Thursday hearings on Chechnya were dedicated both to the problems of human rights violations and restoration of the republic’s economy.

Thursday hearings on Chechnya were dedicated both to the problems of human rights violations and restoration of the republic’s economy. However, the chief goal of the performance staged in the lower house was to produce the due impression on the CE leadership and PACE delegation, headed by Lord Judd. Earlier this week PACE delegation visited Chechen settlement Znamenskoye and met with the presidential ombudsman Vladimir Kalamanov. Upon returning to Moscow Lord Judd cautiously noted that the situation with human rights in the republic had improved significantly, and still, there was a lot more to be done. Russian military officials, in particular, the deputy chief of the General Staff Valery Manilov, and several prominent Chechen politicians, among them the head of pro-Kremlin civil administration in Chechnya Akhmad Kadyrov and his long-term rival Beslan Gantamirov, participated in the hearings. PACE delegates could hardly conceal their astonishment as Akhmad Kadyrov and Aslambek Aslakhanov heatedly criticized the federal authorities and the military, openly accusing them of arbitrariness and bias against Chechen nationals. Evidently impressed by that political show, Walter Schwimmer, secretary-general of the Council of Europe, promised that Russian delegation would “by all means” be reinstated in its voting rights in PACE (in April the Russian delegation in Strasbourg was temporarily deprived of its voting rights, after harsh criticism that Russia has received from the West for human rights abuse in the war-torn province). The debates turned to be very heated. Head of the pro-Kremlin civil administration Akhmad Kadyrov and the State Duma’s deputy for Chechnya Aslambek Aslakhanov wrathfully scolded the Federal Forces and the Interior Ministry’s troops, accusing them of arbitrariness and disrespect of Chechen citizens. They blamed the federal authorities for unwillingness to render due assistance to Chechen civilians and to look into their problems. The deputies and the military officials tried to stay calm and reserved. The Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Ethnic Matters Alexander Tkachev cautiously warned the audience that the “period of people’s confidence in the federal forces is gone, and disappointment grows.”