PACE representatives see improvements in Chechnya

Representatives of the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) see improvements in the Chechen situation.

Andreas Gross and Rudolf Bindig, PACE rapporteurs on the political and human rights situations in the Chechen Republic respectively, arrived in Grozny (the Chechen capital) on Wednesday.

The rapporteurs are satisfied with the Chechen authorities' readiness to give them necessary information on the situation in the republic.

"Chechnya is overcoming consequences of the long and hard war," Mr. Gross stressed.

"We saw a number of improvements and progress in several spheres. We attended a maternity hospital, a school and settlements for displaced persons," said Mr. Bindig. This is his 12th visit to Chechnya. He came here in January 2003 for the last time.

Much restoration work is to be done in Chechnya, many regions suffer from the lack of water, he noted.

According to Rudolf Bindig, PACE rapporteurs got the information mainly on the social status of the population. They need more data on the observation of human rights. "We shall collect information from different sources, from Memorial to the committee of soldiers' mothers.

Memorial was founded in 1988 as a public movement to keep the memory of political repressions in the 20th century in Russia. Today it embraces dozens of organizations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Georgia and Ukraine involved in research, legal and educative activities.

The Russian committee of soldiers' mothers was established in 1988. Its final purpose is to achieve the formation of a professional army in Russia.