Human Rights Center "Memorial"

M. Karetniy pereulok 12, 103051, Moscow, Russia, tel:(095) 200-6506, fax:(095) 209-5779, email: memhrc@memo.ru

HR news

On The Situation with Human Rights Violations in the Chechen Republic
September 2002-February 2003

A Brief Report

11.02.2003

One of the most loathsome forms of human rights violations in the anti-terrorist operation in the Chechen Republic are the so-called 'special operations for checking registration of citizens at their place of residence and revealing participants of illegal military formations', widely known as 'zachistki' or the mopping-up operations of towns and villages. In reality these special operations mostly have turned into collective punitive raids on the citizens of entire localities.

Throughout 2000, 2001 and the first eight months of 2002 large-scale operations were carried out regularly in a number of settlements of the Chechen Republic. Since autumn 2001 the residents of pre-mountainous settlements of Kurchaloi, Groznensky (Rural) and Shalinky districts have suffered most in these events. Facts of mass violations of human rights during the mopping-up operations have frequently become publicly known. However, similar cases in the mountainous areas of Vedenky and Nozhai-Yurtovsky districts usually remained unknown.

Since summer 2002 the number of large-scale mopping-up operations on the plains of the Chechen Republic has been reduced. In the beginning of November 2002 the President of the Russian Federation announced that mass scale special operations should not be carried out in Chechnya. However, such operations are still taking place, although significantly less frequently than in the previous period of time. Both positive and negative examples should be quoted in this context.

As a rare positive example one should name a long-term mopping up operation of December 2002-January 2003 in the village Starye Atagi carried out by the Chechen OMON. The operation was led by Musa Gazimagomadov, the head of the Chechen OMON, who for this occasion also commanded several units of the Russian Federal Forces. During the operation a few Chechen combatants were killed and several civilians detained (including adolescents under 18); items of weaponry found. Serious human right violations were not reported during that event.

Nevertheless, reverse examples are omnipresent. At night on January, 8 in the town of Argun, the representatives of the Federal Forces started a mopping-up operation, which went along with burglary, heavy mugging, kidnapping and murder (see attachment 1). The military servicemen broke into the houses, dragged people out of beds and without letting them put their clothes on took them away. The detained were tortured in the quarry between the towns of Argun and Khankala, and afterward transported to the military base in Khankala. The relatives of the detained found two blasted corpses in the area of the quarry. Only one corpse was identified by the clothing. This was a citizen of the town Argun, Ortsukhaev Al'manzor Mazhidovich, 36 years old, residing in Sheripova street, 12. He was arrested by the military servicemen at night January, 8. Ortsuhaev was wounded in his leg when detained.

Under the pressure of mass protests of the citizens of Argun, the local and republican authorities were forced to interfere. The representatives of the Federal Forces released most of the detained. All of them were heavily mutilated and needed urgent medical help. The detained Aliev Azamat Vakhaevich disappeared; by the start of February his fate is unknown.

Salataev Khoz-Akhmed Aslambekov, detained during the same operation deceased, Eskerkhanov Halid Ramzanovich and Suleimanov Apti Rizvanovivh remain hospitalized, in a bad physical condition.

On the issue of the necessity to stop large scale special operations in the Chechen localities the President of the Russian Federation said that the so-called 'addressed operations' should be carried out instead of the massive events. Indeed, by autumn 2003 the number of 'addressed' operations had increased. Normally, such operations are carried out at nights, when individual houses are blocked, searched, one or two persons detained. The experience shows that 'addressed operations' the President of Russia invests so much hope in can likewise become a method of terror, no less cruel than the mopping up operations themselves. People detained during such operations frequently 'disappear'. The order № 80 of the Commander of Federal Forces in the Chechen Republic is severely violated: the military servicemen and the representatives of special services do not introduce themselves upon entering private houses, in the operations they wear masks, their cars and the military vehicles do not have plates with numbers. Only in January 2003 five cases of such violations were reported in Grozny, when totally 16 people went missing (see attachment 2). The dead body of one 'disappeared' was later found by the locals.

On January 13, nine (ten) blasted corpses were found in the area of Petropavlovk highway (See attachment 3). The next day the Procurator of the Chechen Republic V. Kravchenko reported that the dead bodies belonged to the people kidnapped earlier by the Chechen combatants. These statements of the Procurator, however, are false. Two of the corpses had been identified and they both belonged to the persons detained by the Federal Forces in December 2002. The body of Kagermanov- the director of a state collective farm "Soviet Russia" located in the village Berdykhel (Kimsomolskoye) of Groznensy (Rural) district, was identified almost immediately. In contradiction to the declaration of Kravchenko he was not kidnapped by Chechen combatants, but detained by the representatives of the Federal power structures in the second half of December 2002 near village Prigorodniye (he was driving a car together with two of his employees). According to the employees of Kagermanov, all of them were detained by the military servicemen on a BTR, and the car "YAZ". They were put into "YAZ", and taken in the unknown direction; afterwards the colleagues of Kagermanov were thrown out of the car, but the director of the collective farm was kidnapped. Another corpse belonged to the citizen of Grozny Tepsuev, employed in the State Taxation Service. On December 22 he was detained by the military servicemen- this fact was reported to 'Memorial' by the relatives the detained. After the blast the rest of the dead bodies were torn into pieces. According to the police experts, it is hardly possible to identify them.

Similar things are happening in other regions of Chechnya. Urus Martanovsky District still remains one of the most unfortunate cases in this respect (See attachment 4).

The growth in numbers of kidnappings and murder of the civilians in Chechnya, committed by the representatives of the Federal Forced is arousing protest even with the officials of Kadyrov Administration and the government of the Chechen Republic. Thus, in November 2002 the leaders of Ministries and Departments of the Chechen Republic, the heads of local administration and the members of the Consultative Council in conjunction with the Head of Administration of the Chechen Republic appealed to the President of the Russian Federation asking to stop mass human rights violations of the Federal Forces in respect of civilians (See attachment 5). Quoting the appeal:

We are forced in such an emergency to appeal to you as the highest civil servant of the Russian state and the highest warrant for observance of the constitutional rights of all citizens of the Russian Federation, of which the Chechen Republic with all its civilian population of over 1 million is an inexorable part <...> In the days immediately proceeding the terrorist act in Moscow the illegal actions of the Federal Forces in Chechnya have radically worsened the social and political situation in the Republic. This concerns kidnappings of the civilians, committed by the military servicemen using military machines late at night. For all of the numerous cases we have reports to the Republican Procurator's office, Commandants of the districts, Commandant of the Republic, the military authorities of the armed forces in Chechnya. <...>. All our appeals are unfortunately left without attention <...> "

In summer 2002 a particularly complicated situation was reported in some mountainous districts. The citizens leave their settlements in the mountains East of the Chechen Republic and flea to the plains. Many localities of Vedensky, Nozhai-Yurtovsky, Kurchaloevsky (1) districts are abandoned. The estimated total number of migrants of this wave numbers dozens of thousands of people. This happens two years after the end of large-scale military operations, when the Russian officials declare the normalization of the situation in the Republic.

What happens in the mountainous districts rarely becomes public. These districts have been practically cut off from the rest of Chechnya by military check points; independent observers are not allowed. These are the areas where the Federal Forces act particularly ruthlessly and cruelly. People flea due to endless artillery bombardments, violence and murder (See attachment 6). However on the plains, where these forced migrants settle down they receive no help from the state.

The facts of murder of the representatives of pro-Russian Administration, persons suspected in cooperation with the Federal Forces and those openly expressing support for the Federal authorities are still existent. As a result of insurgencies of combatants casualties among civilians are not infrequent.