Jan 30, 2003

Chechenia: New human rights organization


Victims of the war in Chechenia are to receive juridical support from a new Russian-Dutch human rights organization called the Chechnya Justice Initiative (CJI). The CJI is an initiative of Human Rights Watch staff in Moscow and Ingushetia, and is also supported by Amnesty International.
The aim is to provide free juridical advice to the victims of human rights violations in the Chechen war. CJI strives to, through starting civil procedures at Russian courts, ensure objective investigations into committed crimes against humanity. The next step is to call for prosecution of the perpetrators, as well as for moral and material compensation for the victims.
If and when these actions would fail, the CJI intends to make appeals to the European Human Rights Court. Currently, the CJI represents the cases of ten victims of gross human rights violations committed by Russian military forces in Chechenia.