Putin calls for reducing number of Chechen checkpoints
Opening a 25 February session of the Russian
Security Council, President Putin said that military checkpoints in Chechnya
are generally ineffective and should be removed where they are not needed,
Interfax reported. Putin also demanded that the military strictly observe
the law during all security operations. Russian troop commander in Chechnya
Lieutenant General Vladimir Moltenskoi issued a decree in March 2002 setting
down measures to exclude human rights abuses during search operations,
but those orders have been routinely ignored (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
29 March and 3 April 2002). Commenting on Putin's statement, Chechen Security
Council Secretary Rudnik Dudaev, who was seriously injured in the 27 December
car bombing in Grozny, told Interfax that he considers it expedient to
strengthen checkpoints on Chechnya's borders, in the foothills and mountain
regions, and anywhere else where increased activity by Chechen fighters
is anticipated. LF
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