A young man of draft age is called up for military service. He takes his summons and heads for a local military registration and enlistment center for medical examination where he blurts out to a psychiatrist, “You know, I am homosexual.” In any other normal, secular country the doctor would have responded, “It’s your problem. Just get checked and be done with it.” In Armenia, however, things are quite different. The psychiatrist rushes to his superiors to report the unconventional situation. The would-be conscript is taken from one room to another, being displayed to all the staff and draftees amidst remarks of dubious nature. After that the psychiatrist finally writes down a diagnosis in the medical report, “homosexuality”, and gives the boy a warrant for treatment in a lunatic asylum. Then the military commissioner comes into play, his task is to report the problem not only to the boy’s parents but to his place of employment, or study. Full Story...
Resident of the Chechen capital Said-Eli Bisultanov has been undergoing treatment for eye injury in a municipal hospital in Grozny since November 4. But medical staff at the hospital cannot yet say with certainty whether their patient will be able to see as well as before. Because bullets fired by a Russian sniper from the rooftop of a three-storied apartment block had gone through Said-Eli’s shoulder and hit him in the eye. Full Story...
On November 8, 2002, a court in Hanoi sentenced 32-year-old Le Chi Quang, a resident of the Vietnamese capital, to four years in prison and three years under house arrest. He was convicted under article 88 of the 1999 Vietnamese Penal Code for “dissemination of information against the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.
The bill of indictment against Le Chi Quang is a telltale document, which is worth quoting here if not full-length, at least abridged. Here are some key excerpts from this document: Full Story...
To hand over Ahmed Zakayev upon word of honor of prosecutor general Vladimir Ustinov that he would not be executed in Russia, that is a request made by Russia to the government of Denmark. Such a request might have sounded naive in any other situation but that. However, after Russian special forces killed — in cold blood and without any lawful necessity — already incapacitated terrorists in the hostage rescue operation in Moscow, that is perceived as something ill-omened. Full Story...
The tension over the tragic events in Moscow is gradually easing. But recent hostages continue to die and suffer in Moscow hospitals from the poisonous substance used by special forces in the storm of the Moscow theatre. A manhunt has been ordered across Moscow for Movsar Barayev’s accomplices. But the more information is revealed to the public, the more questions arise. There is mounting concern about what price had been paid to end the Moscow theatre siege. Why “terrorists” were not captured alive? Was there any chance to avoid the terrible loss of life? What will happen to Chechnya now? What will happen to all of us? Full Story...
Oct. 25 – Today Duma member Iosif Kobzon recounted for journalists the details of his talks with the terrorists last night, which resulted in the release of five of the hostages.
The terrorists did not immediately agree to let Kobzon into the theater, demanding that he be escorted by British journalist Mark Ranketti, who is known for having interviewed Aslan Maskhadov. The two were met in the theater by several people in masks with automatic weapons, and according to Kobzon, behaved calmly. A man introducing himself as Abu-Bali came to speak to the two, and when Kobzon asked to talk with Baraev, he was told the terrorists’ leader was resting. Full Story...
These days nobody finds it strange when Duma members take jobs in government or in the presidential administration, effectively disregarding their voters. The concept of voters’ trust loses all meaning as swinging politicians leap from one branch of government to the other. Politicians who made election-year promises to voters and western charitable foundations, pledging to defend human rights from government abuse, are now employed by the very same government they swore to keep an eye on. Full Story...
The fate of thirteen Chechens — whose extradition is sought by Russia — has become small change in today’s intricate political game between Moscow and Tbilisi. The Kremlin appears to be using the arrested Chechens and the current situation in Pankisi for putting pressure on the neighboring state which is gradually escaping from its control. Tbilisi, in turn, is trying to cajole its Big Neighbor by giving its unwilling consent to extradition of the Chechens and intensifying its military-and-police operations in the Pankisi Gorge area. As for the plight of Chechens, it worries neither Moscow nor Tbilisi. In political game of this sort there is no space for bothering with humanitarian or legal issues. Full Story...
On European Square in downtown Kiev a mock public trial was held of the Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma. To give evidence against him came the first secretary of the Communist Party Petr Simonenko, chairman of the Socialist Party Aleksander Moroz, and leader of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) Party Yulia Timoshenko. The parts of public prosecutors were performed by former prosecutor general Viktor Shishkin and former justice minister Sergei Golovaty. Full Story...
A day or two ago the Russian government has made public its new decree restricting the movement of foreigners across the country. The six lines of the document, registration number 754, of October 11, 2002, have nothing else to say but to order relevant authorities to “designate territories, institutions and facilities for which foreigners would require a special permit to visit”. In its eleven clauses, the document forbids foreigners to travel to “restricted” territories, to areas of widespread occurrence of an infectious disease or mass poisoning, to army settlements and other military objects, to border areas and sites of ecological disasters, to facilities related to state secrets etc. However, there is nothing new in these restrictive clauses. It seems that the entire document has been introduced for the sake of just one clause, the sixth, which forbids foreigners to visit “zones covered by counter-terrorist operations”. Full Story...