MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax-AVN) - Lord Judd, co-chairman of the PACE-Duma Joint Working Group, has decided to travel to Chechnya together with Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov.
Ustinov made this suggestion to PACE representatives during their meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Interfax has learned.
Ustinov said this trip will help answer many questions that European representatives have about the human rights situation in Chechnya.
"When you visit the republic and see in what difficult conditions our prosecutors and investigators work, you will better understand why not all criminal cases are resolved," Ustinov said.
This was Ustinov's reaction to complaints from Lord Judd, who believes the Russian authorities are not completing the investigation of cases involving mass burial sites found in Chechnya. Such cases were registered in the villages of Novye Aldy and Chernorechye, Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny, Khankala, and Alkhan-Yurt, where dozens of corpses of locals were found.
Speaking about the investigation of these facts, Ustinov said the criminal cases have not been closed and that people involved in these crimes have not been located yet.
Ustinov said the involvement of Russian servicemen in the killings has not been proved. "We are also working on another version, according to which rebels dressed as Russian servicemen could be involved in the crimes," he said. To support this contention, Ustinov mentioned numerous atrocities committed by rebels against both federal servicemen and locals.