RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 187, Part I, 24 September 1999
MOSCOW'S 'OPERATION FOREIGNER' DEEMED ILLEGAL... Anatolii Kovler, who was recently appointed human rights judge at the European Court of Human Rights, told "Vremya MN" on 23 September that the court may soon be deluged with complaints from Russian citizens about the city of Moscow's policies vis-a-vis non-Muscovites. He noted that "Russia's Constitutional Court has twice passed verdicts declaring registration requirements unconstitutional, but little has changed." The same day, "Segodnya" reported that Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov has signed a directive requiring the deportation of non-registered people from the capital. According to the daily, all non-registered persons who are detained by Moscow police will be advised to voluntarily leave the capital within three days. If a person is detained twice within three days, he or she will be put in a "distribution center." That person will then be escorted back to his/ her native city by a police official at his/her own expense. JAC
...AS MORE LOCALITES ADOPT CAPITAL'S METHODS. Earlier this week, Krasnoyarsk Mayor Petr Pimashov signed a decree requiring the re-registration of all people who are living in the city temporarily, "Vremya MN" reported on 23 September. According to the daily, local police are conducting inspections of retail and wholesale markets and other locations in the city where Asians and Caucasians frequently gather. The Krasnoyarsk city authorities told the newspaper that the krai prosecutor-general will cancel the decree within a few days, but the local police chief said the measures--even if only implemented over a short period-- should be sufficient to clear the city of Caucasians. The same day, the head of the Chechen diaspora in Volgograd told the daily that the heads of various raions in the city have distributed secret orders to local authorities to find new tenants for apartments and offices now occupied by Chechens and other persons of Caucasian origin (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 September 1999). JAC