The Prague Watchdog Weekly Newsletter

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THE PRAGUE WATCHDOG WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, No. 5/2006 (January 31)
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1) THE WEEK IN BRIEF (January 23 - January 29)
January 25 - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution in which it condemned the harsh behaviour of security forces operating in Chechnya, the continuation of human rights abuses, and the passivity of the Committee of Ministers.
January 25 - The Russian-Chechen Information Agency, established by the Nizhny Novgorod-based NGO Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship (ORChD), announced it won the "Free Press of Russia 2006" award granted by the Freedom of Expression Foundation (Norway) and ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius (Germany).
January 26-28 - Some areas of Chechnya, including a part of Grozny, were out of gas due to a large failure on the Aksay-Grozny pipeline near Gudermes.
January 29 - Gas supplies from Russia to Georgia, which were halted by two blasts on the Mozdok-Tbilisi pipeline on January 22 and threw Georgia into a severe energy crisis, resumed.
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2) UPCOMING EVENTS

February 1 - Moscow (Russia): Top representatives of leading Russian NGOs will hold a news conference on how the Russian leadership and authorities attack civil society. The event will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Independent Press Center (Tverskoi Boulevard 20).

February 3 - Nizhny Novgorod (Russia): The local court will pronounce its verdict on the case of human rights defender and journalist Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, who was accused of inciting ethnic and racial hatred after his paper published Chechen resistance leaders' peace appeals.

For more upcoming Chechnya-related events go to http://www.watchdog.cz/calendar.

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3) SURVEY

Majority of Stavropol residents give negative assessment of work of Stavropolsky Region's governor (by Caucasus Times, January 31)
Results of a survey of residents of Stavropol carried out by the "Caucasus Times" agency. http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000002-000001-000171&lang=1

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4) POLITICS

PACE's resolution and recommendation on human rights violations in the Chechen Republic (by PACE, January 25)
During the debate on human rights violations in Chechnya at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on January 25, PACE adopted a resolution and a recommendation.
http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000004-000003-000119&lang=1

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5) SPECIAL EVENT: Support Stanislav Dmitriyevsky!

Join an action in support of a Russian human rights activist and journalist of Nizhny Novgorod who faces four years in prison because of his organization's independent coverage of Chechnya and promotion the idea of peace talks. More at http://www.cjes.ru/actions/action.php?p_id=1&l=en.

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6) LATEST ADDITION TO OUR LINKS LIBRARY:

Nana: http://nana-journal.org/

For more Chechnya-related links go to our Links library ( http://www.blogger.com/ ), which is being continuously updated.

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Prague Watchdog Weekly Newsletter is a publication of Prague Watchdog. If you wish to subscribe (unsubscribe) to it, please send us an e-mail to mail@watchdog.cz. The newsletter is usually sent out on Monday evenings.

Prague Watchdog launched its website in August 2000 and its aim is to collect and disseminate information on the ongoing conflict in Chechnya, focusing on human rights, media coverage, political situation and relief aid.

Visit us at http://www.watchdog.cz/. For the Russian version, go to http://www.watchdog.cz/russian.