Grozny
(ICRC) – To commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared (30 August), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has organized a photo exhibition on missing persons that will be
inaugurated in Grozny today by the organization's head of office in the Chechen Republic, Béatrice Oechsli.
The Russian Federation has long been confronted with the problem of
people disappearing as a result of armed conflict and other situation of violence, and with all the suffering it entails.
In particular, thousands of people have gone missing as a result of
the conflicts in the northern Caucasus, leaving their families anxious for news.
Not knowing what happened to their loved ones takes a heavy emotional toll on the families, who often lack
the legal and administrative assistance they need to obtain the information they seek.
The ICRC is currently handling the cases of tens of thousands of families all over the world who have
no news of their relatives.
The right to know is a fundamental principle of international humanitarian law and human rights law which must be uphold.
The exhibition in Grozny
consists of 18 displays of different countries where the ICRC is providing information on how to prevent disappearances spurring the search for people who have gone missing and assisting their
families.
The exhibition also places on display the main provisions of international humanitarian law applicable to missing persons.
Similar events have been held in Africa,
Latin America, the former Yugoslavia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
For further information, please contact: Leila Satueva, ICRC Grozny, tel.: +7 8712 22 31 28 or +7 928 019 27 21
Timur Ibakov,
ICRC Nalchik, tel.: +7 8662 77 45 74 or +7 928 239 41 46
Yuriy Shafarenko, ICRC Moscow, tel.: +7 495 626 54 62 or +7 903 545 35 34
Claire Kaplun, ICRC Geneva, tél.: +41 22 730 2405 or +41 79 244
6426
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) observes the debris at the damaged Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station near the Siberian village of Cheryomushki, about 520 km (323 miles) south of Krasnoyarsk, August ...
