional and global
organizations aimed for more equal and safe future.
You
prevented the day of nuclear conflict and your example crushed Berlin wall and
took off collar of communism and finished long cold war.
You dismantled your colonial imperials and allowed to previously enslaved
nations to live, as they want. You fought with Ruscism at home and abroad and your voices
helped to win apartheid.
Again
and again you promoted priorities of democracy to win dictatorship. It is possible that first of all in Newrnberg you followed
your most noble instincts and established governing of low and human right for
inviolable, universal principles, which always keep barbarism responsible behind
civilized codex of behavior.
How
does it happen that you are celebrating victory of justice upon Slobadan
Milochevich, who is finally standing behind judge in Gaaga, but greet Putin as
desirable partner? How is it
possible that you mobilized to resist against bare aggression during war in Bay,
interfered when saw ethnic cleansing and savagery in Bosnia, Cassava and East
Timor and Serro-Leone and now very seldom even say the word Chechnya?
You
are accusing and isolating regime of Slopka in Mianmare and Taliban in
Afghanistan. You are pressing on China on its abuse in Tibet, for pursuit of
non-conformists, intellectuals and religious followers, but you don’t say
anything about killing Chechen civil people.
You tirelessly practice diplomacy, try to guarantee peace on Near East,
North Ireland, Macedonian, Kashmir, Congo even in Sudan, where is your peace
initiative for Chechnya?
On
behalf of dying nation, I ask you to not leave us any more.
I ask you all together take up steps to promote restoration of peace
negotiations and establishment of immediate truce that will be guaranteed and
controlled by neutral sides. I also
ask you to demand in accordance with international rights to develop desperately
necessary humanitarian aid and medical personal.
I
further ask you to secure immediate return of nongovernmental organizations for
human rights, observers for international institutes and members of
international press, which are presently not allowed to Chechnya.
I write to you as to leaders of free world, with appeal to pluck up and
in accordance with democratic traditions, which you represent and swore to
support and to exert pressure on Russia, to force her stop from exterminating my
nation, to force her to answer for genocide and to implement sanctions if Moscow
will refuse further on.
Savagery,
which we suffer, is not new. We
remember mines of Stalin, his guarding towers, barbed wire and unmarked graves.
We new pain of mass escapes and genocide and before.
So, we recognize those with whom we share horrible relationship of terror.
Skeletons of Jews and Gypsy in fascist concentration camps.
Forage of bayonet in Niyanjir. Broad eyed children of Biafra. Pleading
mother with infants standing behind gun in Mihaya. Arabs of Iraq bogs killed by
clouds of gas. Titsi Rwanda,
Intephamve killed in Kigali.
They
are all our brothers and sisters in lot of senseless murder.
Only our slaughter and our death are not past, they belong to living
nightmare of the present. How many
more Chechens will die before you have time to read this letter?
How many more people will be forced to bury people till your meeting on
highest level will finish?
Don’t
neglect to raise the question of humanity and justice, act now or time of
history will mark your conscience with page of shame? If you will continue to
stand idly at the same time when my nation is dying in bloodshed, if you won’t
be in condition to act with persuasion and decision as you did in Rwanda,
Chechen ghosts will color with shame your honor the same as they are undoubtedly
shaming Russia.
May
the Most High give you wisdom and sight, so you could serve to deed of the world.
With respect
Aslan Maskhadov
|
