No reports on the treatment of North Ossetians in the city of Vladikavkaz could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

However, according to the Hutchison Encyclopedia, Vladikavkaz, formerly Ordzhonikidze, is the capital city of the Russian Autonomous Republic of Alania, formerly Northern Ossetia, in the Caucasus mountains, and is located on the banks of the Terek river. In 1990, the population of the city of Vladikavkaz was 306,000.

A country early warning report on the North Ossetia/Ingushetia conflict in the Caucasus published by the Forum on Early Warning and Early Response (FEWER) states that, in a resolution tabled in 1989 at the Second Congress of the Ingush People, Ingush nationalists demanded the restoration of the autonomy as well as the return of the Prigorod region and the right bank of the Vladikavkaz river, including the city of Vladikavkaz, to the Ingush, on the basis that the disputed area was originally part of the Chechen-Ingush Republic. The resolution raised fears among North Ossetians about the territorial integrity of their republic (ibid.). The territorial dispute reached its climax in October/November 1992 with "extremely violent" confrontations between North Ossetians and Ingush that left 600 people dead, 900 wounded and 40,000 displaced. According to the report, Ossetians account for 51 per cent of the population in the disputed area, and the Ingush, 38 per cent (ibid.).

A February 1997 report on the Ingush published by a University of California at Berkely scholar states that "Vladikavkaz and the adjacent Ingush lands were ethnically cleansed of Ingush in late 1992."

A September 1997 report published by the Conflict Studies Research Centre in London, entitled Prigorodnyy Rayon: The Continuing Dispute, states that as of 1 January 1997, some 10,834 Ingush had returned to the Prygorod area while some 35,000 to 39,000 remained in Ingushetia. The report also states that the slow pace of housing construction was one of the problems related to the return of Ingush refugees in Vladikavkaz and the Prigorod region.

The report also quotes the Ingush president Aushev as saying in July 1997 that the situation in the Prigorod region was deteriorating, people were kidnapped, shot at and taken as hostages, "Over the last half year several tens of people have been kidnapped from North Ossetia, eight of them up to this time are held as hostages."

A 20 March 1999 ITAR-TASS report states that 64 people were killed and 80 others wounded when a bomb exploded in Vladikavkaz's central market. A 16 May 1999 ITAR-TASS report states that 5 people were killed and 26 wounded in a bomb explosion in the Sputnik military compound in Vladikavkaz.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Conflict Studies Research Centre, UK Ministry of Defense. September 1997.

Charles Blandy. Prigorodnyy Rayon: The Continuing Dispute. http://www.pims.org/csrc/TheContinuingDispute.htm [Accessed: 25 Jan. 2000]

Forum on Early Warning and Early Response (FEWER). October 1998. Alexander Dzadziev Eawarn. Country Early Warning Report: North Ossetia/Ingushetia. http://www.fewer.org/caucasus/ctho1098.htm [Accessed: 30 Dec. 1999]

The Hutchison Encyclopedia. 1999. "Vladikavkaz." http://ukdb.web.aol.com/hutchison/encyclopedia/10/M0037710.htm [Accessed: 21 Jan. 2000]

ITAR-TASS. 16 May 1999. "Vladikavkaz Bomb: Death Toll Rises to Five." (FBIS-SOV-1999-0516 16 May 1999/WNC)

_____. 20 March 1999. "Probe into North Ossetian Bomb Blast Continues." (FBIS-SOV-1999-0320 20 Mar. 1999/WNC)

Nichols, Johanna. February 1997. The Ingush (with Notes on the Chechen): Background Information. University of California, Berkeley. http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:ingush.berkeley.edu:7012/ingush_people.html [Accessed: 25 Jan. 2000].

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sources, including:

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

REFWORLD

World News Connection (WNC)