🚀 go-pugleaf

Independent non-profit Public Relations Centre "Citizen" - PRCC (Moscow,
Russia)
Phone/fax: +7 (095) 253-8042     E-mail: dobro_prcc@mail.cnt.ru
Web-site: http://www.good.cnt.ru
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Appeal for a Peaceful and Nonviolent Solution to the Military Crisis in
Dagestan

We appeal to all people to awake and face a moment of truth for Russia. The
awful retribution of war and violence, of repression and lies, of hatred and
revenge, is greatly affecting the fate of the Russian nation and its people.
Every one of us must have learned the bitter lessons from the brutal tragedy
of the Chechen war and thereafter. Yet, before tens of thousands of war
victims' graves have dried, and bleeding scars and wounds are yet to be
healed, we are witnessing today the looming holocaust of a new war in
Dagestan, Chechnya and Russia.

Public opinion in Chechnya and Dagestan is not supportive of the use of
armed force by any side to resolve the problems in Dagestan. We believe the
Russian media is conducting a propaganda campaign, using the attacks on
Russian forces in Dagestan by a minority of fighters from Chechnya and
elsewhere to further discredit the Chechens in general. This may be a way to
prepare public opinion in Russia for further escalation of violence through
enhanced military attacks against Chechnya.

Innocent civilians are again the main victims of military action by both
sides in the North Caucasus, centred around Dagestan. In addition, six
Chechen villages have been bombed in the last few days by Russian planes,
with at least 60 killed and many more injured, according to government
sources in Chechnya. Nearly half of those killed were children. Military
aircraft are flying over Grozny day and night. Chechen representative in
Moscow Mairbek Vachagayev has reported the arrest of 400 Chechens in Moscow
in recent days. Such arrests are likely to be repeated throughout Russia.

When Russia is experiencing huge political and social challenges, and when
the idea and spirit which unites all its people are rapidly disappearing,
everyone loses from further military action.

We were the participants of the 1995 March for Life and Compassion from
Moscow to Grozny; the only international civic, nonviolent direct action,
which tried to stop the Chechen war. Today in making this appeal, we
wholeheartedly endorse the UNESCO Manifesto 2000, to create the path for a
Culture of Peace and Nonviolence. We believe that the spirit of the UNESCO
Manifesto 2000 can help save Russia and the North Caucasus from this spiral
of war and violence, and help all of humanity in the approaching new
century.

We appeal to the political leaders and military fighters on all sides
involved in this Dagestan military crisis:
 To immediately halt the acts of terror, which are leading to a point of no
return, and a vicious escalation of violence.
To refrain from the repression by force of the freedom of faith, freedom of
conscience and freedom of expression by both sides.
 To stop the arrests and torture of people because of their nationality,
faith, or appearance.
 To respect and protect the spiritual and religious freedom of each citizen.

We appeal to the international community to immediately provide the
necessary humanitarian assistance to the desperate social and economic
situation and conditions of the war-devastated region of the North Caucasus.

If these appeals are not met, then the last little hope for peace in this
region will be lost for a long time.

We endorse the peace march of several hundred Chechens, initiated by the
Chechen International Organization for Human Rights, which set off from
Grozny to the Dagestan border city of Khasav Yurt 6 September. The aim of
the march is to call for an immediate end to the bombing and fighting, and
for the conflict to be resolved by peaceful means. The marchers will be
joined by hundreds more, who are marching from within Dagestan. The march
has received the support of the Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov,
Parliament and large sections of the Chechen people. Chechen and Dagestani
women's groups are similarly holding protests and vigils against the war.

We acknowledge that the principles of nonviolence, mutual respect and
co-existence is a difficult path to take, but we believe that a Culture of
Peace and Nonviolence is the only creative and positive way forward into the
next century. Our heroes of the past have often been heroes of war; in the
future we will remember and honour the heroes of peace. Let us work together
to create a peaceful and nonviolent world.


Initiators of this appeal:
Nipponzan Myohoji buddhist order (Junsei Terasawa), Centre for Peacemaking
and Community Development (Chris Hunter), Committee of Soldier's Mothers of
Russia (Maria Kirbasova), 'Mothers of Chechnya' (Madina Magomadova)