Around 5,000 people kidnapped in Chechnya : Rights groups

Moscow, Jan 29 (UNI) Russian rights groups today said up to 5,000 people had been kidnapped in Chechnya in recent years, after the second counter-terrorist operation was launched.

''Since the counter-terrorist operation was launched, between 3,000 to 5,000 people have gone missing after being abducted. More exact figures are not available,'' the Memorial and Demos rights centres said in a joint report, dismissing the claims by Chechen officials that kidnappings had ceased in Chechnya.

''Official reports on the number of missing people keep changing all the time. We came to 'more than 3,000 and less than 5,000', after assessing statistics provided by the Russian and international rights organisations, which have been monitoring the human rights situation in Chechnya,'' Demos centre head Tatyana Lokshina told Interfax news agency.

Lokshina said the report was circulated in connection with public hearings on human rights being held today in Moscow by representatives of the International Commission of Jurists, including former UN Human Rights Commissioner May Robinson, the UN Secretary General's human rights envoy Hina Jilani and Judge of the Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Stefan Treschel.

UNI