MOSCOW, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Observing human rights in Chechnya is crucial to restoring order there, a leading Russian human rights activist told Interfax news agency.
"If all problems in the area of protecting human rights are resolved, the pace at which Chechnya is being restored will accelerate," Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva told the news agency Monday.
She said security agencies must act in compliance with the law and observe the people's constitutional rights.
The process of reviving Chechnya's social sector has scored a number of successes recently, Alexeyeva told Interfax. Schools have been opened and hospitals repaired.
"Many Chechen residents have started to repair their own houses, in spite of the fact that few people have received compensation for destroyed houses and property," she added. "People are tired of poor living standards. They want to live a normal life."
The Memorial human rights organization has put the number of residents kidnapped in Chechnya in 2004 at 384. "Of them, 182 people have been freed, 22 have been found dead, and 173 are still listed as missing," Memorial spokesman Dmitry Grushkin told Interfax.
