We, the undersigned -- women of diverse races, religions, nationalities and occupations -- stand ready to take the initiative for peace in Chechnya. The pleas of both Chechen and Russian mothers have been left unanswered by the world community. Although few of us have loved ones among the hundreds of thousands of victims murdered or maimed in Chechnya, we empathize with their terrible tragedy. We are grieved about mothers of thousand perished Russian soldiers, the mothers, who even don't know the circumstances of their sons' deaths, covered with a large curtain of lie.

We are lodging our protest against selfishness and indifference of the world that encourages world leaders to ignore the ongoing genocide of the Chechen people

Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, the Russian military is carrying out the physical extermination of the male population and the moral extermination of the Chechen population as a whole. In the first war alone (1994-1996), Chechnya lost 80% of its industry. Now the devastation of the second war is approaching 100%. Everyday reality in Chechnya includes mass humiliations, torture and beating of civilians during "clean-up operations"(zachistka), the murder and mutilation of the adult male population (ages 12 to 60), the rape of women and girls; looting; hostage-taking, and the solicitation of bribes to release prisoners falsely accused, or even the corpses of murdered family members.

Chechens are being persecuted not only in Chechnya, but also throughout the entire Russian Federation. The Russian authorities claim that Chechnya is part of Russia, but the Russian law doesn't protect them. Russian courts presume any Chechen charged with a crime against the military to be automatically guilty. And those Chechens who have succeeded in escaping to other parts of Russia are humiliated at every step by not being allowed to register for housing, jobs or medical care as is their right as Russian citizens. They are being deprived of the basic means to survival; their children are often denied admission to schools and colleges.

Recently Moscow organized the forced return of refugees from Ingushetya, the Republic bordering Chechnya, back to a completely devastated Chechnya, where from time to time the Russian forces still bomb some areas and conduct "cleansing operations," rounding up what's left of the population -- mostly women, the disabled and the elderly. Those refugees had stayed in tent camps in Ingushetya for three winters: crowded, frozen, and malnourished; but at least they had escaped the bombing and killing in Chechnya. Their return to Chechnya means a return to minefields, bombed-out houses and roads, military checkpoints and "cleansing operations," atrocities and constant fear.

The atrocities in Chechnya are being followed by reprisals against those in Russia who have raised their voices against them. The Chechen war will soon overflow from Chechnya into other Russian territories as ex-soldiers and mercenaries (kontraktnik), schooled in murder, kidnapping, bribery and looting, bring their crime wave back home with them after their return.

As a way out of this deadly morass we propose a summit meeting between Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, and Aslan Maskhadov, president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, taking place in a neutral territory, e.g. in one of European countries under the international observers. During this dialog, we propose a moratorium on all military activities by both Federal troops and Chechen rebels. This, in our opinion, may be the only opportunity available to break the chain of hatred, violence, and death in Chechnya and Russia.

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