Communications received
306. By letter dated 28 September 2001, the Government of Peru informed the Special Representative that an investigation was being conducted into the complaint submitted by
Ms. Migda Mirtha Rivera San Roque through the Human Rights Committee that a crime against humanity by means of torture followed by death had been committed by Lieutenant Julio Cesar Oliva Cuneo and others. This complaint was brought before Dr. Ricardo A. Gomez Hurtado, provincial prosecutor in the First Provincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office in Huaura, Lima, and a decision is pending. The Government further indicated that since the Public Prosecutor's Department was conducting the criminal proceedings, its decision would be binding and it was therefore not possible to provide further information on this case. In addition, the Government
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reported that the Ministry of the Interior had brought administrative-disciplinary proceedings in the Second National Police Judicial Division against Officer Julio Castro Reyes and Officer Mario Mayta Yupanqui, members of the Vehicular Robbery Investigation Section of the Huacho Road Traffic Safety Division, for alleged commission of the offence of disobedience.
Observations
307. The Special Representative thanks the Government for its reply. She would be grateful to the Peruvian Government to be kept informed of the measures taken to address the harassment and intimidation suffered by the lawyer of Jenard Lee Rivera San Roque and his family.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA Communication sent
308. On 2 November 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, sent an urgent appeal regarding Mr. Dan Byuong-ho, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). According to the information received, the authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Dan Byuong-ho in June 2001 for leading the KCTU campaign for workers' rights in 2001. It was also reported that
Mr. Dan Byuong-ho had previously been imprisoned in connection with his efforts to promote basic labour standards, but was released in August 1999 as a part of the general presidential amnesty. At that time, he still reportedly had two months and four days left of his sentence. It was further reported that an agreement was reached between the KCTU and the Government on 2 August 2001, according to which Mr. Dan Byuong-ho would return to prison to serve his remaining time and the authorities would stop bringing new charges against him in relation with the KCTU campaign in 2001. It was also reported that, on 28 September 2001, a few days before Mr. Dan Byuong-ho's release on 3 October 2001, the authorities issued a new arrest warrant, enabling them further to hold him in detention for investigation and trial. Since then, Mr. Dan Byuong-ho has reportedly been in prison and the authorities have allegedly denied that an agreement between the Government and the KCTU ever existed.
Communications received
309. By letter dated 21 December 2001 the Government informed the Special Representative that Mr. Dan had been arrested and imprisoned on a charge of leading illegal labour-related activities and had later been granted general amnesty and released in August 1999. The Government stated that, from December 1999 to July 2001, Mr. Dan continued to lead more than 10 illegal strikes and violent demonstrations. Holding Mr. Dan accountable for the
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aforementioned acts, the government authorities repealed the suspension of execution previously granted to him and he returned to prison to serve his remaining sentence. The Government assured the Special Representative that it had never agreed to stop bringing new charges against Mr. Dan in connection with the KCTU campaign in 2001. The Government stated that the strikes and demonstrations led by Mr. Dan had proved to be politically motivated and organized with the aim of undermining economic restructuring.
Observations
310. The Special Representative thanks the Government for its reply.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION Communications sent
311. On 5 June 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on torture, sent an urgent appeal concerning Dik Alterimov, a Chechen human rights activist and former Minister for Tourism and Sport and Vice President of the Chechen Republic with responsibility for social and humanitarian issues. He was reportedly arrested by Russian federal forces on 24 May 2001 in Grozny. The official reason for his arrest is said to be his alleged participation in activities of Chechen armed groups. It is nevertheless believed that he was held solely for his involvement in human rights activities in favour of victims of the armed conflict in Chechnya, since he is known to oppose the tactics adopted by Chechen armed groups and to have criticized the activities of Islamic fundamentalist groups in Chechnya.
312. On 10 August 2001, the Special Representative, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture, transmitted an allegation regarding Sergei Grigoryants, the head of the Glasnost Foundation, an organization involved in the defence of human rights. He was reportedly kicked by masked men who entered the offices of the Foundation located in a residential building on Tsvetnoi Bulvar, in central Moscow, on 29 August 2000. According to the information received, 10 commandos and a police lieutenant, who was believed to have identified himself as being from the 18th precinct, at gunpoint ordered everyone present in the Foundation's office, i.e., about 12 persons, including a 10-year-old girl, to lie face down on the floor with their hands behind their heads. It was believed that this incident is related to the work of the Foundation.
313. On 30 October 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, sent an urgent appeal concerning Ms. Anna Politkovskaia, a Russian journalist for the weekly newspaper Novaya gazeta who was reportedly forced to flee from Russia and take
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refuge in Austria. Ms. Politkovskaia is a renowned journalist who has published many articles denouncing human rights violations committed by Russian forces in Chechnya, for which she received the Amnesty International Human Rights Prize for journalists in April 2001. According to the information received, Ms Politkovskaia received several death threats following the publication on 10 September 2001 of an article about Serguei Lapin, a Russian official whom Ms. Politkovskaia accused of having committed exactions against Chechen civilians. Ms. Politkovskaia is said to have received e-mails on 15 September and 10 October 2001 mentioning that Officer Lapin would come to Moscow to get his revenge on the journalist.
314. On 12 November 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal, jointly with the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, regarding Mr. Imran Elsheyev, a human rights defender and a leader of the Russo-Chechen Friendship Society, who was reportedly arrested on 13 October 2001, near Karabulak, Ingushetia, by the Federal (Russian) authorities (FSB) after having had contacts with researchers from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC). According to the information received, he was taken to Grozny and was detained in a FSB facility (Leninskij RVD); no formal charges have been made public against him. The Russo-Chechen Friendship Society is a humanitarian organization that deals with the situation of internally displaced persons from the war in Chechnya. It has been reported that the NHC met several times with the Friendship Society during its visit to Ingushetia from 30 September to 5 October 2001. The Friendship Society reportedly assisted the Committee's visits to a number of so-called spontaneous settlements. According to the information received, Mr. Elsheyev and his colleagues told the NHC on 4 October 2001 that they had received a visit from the FSB the evening before and had been warned against meeting with "those foreigners".
Communications received
315. By letter dated 27 July 2001, the Government responded to the urgent appeal sent
on 5 June 2001 concerning the case of Dik Alterimov. The Government assured the Special Representative that the Office of the Procurator General of the Russian Federation, the Office of the Procurator of the Chechen Republic and the Grozny City Procurator had checked the claims made in the communication regarding the allegedly unlawful detention and disappearance of Mr. D. Altemirov. The Government informed the Special Representative that Mr. Altemirov was indeed arrested in Grozny on 24 May 2001 on suspicion of involvement with an illegal armed formation (pursuant to the Federal Anti-Terrorism Act of 25 July 1998). He was released upon completion of relevant checks and was never subjected to any kind of physical violence or psychological pressure. He had no complaints about his conditions of detention and had made a written statement to that effect. Mr. Altemirov was currently living at home in Grozny.
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316. By letter dated 26 September 2001, the Government responded to the allegation transmitted on 10 August 2001 regarding Mr. Grigoryants, the head of the Glasnost Foundation. The Government informed the Special Representative that it had provisionally been established that the Meshchansky District Internal Affairs Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Moscow Central Administrative District had received a collective communication from residents of Building 5, 22 Tsvetnoy Bulvar, Moscow, concerning the illegal use as offices of three rooms in communal apartment No. 40 in the same building. The said apartment, which comprises four rooms, is municipally owned. Mr. M.I. Arshinov was registered as living in one of the rooms; the others are unoccupied. In the course of an inspection on 27 July 2000, it was discovered that the sealed rooms had been opened and were illegally being used as offices by the Glasnost Foundation. On 28 August 2000, following a meeting of the heads of the Sretenka District Operating Board, Internal Affairs Department officers inspected without violence apartment No. 40 and checked the identity papers of the people whom they found there. It was discovered that Mr. S.I. Grigoryants had without permission installed office equipment, copying machines, telephones and faxes in the three unoccupied rooms. The Government informed the Special Representative that Mr. S.I. Grigoryants had already submitted a similar complaint under the 1503 procedure.
317. By letter dated 7 December 2001 the Government responded to the urgent appeal sent on 30 October 2001 regarding Ms. Anna Politkovskaia. The Government informed the Special Representative that on 11 and 15 October 2001 anonymous threats addressed to Ms. Politkovskaya were indeed e-mailed to the editorial office of the weekly newspaper Novaya gazeta. The Moscow Central Department of Internal Affairs had taken steps to identify the authors of the threats and to document any subsequent threats e-mailed to the editorial office of Novaya gazeta. The Government stated that verification of the information was being supervised by the Central Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and would be completed when Ms. Politkovskaya returned from abroad. The Government specified that Ms. Politkovskaya herself had not notified the procuratorial agencies, the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs or its local branches of any threats. The Government added that the allegation that she had been forced to seek political asylum outside the Russian Federation had not been corroborated by the editorial office. The Government assured the Special Representative that no one had prevented Ms. Politkovskaya from publishing articles on the situation in the Chechen Republic, even though the facts presented in her articles had not been objectively corroborated when checked.
318. By letter dated 20 December 2001 the Government responded to the urgent appeal sent on 12 November 2001 regarding Mr. Imran Elsheyev. The Government informed the Special Representative that an investigation had been undertaken and nothing was found to support the allegation that Mr. Ezheev was detained or arrested by units of the Russian Federal Security
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Service, local security agencies, military security units or staff operating in the territory of the Republic of Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic. The Government added that the investigation had established that Mr. Ezheev was detained on 13 October 2001 by internal affairs officers in the village of Yandar in the Republic of Ingushetia of the Russian Federation. He was detained pursuant to a request from the Aktobe Oblast Internal Affairs Authority in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Government affirmed that information was received on 9 November 2001 from the Aktobe Oblast Internal Affairs Authority in Kazakhstan indicating that the offence committed by Mr. Ezheev was subject to an amnesty to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Whereupon, pursuant to a decision of the Acting Procurator of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation, Mr. Ezheev was released from custody. Nothing was found to support the allegations made in the inquiry that Mr. Ezheev was arrested on account of human rights activities.
Observations
319. The Special Representative thanks the Government for its replies. She was informed that on 20 November 2001, Mr. Imran Elsheyev (urgent appeal dated 12 November 2001) was released by the Prosecutor General of the Chechen Republic, Mr. V. Chernov, who offered an official apology for this illegal detention. The Special Representative remains concerned about the situation of Ms. Anna Politkovskaia and wishes to be kept informed of further developments.
RWANDA
Communication envoyee
320. Le 4 mai 2001, la Representante special e a envoye un appel urgent concernant Theobald Rwaka, ancien Ministre de l'interieur et fondateur de l'organisation
non gouvernementale LIPRODHOR, qui serait porte disparu depuis le vendredi 27 avril 2001. Il aurait quitte son domicile a Kigali vers 18 heures a bord d'un vehicule non identifie a la suite d'un appel telephonique. Depuis, sa famille et ses collegues seraient sans nouvelles de lui. Selon les informations recues, Theobald Rwaka aurait ete demis de ses fonctions de Ministre de l'interieur le 16 mars 2001, apres avoir ete accuse de communiquer des informations aux organisations non gouvernementales de defense des droits de l'homme. Des craintes ont ete exprimees quant au fait que sa disparition soit Нее a son engagement en faveur des droits de l'homme.
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Observations
321. La Representante special e regrette qu'aucune reponse du Gouvernement ne lui soit parvenue.
SINGAPORE
322. In a communication dated 25 July 2001, the Special Representative requested the Government to extend an invitation to her to carry out an official visit to Singapore. No reply has been received so far.
SRI LANKA Communication sent
323. The Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on torture, sent an urgent appeal on 2 August 2001 and an allegation on 30 August 2001 concerning the arrest of Thivyan Krisnasamy, a student of the Science Faculty at the University of Jaffna and former secretary of the Jaffna University Students Union. The army reportedly arrested him on 2 July 2001, in Inuvil. According to the information received, Mr. Krisnasamy has also been heavily involved in the "Tamil Upsurge" movement, a non-violent movement that is protesting against the State armed forces, demanding self-determination for the Tamils and calling for an end to the current conflict. Since 1996, Mr. Krisnasamy has also reportedly been active in protesting against large- scale disappearances in Jaffna and violations committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces, such as sexual violations of Tamil women. It is believed that his arrest was connected with these activities. According to the information received, he was accused of being a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and of conducting "subversive activity". It is believed that Mr. Krisnasamy has been tortured during his detention, in order to get him to make a false confession that he is involved with the LTTE, which can then be used against him as evidence in a trial.