Strasbourg/Agency Caucasus – 75 Chechen citizens, whose village was bombed in 1999, appealed to the ECHR with a petition prepared by Committee against Torture.
According to the Committee against Torture, the petition signed by 75 Chechens, who got injured or lost their relatives during a bombardment in the village of Elistanzhi of Vedeno district by planes of Russian Air Forces on 7 October 1999, is the biggest mass appeal to ECHR from Chechnya.
As a result of the bombardment school building and houses were destroyed, 35 residents perished and 60 got injured. Out of 35 residents perished 10 were children below 14 years old and 7 were elders above 60 years old. 23 of the wounded were also children below 14 years old.
Russian NGO Committee against Torture deemed worthy of human rights award of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe because of investigations it followed in Chechnya. The decision of PACE were officially announced on 12 April in Strasbourg. KU/ÖZ/CY
