CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Survey of Human Rights Materials - April 2001

One of our major focus areas is monitoring of violations of human rights. This page contains a list of major documents and reports published in the month of April describing the human rights violations and suffering of people in the war-torn republic.

The humanitarian situation in the village of Proletarskoye, as in all other areas of the Chechen Republic, remains very difficult and worrisome. There are exchanges of artillery fire nearly every night, drunken Russian soldiers man checkpoints, and residents are frequently detained solely for the purpose of obtaining a bribe. On the other side are the “Wahabis,” who send threatening letters to officials in the new administration and often make good on these threats, shooting unarmed people in their own homes and in front of their families. Crime has increased dramatically in Chechnya over the past months. There are a large number of criminal gangs that rob and murder, in spite of the fact that the entire republic is full of federal troops.

THE WHOLE REPORT IS AVAILABLE HERE.

The press releases of the Society of the Russian-Chechen Friendship provide running reports by the local correspondents of the Society summarizing major incidents in the month of March and April, providing lists of the people detained in Chechnya, and describing infamous “mopping-up operations” at various places around the country.

ALL PRESS RELEASES IN RUSSIAN ARE AVAILABLE HERE (the site is often unaccessible).

One of the most relevant Russian human rights organization s, Human Rights Center Memorial, publishes continuous reports on human rights violation in Chechnya. This report documents the fates of four young men who were arbitrarily detained by the Russian troops on March 11-14 and later found dead.

THE WHOLE REPORT IN RUSSIAN IS AVAILABLE HERE.
OTHER REPORTS BY MEMORIAL IN RUSSIAN ARE AVAILABLE HERE.

April 16, Human Rights Watch

RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION OF MASS GRAVE NOT CREDIBLE EFFORT

On February 24, a mass grave was discovered in the village of Dachny (also called Zdorovye), located less than a kilometer from the main Russian military base in Chechnya. The corpses of fifty-one people were eventually found there; nineteen bodies were identified, at least sixteen of which were the remains of people who were last seen alive in the custody of Russian federal forces. The Russian government's investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of those found at the site has been wholly inadequate.

THE WHOLE REPORT IS AVAILABLE HERE.

April 20, UN Commission on Human Rights

The 57th United Nations Commission on Human Rights was concluded on April 27 in Geneva. On Friday, April 20 the Commission passed a resolution called "Situation in the Republic of Chechnya of the Russian Federation", which strongly condemns “the continued use of disproportionate and indiscriminate force by Russian military forces, federal servicemen and State agents, including attacks against civilians and other breaches of international law as well as serious violations of human rights, such as forced disappearances, extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment.“ Russian authorities objected to the resolution which was on the other hand welcomed by Russian and international human rights organizations who had produced a number of statements and materials to urge the Commission to pass a strong statement on the situation in Chechnya.

THE WHOLE RESOLUTION IS AVAILABLE HERE.