Chechen President Denies Torture Accusations

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has rejected charges by the Europe's top rights watchdog of continuing abuses in Chechnya.

On March 13, the antitorture committee of the Council of Europe issued a statement saying that detainees in Chechnya were being ill-treated and tortured by members of Russian law enforcement agencies.

It was the third time the Council of Europe has criticized Russia over the issue.

But Kadyrov told Interfax that human rights abuses in Chechnya were a thing of the past.

Kadyrov said Chechnya had made "significant progress respecting human rights in prisons" and that the government was striving to make residents of the republic "feel protected by the law."

Likewise, Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Ziyad Sabsabi said those who think torture continues in the republic "are living somewhere in the past."

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org