CHECHNYA

Like normal, says Russia, as Chechnya burns

Moscow has blocked all attempts to monitor the human rights situation, even as the violations continue

HOSTILITIES in the Russian-occupied Republic of Chechnya constitute one of the lingering violent conflicts in Europe today, and humanitarian law violations on both sides are commonplace. The Russian government has done little to curb the torture, forced disappearances, killings of non-combatants and other abuses commonly carried out by its troops or to bring those responsible to justice. It has also actively sought to return people displaced by the conflict into the war zone.

Meanwhile, two incidents in late 2002 have re-ignited the armed conflict and the frequency of human rights violations. The first occurred in October 2002 when approximately 50 Chechens attempted to coerce the Russian Government by holding hundreds of civilians hostage in a Moscow theatre. This resulted in the deaths of 129 citizens, mostly due to the effects of a gas that Russian special forces used in their rescue operation. The second occurred in late December 2002 when Chechen forces blew up the main government building in Grozny, killing at least 72 civilians and wounding 210 others. These attacks on civilians violate basic principles of humanitarian law.

Concerns over the future of the Chechnyan conflict were heightened at the beginning of this month when the Council of Europe's negotiator, Lord Judd, resigned in protest at Moscow's insistence on holding a referendum on a new constitution on 23 March 2003. Lord Judd argued that a proper referendum could not be held under the current dangerous conditions inside Chechnya.

Moscow, anxious to portray improvements in the life inside the war-torn republic, considers a referendum on a constitution to be the first step towards installing their own choice of government in the republic. Problems were compounded when Lord Judd's most vocal Russian opponent, Dmitri Rogozin, also resigned and called for the group's dissolution. This is another blow for the international community's involvement in Chechnya.

The situation had worsened after negotiations between the Russian Government and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) regarding an extension of the OSCE's mandate collapsed. This was due to Russia's insistence that the mission end its human rights monitoring and human rights mediation activities.

Since mid-2001, the six-person mission of the OSCE had been charged with promoting respect for human rights, facilitating humanitarian aid, and promoting a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Chechnya. It was the only international monitor with an independent mandate to report on the serious abuses that are a daily occurrence in the region.

Russia has also stopped key United Nations human rights monitors from visiting Chechnya. Recently it has not granted requests made by the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary and summary executions to visit the region.

The OSCE monitors were an important safeguard against abuses - a safeguard which is needed now more than ever. As part of the Russian Government's attempts to portray the situation as on the road to being normal, it has aggressively promoted its programme to convince internally displaced people to return to their homes inside Chechnya.

The tent camps in the neighbouring province of Ingushetia are counter evidence of Russian claims that the war has ceased. In sub-freezing temperatures, officials have used a combination of threats and incentives to force 23,000 people residing in seven tent camps back into an active war zone.

Despite claims from Russian officials to the contrary, it is clear (from the research of Human Rights Watch) that migration officials have constantly harassed displaced persons. People have been coerced into leaving their tents by threats of arrest on false charges, withdrawal of food allowances, cutting of gas and electricity supplies during winter months and at times by physical force.

Moreover, for more than three years extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, looting, and the rape and torture of non-combatants by federal Russian soldiers in Chechnya have been a regular occurrence. There is no evidence that officials are seriously investigating or attempting to stop such crimes. These are violations of Russia's obligations under Article 3 Common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.

Simply being a male of fighting age appears sufficient grounds for detention, and those detained are invariably beaten and abused while family members are denied details of their whereabouts.

Often Russian forces commit abuses during zachistiki, or sweep operations, which involve closing off streets, and in some cases entire villages, for house-to house searches. Increasingly, Russian forces appear to be carrying out more targeted night operations, in which masked troops raid particular homes and execute targeted individuals. The November killing of Malika Umazheva, a former civil servant who spoke out fiercely against human rights abuses, was one of the clearest cases to date in which Russian forces committed an extrajudicial execution for retribution.

There has also been an increase in the numbers of forced disappearances. Relatives' inquiries as to the whereabouts of their detained family members are frequently met with denials that the "disappeared" persons were ever in custody.

As these detentions are unacknowledged, it places many civilians outside the protection of the law and makes them vulnerable to extrajudicial execution and torture. On several occasions mass graves containing the bodies of detained Chechnyans who had "disappeared" in Russian custody have been discovered in Chechnya.

Such abuses are, for the most part, committed with impunity and there is no meaningful accountability process or serious attempt by the Russian authorities to hold human rights violators accountable. Although the Chechnya procuracy has opened hundreds of investigations into allegations of abuse, investigators have failed to take basic steps to secure evidence and only a handful of cases have reached the courts.

The high profile case of Colonel Yuri Budanov at the end of December 2002 was a clear demonstration of Russia's resolve to shield its military from accountability. Colonel Budanov was acquitted for the murder of a young Chechen woman on the grounds of "temporary insanity," by a military court and sent to a psychiatric institution for treatment. This despite a psychiatric assessment conducted immediately after his arrest which found that he was sane at the time of the murder. A charge of rape was also dropped without explanation - despite a medical examination of the victim which determined that she had indeed been raped.

In January 2002 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) requested that the Russian Government submit a detailed list of investigations into crimes committed during the Chechnya conflict. It was clear from the submitted list that the vast majority of cases investigating serious abuses had been suspended as a matter of routine after two months (the minimum time period for a criminal investigation required by law).

The media reports an average of 25 Russian soldiers killed each week, despite the Russian government's insistence that the conflict is winding down. These deaths result primarily from ambushes, bombings and mine explosions by Chechen forces rather than from classic military engagement. In situations of armed conflict, abuses such as attacks on civilians, extrajudicial executions, rape, torture and destruction of civilian property are all violations of the Geneva Convention.

Worryingly, in recent months Chechen rebel forces have pursued an assassination campaign with renewed vigour. Targets include civil servants, policemen and religious clergymen cooperating with the Russian authorities. The December 2002 killing of Mukhadin Musalov, the head of the pro-Moscow Sharoi district administration by an unidentified masked gunman while he was working in his yard is but one of many examples.

Rebel forces are believed to have been responsible for seven assassination attempts and nine abductions of civil servants since November 2002. Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has only half-heartedly condemned these actions and has implied that abuses by Russian troops excuse such crimes.

This ingrained system of arbitrariness and impunity must be confronted if there are to be lasting improvements in the human rights situation in Chechnya.

One method of ensuring greater accountability would be to establish an independent national commission of enquiry that would ensure the effective investigation and prosecution of those responsible for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances must also be fully enforced. Concerned parties must pay particular attention to Article 10, which requires that detainees be kept in officially recognised places of detention, that officials maintain accurate information on detainees and their places of detention, and that family members are promptly informed of their whereabouts.

There is also an urgent need for the redeployment of the OSCE assistance group in the region and for access to be granted to the region for key UN thematic personnel.

Overall, the region needs to be subject to far greater scrutiny and international standards must be more strictly enforced. This is the only way to address human rights infringements that are currently a part of life in Chechnya.