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Show Page A8 - THE DAILY HERALD, Prove, l uh, Tuesday, October 31, 1995 Afghan refugees flee to Russia By MAXIM K0R2H0V and 5,000 in St. Petersburg alone. Almost all were members of the Associated Press Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Russia They are former officers, doctors, allies of the old Soviet-baengineers in government Afghanistan who fled when that regime toppled. Thousands of them now live as uncertain refugees in Russia, denied political asylum and fearful of persecution if they are sent home. This week, a St. Petersburg court opened hearings into a lawsuit by one such man. Abdula cked Khakim-Zakhia former lieutenant colonel in Afghanistan's Security Service. "Russia, as the Soviet Union's successor, must help former allies." said Yuri Shmidt, lawyer, as the case opened Tuesday. "After all, we started the war in Afghanistan." Khakim-Zakhid- 's Shmidt compared Afghans like d to Vietnamese allies of the United States after the Vietnam War only Washington gave the Vietnamese asylum, he said. About 100.000 Afghan families live in Russia between 3.000 Khakim-Zakhi- Democratic People's Party believes the Afghans have the right to political asylum. "The Soviet Union signed the 1951 Geneva Convention on refugees, and now it is up to the government of Russia," she said. "All we can do is give them financial help, food and advice. We recommended that they go to court, and we are paying their legal of Afghanistan, which seized power in a palace coup in 1978. The Soviet Union invaded the country in December 1979 to prop up the regime. Many graduated from Soviet universities and cooperated with Soviet troops and the KGB. After Soviet troops withdrew in eariy 1989, these Afghan families fled, fearing revenge by the new authorities. About 600 families, more than 1,000 people, have asked authorities in St. Petersburg for political asylum. They have been told to return to Afghanistan. Under Russian law, they must provide proof of persecution, and many are unable to do so. They left Afghanistan in a hurry, abandoning their homes and belongings. Many crossed the border illegally. Authorities already have rejected the requests of about 100 fami-!ie- s, and they have gone to court. Khakim-Zakhid's lawsuit is the first to be heard. Vera Soboieva, a Russian representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said she expenses." 36. graduated from the KGB School in Moscow. For four years he was deputy chief warden of Kabul's central prison. Of the prison's 12.000 inmates, many now hold important posts in Khakim-Zakhi- d. Afghanistan. was arrested twice after the People's DemocratKhakim-Zakhi- d ic Party lost power. In 1993. fled to Russia, where his family now lives in a St. Petersburg dormitory w ith 20 other Afghan families. Families of live or seven live in tiny rooms of 10 square yards. The men spend their days peddling cheap Chinese umbrellas and gloves and other goods, and say they are often harassed by authorities and racists, "They detained me and brought me to a local police station more than 20 times last summer," said. "I spent five to six hours there each time. Sometimes they beat me and took my money, and they always insulted me. "I realize that all of us d people look suspicious to police, especially after the war in Khakim-Zakhi- d dark-haire- Supreme Cour rejects Georgia grandparents law Chechnya started." His daughter. Midiye, speaks fluent Russian and acted as his interpreter. She still remembers Kabul and her friends there. She has few in Russia. "They don't like us here." Midiye says. "They call us blacks and often beat us." Sergei Tarasevich of the Federal Migration Service in St. Petersburg agrees "Russia should help its former allies." but says the government must first work out a legal mechanism to do so. "We realize that not everyone can provide confirmation that he or she was nearly shot." he said. "The presidential decree on political asylum says such cases should be handled by a commission, but it can't physically take up all of them." because of a dispute unrelated to the child. The Brookses asked a state judge to dismiss the case, contending the Georgia law was By LAURIE ASSEO Associated Press Writer The WASHINGTON Supreme Court refused to reinstate a Georgia law that allowed d grandparents to win visitation with their grandchildren oer the parents' unconstitutional. The judge upheld the law, but the Georgia Supreme Court reversed. The state court said states can interfere with parents' constitutional right to raise their children only when the state acts to protect a child's health or wel- court-ordere- objections Monday. The court, without comment, turned down a grandmother's argument that the law, struck down by a Georgia court, did not interfere unduly with parents' right to decide how to raise their children. All 50 states have some type of "grandparents' rights" law allowing court-ordere- fare. The Georgia law is unconstitutional because it "does not clearly promote the health or welfare of the child and does not visita- d require a showing of harm before state interference is authorized." the state Supreme Court said. tion. law said courts orders "upon such could issue circumstances proof of special which make such visitation rights necessary to the best interests of the child." Parkerson. an Elizabeth Atlanta-are- a resident, sought a in order court July i 993 requiring her daughter and Stacy Elizabeth Brooks and William David Brooks, to let her see their daughter. Mrs. Parkerson's appeal said the Brookses had barred her from seeinu her :randdau!hler Georgia's In the appeal acted on today. Mrs. Parkerson's lawyers said the highest courts in other state have upheld similar grandparents' visitation laws. In those cases, courts have said that children generally benefit from seeing their grandpar- son-in-la- MADNESS ents. The Georgia court's ruling would bar visitation orders even in cases where parental rights have been terminated or suspended, the appeal said. '95 Model Clearance Going On Now! f UTAH COUNTY'S OLDEST - 226-395- 0 u flume1 we Is S ? Po m) OFF AQ.EL SALE FENCES On 10 rl NAAI N VIZ I vriAAKvZ7L UNTIL NEXT YEAR!f payments, LadD finance charge! POP A BALLOON TO REVEAL billing, Offer good November 235 S. State 1 only. 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