Chechen Activists Marching from Strasbourg to Geneva to Seek Justice for Their Nation

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 21 – For the last two weeks, a small group of Chechen activists carrying Chechen, Turkish, German, Ukrainian and American flags has been marching from Strasbourg to Geneva to attract attention to the Chechen cause and seek justice and the rule of law for their nation.

            The march began on August 6, the 23^rd anniversary of the liberation of Grozny by Ichkerian forces, is now in Switzerland, and in a few days will be in Geneva. Not surprisingly, Russian media have given it no coverage, and Western media have covered it only sparingly. But the issues the marchers raise merit attention.

            At the start of the March for the Supremacy of Law and Justice at the Council of Europe headquarters, the group issued a resolution making the following demands of that body (thechechenpress.com/developments/15169-v-strasburge-startoval-marsh-za-verkhovenstvo-prava-i-spravedlivosti.html):

“Recognize the escalation of Russia’s war and the invasion of Russian armed forces into the territory of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria in 1994 and 1999 as acts of aggression.

“Carry out an objective investigation to identify the crimes of Russian: the murder of 250,000 peaceful citizens of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria including 42,000 children.

“Recognize as acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and military crimes the intentional bombing of peaceful cities and villages, mass murder and wounding of peaceful people, torture, extra-judicial executions, and many other crimes of the Russian armed forces committed against the Chechen people at the orders of the highest leadership of Russia headed by V. Putin.

And ‘to send its CONCLUSION about the recognition by the Council of Europe of Russia’s crimes to the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court.”

            For more details about the march and videos of it progress, see among others thechechenpress.com/developments/15164-marsh-za-verkhovenstvo-prava-i-spravedlivosti-2.html http://ichkeria.at/?p=11705, ichkeria.at/?p=11670, thechechenpress.com/news/15188-10-12-den-marsha-chechentsev-po-evrope-shvejtsariya.html, thechechenpress.com/news/15187-chechentsy-idut-vperjod-i-tolko-vperjod-10-yj-den-marsha.html, and thechechenpress.com/news/15186-chechentsy-idut-s-flagom-ukrainy-do-zhenevy-9-j-den-marsha.html).