Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Czech NGO says Russia forces it to close Chechen ops


The PINF

Czech humanitarian aid agency People in Need is closing its operations in Russia's turbulent republic of Chechnya after the Russian authorities refused accreditation needed to work in the country, the agency said. People in Need is affiliated with US private and government donors. Bush is well acknowledged to use NGOs for ulterior motives. Sneaky way to get in the door.
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Russia's Federal Security Service has accused some NGOs of spying and even training Chechen fighters.

This is correct.

The US is involved with the Chechens not only through PINF, Russia has demanded that Chechen terrorists Akhmad Zakayew, now being given sanctuary in London and Ilyas Akhmadov now residing in the US, be turned over to Russia for planning and conducting the Beslan massacre.
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-Am

Czech NGO says Russia forces it to close Chechen ops
14 Jul 2005 13:26:57 GMT

Source: Reuters

PRAGUE, July 14 (Reuters) - Czech humanitarian aid agency People in Need is closing its operations in Russia's turbulent republic of Chechnya after the Russian authorities refused accreditation needed to work in the country, the agency said.

People in Need describes itself as one of the biggest groups working in the North Caucasus region and most of its programmes focused on aid in Chechnya where Russian troops have been fighting separatist rebels for a decade.

Many aid workers in and around Chechnya say they are harassed by the authorities. They also face the threat of kidnapping and even murder, which has led some major aid agencies to stop work in Chechnya.

Russian officials say they support aid groups and give them all access that security allows. But Russia's Federal Security Service has accused some NGOs of spying and even training Chechen fighters.

"The organisation has been under systematic pressure from Russian authorities, who in April 2005 denied (its) request to renew its accreditation for work in the Russian Federation," the agency said in a statement on Thursday.

"People in Need views the Russian authorities' decision... as unfortunate, unfounded and unfair," the statement said.

Officials at the Russian Justice Ministry, which is responsible for registration of aid agencies, were not immediately available for comment.

People in Need is a leading Czech non-governmental aid organisation, and one of the first aid groups which started providing aid to Chechnya in 2000 after Russian troops stormed the capital Grozny.

The agency's director Simon Panek told Reuters the organisation had failed to overturn the April decision within a following three-month period given to wind down operations.

But he said he did not want to provoke conflict with the authorities, and was still hoping the Russian government would grant a new permit, perhaps later this year.

People in Need said it had delivered aid worth 20 million euros ($24 million) to Caucasus over the past five years. It had an operational centre in Ingushetia province neighbouring Chechnya.

Its programmes focused on deliveries of food and building materials to repair damaged homes, as well as reconstruction of schools and hospitals. It said it had also run psychological centres and clubs for children in Chechnya.

The agency said some programmes have been handed over to a local organisation while others have been terminated.



http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14700674.htm



Reference:
The People in Need Foundation (PINF) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization whose mission statement is "to inspire a largeness of spirit in Czech society by helping others in need, and to promote democratic freedoms for all."
— Funded by WFP and UNHCR PINF continues its regular food and non-food deliveries to the Chechen capital Grozny (up to 50 000 persons assisted every month).
— As the main UNHCR partner for Chechnya PINF runs its ongoing shelter activities in bombed-out Grozny (more than 2500 households in the city already assisted).
— Reconstruction of the destroyed School No. 14 as the very first school to be fully reconstructed in the Chechen capital Grozny was finished in summer 2001. Four other Chechen schools are reconstructed by PINF local staff now. The programme is funded by US private and government donors.
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:qB-X2LpYaycJ:www.oneworld.cz/ow/en/organizers.html+People+in+Need....