"According to our information, 245 people have gone missing in Chechnya in January-May 2003," Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Mavsur Khamidov, who is responsible for relations with law enforcement agencies, told Interfax on Sunday.
"In January-March, 171 people were kidnapped in Chechnya, in April - 62, and on May 1-7 - 12 people," Khamidov said.
"Not all people go missing through the fault of the federal structures. Many are kidnapped by rebels and we find their bodies," he said.
During the two military campaigns (the first was from 1994-1996, and the second began in 1999), some 2,500 people have gone missing in Chechnya, he said.
The Chechen government's information on missing people differs from the information provided by the republic's prosecutor's office, Khamidov said.
"The human rights situation in Chechnya has somewhat improved since the Mach 23 referendum, although not as much as we would like it to," he said.
In a recent meeting between Chechnya's federal and civil authorities, a decision was made to crack down on kidnappings, he said.
The Russian law enforcement agencies have said that all missing people cases are being investigated. "We are doing everything to investigate every case. Teams of investigators are formed and the reasons and circumstances are determined," said Col. General Rashid Nurgaliyev, deputy interior minister and chief of the Russian Criminal Police Service.
Nurgaliyev said that every kidnapping in which individuals dressed in Russian uniforms are believed to have been involved is investigated for the possible involvement of Russian army or Interior Ministry units. However, one possible scenario in such cases is that the kidnappers are rebels dressed as Russian soldiers, he said.
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