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This News Service is posted by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty International,
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
(Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157)
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AI INDEX: EUR 46/17/96
21 MARCH 1996


RUSSIA (CHECHNYA): AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SAYS WORLD MUST
PROTECT CIVILIANS OF SAMASHKI

Amnesty International today called for international pressure
on the Russian Government to save thousands of civilians
trapped beneath a Russian bombardment of the Chechen
settlement of Samashki.

      Reports indicate that civilians are dying because of
indiscriminate Russian military action to root out Chechen
fighters in Samashki

      ~Only concerted international diplomatic pressure can
make the Russian authorities concern themselves with the
plight of civilians caught up in the conflict,~ Amnesty
International said today.  ~At the very least those people
should be guaranteed a safe route away from the fighting.~

      Russian forces began attacking Samashki on 15 March
with rockets, grenades and from the air.  Civilians who
managed to escape from the settlement on 19 March reported
that 3,000-4,000 civilians were still sheltering in cellars
and basements.  They estimated that up to 600 people had been
killed.

      Civilians fleeing the village say it has been sealed
off by Russian forces, disputing claims by the Russian
military leadership that a ~humanitarian corridor~ remains
open for civilians to leave Samashki.

ENDS\





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