From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 5/25/2005 11:14 AM Human rights violations 'unchecked' in Chechnya London 26may05
RUSSIAN and Chechen forces were committing serious human rights abuses in Chechnya with virtual impunity, Amnesty International said in its annual report.
Chechen armed opposition groups were also responsible for abuses, including bomb attacks and the Beslan hostage-taking in September in which more than 300 people were killed, the influential London-based rights group said yesterday.
There were serious human rights issues in Russia as a whole, Amnesty warned.
"Torture and ill-treatment in places of detention continued to be reported throughout the Russian Federation," it said.
"Attacks, some of them fatal, on members of ethnic and national minorities and on foreign nationals were reported in many regions but convictions for racist attacks were rare."
The main focus in the Russia chapter of the rights groups annual report was Chechnya, where Moscow has struggled militarily since 1994 to snuff out an independence movement.
"Serious human rights violations continued to be committed in the context of the conflict in the Chechen Republic, belying claims by the authorities that the situation was normalising," Amnesty said.
"The security forces enjoyed virtual impunity for abuses."
Abuses frequently reported included killings, torture and people disappearing.
"Many of the abuses occurred during targeted raids by Russian federal and Chechen forces."
Amnesty said the perpetrators of such crimes were not being punished, highlighting a case in April when a court in Rostov-on-Don found four members of a Russian military intelligence unit not guilty of the murder of six civilians in Chechnya, despite the four admitting to the killings.
In Ingushetia, which neighbours Chechnya, the human rights situation deteriorated, notably following an attack by a Chechen armed opposition group in June, Amnesty said.
For Russia as a whole, Amnesty noted concerns about a curtailment of civil and political rights, for example the decision in December by the Duma to abolish elections for the governors of the regions, who would in future be appointed by the president.
Ethnic minorities also faced persecution, particularly the gypsy group Roma, the report said.
"Roma were targeted by police in St Petersburg and subjected to racist attacks in other parts of the country," it said, criticising police actions more generally.
"Police routinely used torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions. Investigations into allegations of torture or ill-treatment were rare and often inadequate, contributing to a climate of impunity."
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