End to Chechen War Sought

Russian human rights activists, liberal politicians and Chechen representatives gathered here Saturday to discuss an unpopular idea: peace talks to end the war in the separatist republic of Chechnya.

“The authorities must show their wisdom in standing up for what is absolutely vital for society: the immediate start of a peace process in Chechnya, even if it goes against the mood in society,” Lev Ponomaryov, the head of the For Human Rights organization, told several hundred delegates at the conference.

The meeting came less than three weeks after a hostage crisis brought the Chechen war to the Russian capital and hardened the government’s resolve not to enter talks with the rebels.

The presidential human rights envoy for Chechnya, Abdul-Khakim Sultygov, urged organizers to cancel the conference, saying it was intended to “form an image of international terrorism with a ‘human face’ ” and was aimed at fulfilling the terrorists’ demand.

The attackers who seized the theater Oct. 23 threatened to blow it up, with about 750 hostages inside, if Moscow did not end the war in Chechnya. In the end, about 120 hostages were killed -- almost all by an opiate-based gas used by special forces to knock out the rebels before they could detonate their explosives. All of the roughly 50 militants also died.

Prominent liberal politician Grigory A. Yavlinsky said he participated in the conference to underscore what he feared was a growing wave of ethnic hatred in Russia, fueled by semiofficial propaganda.

“Attempts to practically create an image of lower races and unacceptable nationalities in government and semiofficial propaganda is the most dangerous threat to the future of our country,” Yavlinsky said.

Most speakers at the conference called on Russia to negotiate with Aslan Maskhadov, a rebel leader and Chechnya’s former president.

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has rejected Maskhadov as a negotiator, calling him a terrorist. Still, the Kremlin said Saturday that Putin was ready to discuss ideas for speeding up the “constitutional process” in Chechnya with moderates.