Abuse and Lawlessness Continue in Chechnya(New York, February 28, 2002) - Russian forces in Chechnya arbitrarily
detain, torture, and kill civilians in a climate of lawlessness, Human
Rights Watch said today. In a 51-page report, Human Rights Watch details
a series of military sweep operations during which it found hundreds of
men were arbitrarily detained, dozens tortured, and at least six
extrajudicially executed.
"For a year now Russian authorities have been claiming that the
situation in Chechnya is returning to normal," said Elizabeth Andersen,
executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia
division. "But in fact civilians face a daily threat of being
arbitrarily detained, tortured, or just 'disappearing' in custody.
That's a far cry from 'normal.'"
The report, titled Swept Under: Torture, Forced Disappearances, and
Extrajudicial Killings During Sweep Operations in Chechnya, documents
abuses during sweep operations that took place in June and July 2001 in
the villages Alkhan-Kala, Sernovodsk, and Assinovskaia. In a sweep
operation, Russian forces, responding to Chechen rebel hostilities,
typically seal off a village and run identity checks and searches of
residents. The operations in mid-2001 took place against a backdrop of
Russian government pledges to withdraw troops and return internally
displaced persons safely to their homes, even as clashes continued
between Russian forces and Chechen rebels. Since July 2001, Russian
forces have conducted dozens more sweep operations throughout Chechnya,
committing many of the same abuses described in the report.
Among the cases detailed is that of "Magomed Asanukaev,"(not the man's
true name) whom Russian forces detained in the Sernovodsk sweep on July
2. They threw him in a truck with no explanation, held him in a concrete
pit, and tortured him with electric shocks, attempting to coerce
information about rebel fighters. He was later released, but others were
not. Zelimkhan Umkhanov and Apti Isigov "disappeared" after Russian
forces took them into custody; relatives to this day have been unable to
get information from Russian forces about their whereabouts. On June 21
Russian forces apprehended Rustam Razhepov, 35, and Daud Vitaev, 27,
during the Alkhan-Kala operation; their corpses were found in an
unmarked grave on June 22.
Andersen noted that a Human Rights Watch follow-up mission to the region
in December discovered that the human rights situation had further
deteriorated. "Over the last six months, civilians in Chechnya have
'disappeared' at a rate of more than one every week," she said. The
Russian human rights group Memorial documented more than twenty
"disappearances" in December 2001 alone.
Meanwhile, Andersen said, Chechnya has fallen off the map in the
post-September 11 foreign policy climate. "Governments don't have the
political will to make genuine accountability for crimes against
civilians a benchmark for their Russia policy," said Andersen. "And this
message hasn't been lost on the Kremlin. The carte blanche for violence
against civilians is shattering whatever trust Chechens have had in
Moscow, torpedoing peace efforts, and ultimately undermining Russia as a
credible partner in the international war against terrorism."
The current climate of lawlessness in Chechnya, Andersen said, follows
from a long-standing failure by Russian authorities to bring abusive
forces to justice. Many Chechen civil servants who cooperate with Moscow
threatened to quit after the summer sweep operations, prompting Moscow
to acknowledge abuses and promise an investigation. The Human Rights
Watch report says investigations, principally into property damage, in
the Sernovodsk operation are ongoing. To date, no comprehensive
investigation is under way with regard to the Alkhan-Kala sweep.
Responding to criticism about the winter sweep operations, Vladimir
Kalamanov, President Putin's special representative on human rights in
Chechnya said on January 31 that he was "pleased by the pace of
investigations" into crimes by servicemen against civilians," and vowed
that "no crime would be left unpunished."
"Without ongoing engagement by the international community, Russia will
be able to continue issuing empty promises of justice," said Andersen. Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
which will convene in March, to adopt a resolution condemning ongoing
violations in Chechnya and called on Russia to allow U.N. special
rapporteurs on torture and on extrajudicial executions to conduct
investigations in Chechnya. Human Rights Watch also called on the Bush
administration to raise the matter with the Russian government.
President Bush is expected to visit Moscow in May.
The report should be available at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/russchech/.
For further information, please contact:
In Moscow, Diederik Lohman: +7095.250.6852
In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +322.732.2009
In New York, Rachel Denber: +212.216.1266
In Washington, Elizabeth Andersen: +1.202.612.4326
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