Yevkurov’s Actions in Ingushetia Undermining Public Trust in Moscow and in Putin, Kremlin Leader Told

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 23 – Yunus-Bek Yevkurov’s repression against Ingush people who are only asking that their constitutional rights be respected has become so bad that it is undermining public trust not only in the federal government but in Vladimir Putin personally, according to an open letter by Nashi Litsa leader Elena Sevryukova to the Kremlin leader.

            In a letter published today by Versiya today, the activist says that Yevkurov is driving Ingushetia toward an explosion and that, despite what she calls “a media blockade” by the central media, his actions are causing ever more Russians to ask questions about Moscow and Putin (versia.ru/grazhdane-ingushetii-soobshhayut-chto-dejstviya-yunus-beka-evkurova-dovodyat-respubliku-do-kipeniya).

                Sevryukova said that while Moscow media appear to have been ordered not to cover the events in Ingushetia, Ingush activists abroad are raising the issue and spreading information about it through the Internet.  The failure of the Russian media to talk about what is happen is a matter of “shame,” she says, and is only raising more questions about what is going on. 

            The Ingush community of Kazakhstan echoed Sevryukova’s arguments. It condemned Yevkurov for his repressive actions and sharply criticized Vladimir Putin for not doing anything to stop the violation of the constitutional rights of the people. Its leaders called on the Kremlin leader to send a commission to Ingushetia to help ease the crisis (zamanho.com/?p=6722).

            Russian human rights activists are beginning to pay attention. A large delegation of representatives of Civic Action, Memorial, the Moscow Helsinki Group and Human Rights Watch arrived in Ingushetia and have held meeting with the Union of Teips of the Ingush People (fortanga.org/2019/04/rossijskie-pravozashhitniki-vstretilis-s-ingushskimi-starejshinami/).

                These can be expected to report on the situation there. Memorial, for example, has already released a report on the continuing arrests and the baselessness of the charges the Yevkurov authorities have brought against demonstrators (memohrc.org/ru/news_old/v-ingushetii-po-obvineniyu-v-primenenii-nasiliya-k-policeyskim-arestovany-16-chelovek).

            Meanwhile, arrests and detentions continued with the dragnet apparently expanding, people in detention suffering, and those not yet arrested increasingly angry and even radicalized (fortanga.org/2019/04/iz-za-protestov-za-otstavku-evkurova-uzh-zaderzhano-svyshe-polsotni-zhitelej-ingushetii/ and  club-rf.ru/06/news/53562).