Chechnya

Chechnya continues to be the only place in Europe where civilians die or "disappear" every day as the result of human rights violations committed during armed conflict. The persistent failure of the Russian government to investigate abuses perpetrated by its forces in Chechnya perpetuates this dynamic and obstructs any potential political process to construct a lasting peace. Indeed, impunity fuels the conflict, as civilians lose faith in law enforcement, and military servicemen perceive themselves to be above punishment for their actions. In seeking domestic and international redress for human rights violations, the Chechnya Justice Project hopes to help halt this damaging cycle of violence.

History

The region known today as Chechnya was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1859, after decades of fighting. The Bolsheviks gained and lost control over the territory several times during the Civil War that followed the 1917 Revolution. Over the course of the 1920s, Chechnya and its neighboring province Ingushetia were eventually incorporated into the Russian Socialist Republic as the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic. Following the German invasion of Southern Russia and the Northern Caucasus in 1943, the entire Chechen population, together with other ethnic groups designated as "enemy peoples" (including the Ingush, Volga Germans, Crimean Tatars, Kurds, and Meshketian Turks), were deported to Central Asia as part of Stalin's campaign to discourage Nazi collaboration. It is estimated that half the Chechen population perished during the deportation. The Chechen and Ingush populations were repatriated to the North Caucasus in 1956, and the republic was reestablished in 1957.

Just prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991, Chechnya declared its independence under the leadership of Soviet military hero Dzhokar Dudayev. In June 1992, Dudayev broke ties with neighboring Ingushetia, at which point the Russian Federation set up an economic blockade of the region. In December 1994, then-president Boris Yeltsin authorized a military intervention in Chechnya to reestablish control over what had quickly become a de facto independent state. Despite a ceasefire in July 1995, fighting between Russian troops and Chechen separatists continued until the signing of a peace treaty in August 1996. The withdrawal of Russian troops from the region was accompanied by a steady rise in crime, including ransom kidnappings of Chechen, Russian, and foreign civilians, with the factional Chechen government largely unable to maintain control over the region. The current conflict in Chechnya began in September 1999, when the Russian military returned to the region following a Chechen incursion into the neighboring republic of Dagestan and a series of fatal apartment bombings in central Russian cities that were widely blamed on Chechen rebels. Since that time, the Russian military has established control over the majority of Chechen territory and has set up local administrative offices.

In 2000, Russia became the first permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to be censured by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights for (alleged) human rights abuses. In April 2001, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights condemned Russia for "attacks against civilians," "forced disappearances" and alleged extrajudicial executions and breaches of international law. It also criticized the actions of Chechen rebels, who were accused of torture, hostage-taking and the indiscriminate use of land mines.

Chechnya Today

The human rights situation in Chechnya remains dire. Although large “mopping up” operations (in Russian, zachistki) characteristic of federal military operations occur less frequently than in previous years, arbitrary detentions at the hands of Russian and Chechen security services remain common. Abductions most often occur during nighttime raids on targeted Chechen homes and are usually followed by enforced disappearance, torture, and ill-treatment. The Russian and Chechen security services responsible for the majority of these crimes continue to enjoy almost complete impunity.

According to the Russian Human Rights Center Memorial, which conducts monitoring in approximately one-third of the republic, at least 396 residents were kidnapped in Chechnya in 2004. Of those kidnapped, 175 subsequently “disappeared.”  In addition, 293 residents were killed during the year.  The ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Chechen Security Council head Rudnik Dudayev as stating that approximately 500 people were kidnapped in Chechnya in 2004.

Terrorism and other attacks contributed to a dangerous destabilization of the whole of the Northern Caucasus region in 2004. President of the Chechen Republic Akhmed Kadyrov was assassinated in Grozny on 9 May 2004. On 22 June, armed fighters carried out a coordinated raid in Ingushetia, resulting in at least 45 casualties. Armed fighters also conducted a large-scale attack on 20 August in Grozny. On 1-3 September a group of hostage takers held thousands of children and adults hostage in a school in Beslan, Northern Ossetia. The siege resulted in the massacre of 330 schoolchildren, their teachers, and parents.

Following the May 2004 assassination of Akhmed Kadyrov, special elections were held in late August to elect a new president. Several prominent candidates, including Moscow-based lottery tycoon Malik Saidullayev, who enjoys popularity among Chechen civilians, were excluded from running on the basis of technicalities and other unfair practices. The official Chechen election commission reported that the Kremlin-backed candidate, Chechen Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov, won over 73% of the votes with voter turnout of over 80%. Journalists and election monitors from Russian NGOs reported a starkly different picture of deserted streets and empty polling stations, and the US State Department called the elections “seriously flawed.” Akhmed Kadyrov’s son, Ramzan Kadyrov, who commands the presidential security force known as the “Kadyrovtsy,” was appointed Deputy Prime Minister.  There exist numerous credible reports accusing “Kadyrovtsy” of abducting and torturing Chechen civilians.

Amnesty International reported in November 2004 that Russian and Chechen security forces were increasingly targeting human rights defenders and activists as well as applicants to the European Court of Human Rights. The organization reported cases of extra-judicial executions, disappearances, torture and ill treatment against these persons and their close relatives.  Some human rights activists were forced to cease working or leave Russia out of fear for their safety.