62
Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
Amnesty International September 2001
On 10 July in London, the UK section of AI
presented its “Global Award for Human Rights
Journalism” to Anna Politkovskaya, as part of the
annual Media Awards. Anna Politkovskaya received
the award for an article which she wrote in the Russian
newspaper Novaya Gazeta about human rights abuses
in Chechnya.
Alleged violations against Chechen civilians during
“cleansing operations” by Russian forces.
Reports from Kurchaloy district
It was reported that following several attacks on
members of the Russian federal forces, on several
occasions in May and June, Russian soldiers
arbitrarily arrested civilians in the Kurchaloy District
in Chechnya. It was reported that on the morning of
12 May members of the Russian federal forces went
into the house of Khamdi Gerikhanov and shot him
and his 19-year old son dead. The soldiers also
allegedly detained three other Chechen men, Khamsat
Gerikhanov, Ilyas Gerikhanov and Abubakar Umarov,
forced them out of the house and severely beat them.
According to witness reports given to members of
the Russian human rights group, Memorial, on 16
June about 120 men were detained in Kurchaloy by
Russian troops. On 21 June local inhabitants found the
bodies of five of the men detained on 16 June, on the
outskirts of the village. The local people reportedly
identified all five men as: Khasan Chimaev, Vakha
Magomadov
(who
worked
in
the
district
administration),
Khanpasha
Khisriev,
Ibragim
Magomed-Salikh Dokhtukaev and Magomed-Emin
Dokhtukaev.
According to reports, on 1 June between 20 and
30 men were detained by Russian forces in the village
of Mayrtup in Kurchaloy District. Reportedly eight
men were taken to the outskirts of the village and
beaten by the military, who also ordered trained dogs
to attack the detainees. Four of these men were then
taken to the military base of the Russian troops. Five
days later two of them were released, while the
whereabouts of two others named as Said-Khasan
Salamov and Said Magomed Bakhaev, remained
unknown. Said Magomed Bakhaev reportedly lost
consciousness as a result of the beatings and was taken
to the Russian military base in critical condition. He
was later allegedly transferred to an unknown place of
detention.
Reports from the village of Chernorechye
Reportedly during a “cleansing operation”Russian
soldiers surrounded the village of Chernorechye on 28
June and began entering the houses. The Russian
federal forces allegedly detained about 200 males
including boys as young as 14, and took them by car
to a disused medical center near the water reservoir of
the capital Grozny. On the way to the medical center
the soldiers pulled the shirts of the detainees over their
heads as makeshift blindfolds, and allegedly beat
them. Witnesses told members of Memorial, that the
soldiers threatened to kill the detainees.
The detainees allegedly suffered beatings, electric
shocks and cigarette burns on their bodies. Among
those alleging ill-treatment were “Magomed”
22
and
his cousin “Ruslan”
22
from the village of
Chernorechye. “Magomed” claimed that they were
kept in a very small room and from there taken to
another room for interrogations. He also claimed that
he saw his cousin return from such interrogations with
22
Not their real names
his face bruised black from the beatings. “Magomed”
described how electric wires were tied to his right
hand and his left thumb. He was then subjected to
electric shocks. The Russian officers allegedly wanted
him to provide them with information about Chechen
fighters. “Magomed” claimed that he was interrogated
three times. His cousin spent the night in a room with
12 other people. Allegedly one of the men in this
room, who spoke up against the soldiers, was shot in
his leg. He reportedly lost consciousness and was
taken out of the room and his name and fate remained
unknown. “Magomed” also claimed that he saw two
young women detainees at the medical center during
his detention. One of them was pregnant but
miscarried.
Russia’s progress on human rights in
Chechnya reviewed at the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe and at the
UN Commission on Human Rights
In January AI called upon the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to take
urgent action to prevent human rights violations in
Chechnya, as the Assembly met to evaluate Russia's
progress on human rights in Chechnya. AI called upon
the Parliamentary Assembly to support the call for an
international investigation into human rights abuses in
Chechnya, and to pressure the Russian government to
account for crimes committed inside Chechnya and
for the persecution of Chechens elsewhere in the
Russian Federation.
Members of the Assembly noted what they
regarded as progress made by the Russian government
in improving the human rights situation in Chechnya
and, in spite of continuing allegations of violations
voted to restore the voting rights of the Russian
parliamentary delegation to the Assembly. These
rights had been suspended last year due to concern
about the massive human rights violations in the
context of the conflict in Chechnya.
In March AI called on the UN Commission on
Human Rights to demand accountability by the
Russian government for the grave and persistent
human rights violations committed in the region. The
organization continued to urge the Commission to
establish without delay an international investigation
into violations of human rights and humanitarian law