Council of Europe Should Help Stop Forced Returns to Chechnya(Moscow, January 29, 2003) - The Council of Europe should adopt a strong resolution urging Russia not to forcibly return displaced persons to Chechnya, Human Rights Watch said today. The resolution, which will culminate the Parliamentary Assembly's hearings on Chechnya, should also press Russia to hold its troops accountable for humanitarian law violations and allow outside monitoring.
In a report published today, Human Rights Watch documented forced returns of people displaced by the conflict back to Chechnya, and continuing humanitarian law violations committed by both Russian and Chechen forces. It called on the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, which is holding hearings on Chechnya today, to adopt a resolution.
"The Council of Europe should show that it sees through Russia's reassurances that the situation in Chechnya is 'normalizing,'" said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The situation in Chechnya is not normal. It is the only place in Europe where civilians are killed or 'disappeared' every day."
Russia is seeking to close tent camps in Ingushetia. The Human Rights Watch report-based on sixty-two interviews done during a December 2002 mission to the region-documents a pattern of threats and intimidation by migration authorities to compel approximately 20,000 displaced people to leave the tent camps and return to Chechnya. "Russian officials say that returns are voluntary," said Andersen, "but our research shows that this is not the case."
Human Rights Watch found that migration officials have constantly harassed displaced persons by threatening them with arrest on false charges and withdrawal of food allowances. Particularly effective was the threat of cutting of gas and electricity supplies during winter months. With alternative housing nonexistent or uninhabitable, the unrelenting pressure amounted to forcible return and clearly violated Russia's obligations under international law.
In one case, Russia's efforts to close the tent camps were successful: the Aki-Yurt camp, which housed some 1,700 displaced Chechens, was forcefully closed in early December 2002.
Migration officials dismiss security threats that people continue to face in the conflict zone. Meanwhile, two incidents in late 2002 that caused enormous loss of civilian life-the October hostage-taking in Moscow and the bombing of the main government building in Grozny-demonstrate vividly that the armed conflict in Chechnya has not ended. Human Rights Watch's report also describes a series of assassinations and abductions committed by Chechen forces since mid-November.
In addition, the report documents extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances committed by Russia's forces in Chechnya in the aftermath of the Moscow hostage-taking.
Despite repeated calls by the Parliamentary Assembly for thorough investigations of abuses, Russian authorities continue to resist establishing a meaningful accountability process. Human Rights Watch research has consistently found that investigations into the vast majority of serious abuses fall far short of international standards, authorities often fail to take even the basic investigative steps, perpetrators are almost never identified, and almost no cases have made it to the courts.
At the same time, the Russian government has persistently tried to curtail outside monitoring of the situation in Chechnya. For several years in a row, it has stopped key United Nations human rights monitors from visiting the region, and on December 31, 2002, it effectively ended the operation of OSCE Assistance Group in Chechnya.
"Russia's determination to draw the blinds over the conflict in Chechnya should not be tolerated," said Andersen. "It's a member of the United Nations and European institutions, and it should adhere to those institutional obligations. It cannot expect a persistent pattern of human rights abuses to be treated merely as its own internal matter."
Human Rights Watch urged the Parliamentary Assembly to adopt a resolution condemning ongoing violations of human rights and humanitarian law by both Chechen and Russian forces, and calling on Russia not to compel the return of the displaced. The Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) should also request a comprehensive and detailed list of all investigations into abuses by servicemen in Chechnya and the status of these investigations. The resolution should further call for the extension of the mandate of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Assistance Group to Chechnya and access to Chechnya for relevant U.N. special mechanisms.
Into Harm's Way: Forced Return of Displaced People to Chechnya is available at: http://hrw.org/reports/2003/russia0103/
For further information, please contact:
In Moscow, Anna Neistat: +7-095-250-6852
In Strasbourg, Diederik Lohman: +1-914-439-4382
In New York, Rachel Denber: +1-212-216-1266
Source: Human Rights Watch. (A) |
