Mrs. J.Zanaa, head of the “Citizen’s Alliance on July 1”,
answers questions from our reporter. 

Do you think people have
forgotten the tragic events only after two years?

Maybe some have, but none of the principal issues has been
solved yet.  We are going to ask the
Prosecutor General why there has been no action on unarmed people being shot by
police. Why did the courts sentence so many people? Why was the Amnesty Law
used to release some policemen and others? On the one hand, the State forgives
its own officials who did something wrong, and on the other, it punishes many
on vague and unsubstantiated charges. 

How many people
suffered in the aftermath?

Almost everybody arrested on July 2-3 were questioned
without a lawyer being present. Many of them later said police had coerced them
to write untrue confessions. Some buildings were damaged, but remarkably no one
was charged with arson or throwing stones. If any were arrested, they were
released quickly. Of the almost 1,000 people arrested on the first day, only
200 remained in custody. These were mostly from poor families who could not pay
the MNT 500,000 demanded.

You know all this for
sure?

We have been told this by the people involved. When the cases
were heard in court those 200 were charged in groups of 7-10 and every group
included someone under  16. This was a
ploy to keep the hearings secret as the law says the trial of anybody under 16
will not be open to the press or the public. Most of those arrested were
tortured, but the prosecutors never bothered to investigate this as they would
have had to withdraw the charges then.

Do you get any
support from any state organization or Parliament?

Parliament has set up a working group on the events but this
has not helped us in any way.

How many people still
have complaints?

Their number is dwindling as many have been released. I must
mention one man who is fighting to have his name cleared. His name is
Zandaakhuu. He admits that he was in Sukhbaatar Square on July 1 but he did not
indulge in any violent act. Still he was sentenced to 4 years in prison and was
later released under the Amnesty Law.  He
was to testify at the open hearing but nobody from the Prosecutor’s Office came.
Maybe they did not wish to face him.   

We hope the new Prosecutor General will be different.  

Why did the National
Human Right Commission chief and his workers speak differently at this open
hearing?

I don’t think the NHRC head, Mrs.Solongo, has any interest in
protecting human rights. She is trying to protect the Prosecutor’s Office. We
wanted her to be replaced when her term ended last February but Parliament kept
her in the post. You see, nobody wants to take the side of the people against
the state. It is easy to be silent and keep quiet.