Russian security forces continued to enjoy almost total impunity for serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in the ongoing conflict in the Chechen Republic (Chechnya). Chechen forces loyal to the pro-Moscow administration of Akhmad Kadyrov also committed serious human rights abuses as did Chechen fighters opposed to Russian rule. An increasing number of bomb attacks took place, not only in Chechnya itself, but in other parts of the Russian Federation. There were reports that the military raids which spread so much fear in the civilian population of Chechnya were now taking place in neighbouring Ingushetia, with the participation of Russian federal troops as well as pro-Moscow Chechen security forces. Tens of thousands of internally displaced Chechens remained in Ingushetia and were reportedly subjected to intense pressure from the authorities to return home. Elsewhere in the Russian Federation there were continuing reports of torture and ill-treatment. Conditions in pre-trial detention centres and prisons were often cruel, inhuman and degrading. Members of ethnic minorities faced widespread discrimination. Those responsible for racist attacks were rarely brought to justice. Violence in the home continued to claim the lives of thousands of women.

In March, a new Constitution was approved by referendum in Chechnya amid allegations of voting irregularities. In October, Akhmad Kadyrov was elected president of the Chechen Republic in an election criticized by human rights campaigners and foreign governments.

On 6 June, the State Duma approved a draft decree declaring an amnesty for crimes committed in Chechnya. Critics, including AI, warned that the amnesty decree was seriously flawed.

Chechen conflict

Both Russian armed forces and Chechen fighters continued to commit serious abuses and in some respects the situation deteriorated in the aftermath of the referendum. There were reports that violations committed by federal troops and local police against Chechen civilians had spread across the border to neighbouring Ingushetia where tens of thousands of Chechens had sought refuge.

Violations by federal forces and Chechen police
Large-scale military raids (zachistki) appeared to decrease in 2003. However, targeted operations in which specific houses or individuals were singled out by Russian federal troops and pro-Moscow Chechen police were reported. Such operations were routinely accompanied by serious human rights violations, and large numbers of Chechens – particularly men and boys – were killed or "disappeared". Abuses reported included extrajudicial executions, "disappearances" and torture, including rape; such abuses can constitute war crimes.

Rizvan Yaragevich Appazov was detained by Russian federal soldiers in the Vedeno region of Chechnya on 5 May. Russian soldiers stopped the bus in which he was travelling at a military checkpoint near his home village, Elistanzhi. The soldiers began checking passengers' passports. As soon as they found Rizvan Yaragevich Appazov, they stopped their checks and forced him off the bus. He was reportedly taken to a Russian army barracks on the site of a former asphalt factory. His whereabouts remained unknown at the end of the year. No reason was given for his detention. In 2001, Rizvan Yaragevich Appazov's brother had also been detained by Russian federal soldiers as he herded cattle. His fate also remained unknown at the end of 2003.
On 21 May, six people were reportedly killed in an early morning raid on a number of houses in the Kalinovskaya settlement near one of the main military bases in Chechnya. According to eyewitnesses, a group of 15 armed men in camouflage uniforms entered a house where they shot and killed Zura Bitieva; her husband, Ramzan Iduyev; their son, Idris Iduyev; and Zura Bitieva's brother, Abubakar Bitiev. Only a one-year- old child survived the attack. Zura Bitieva had been an outspoken critic of the behaviour of federal troops and had submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights.
Military raids spread to Ingushetia
About 70,000 internally displaced Chechens remained in Ingushetia, either in tent camps, spontaneous settlements or private homes. The situation continued to be tense. Local and federal authorities put pressure on displaced people to return to Chechnya and there were reports of raids across the border into Ingushetia, where Chechen settlements as well as Ingush villages were targeted. There were reports of arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment and looting during such operations.

On the evening of 10 June, a car carrying three members of the Zabiev family came under heavy fire. They were on their way home from their potato field to Ghalashki village, Ingushetia. Tamara Zabieva, aged 65, was seriously wounded, and her son Ali Zabiev ran for help, leaving his brother, Umar Zabiev, with their mother. When Ali Zabiev returned later with other relatives and representatives of the local police, they managed to find Tamara Zabieva and take her to a hospital, but Umar Zabiev could not be found. Two days later, his body was found; among the injuries he had sustained were fractures, bruises and gunshot wounds. There were reports of evidence suggesting the involvement of federal troops in the attack.

Impunity
Prosecutions for serious human rights violations by federal troops remained few and far between. The majority of investigations appeared to be superficial and inconclusive.

On 25 July, Colonel Yuri Budanov was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Kheda Kungaeva and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. Eighteen-year-old Kheda Kungaeva had been abducted from her home in Chechnya in March 2000. The conviction followed an appeal against a previous decision on 31 December 2002 by the North Caucasus Military Court that Yuri Budanov was not criminally responsible for the murder. He had confessed to killing Kheda Kungaeva, but his lawyers claimed that he did so in a state of "temporary insanity".

Chechnya and the international community
During its January session the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) deplored the climate of impunity in Chechnya.

In January, the European Court of Human Rights registered and declared admissible six cases related to alleged human rights violations in the Chechen Republic.

In a major blow to the protection of human rights in the Russian Federation, a draft resolution on the Chechen Republic was defeated at the UN Commission for Human Rights for the second year in a row.

The two summits between the European Union and Russia on 31 May and 7 November failed to produce any positive developments on the question of human rights in the Chechen Republic.

In June the Russian government authorized the publication of one of the reports of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture on its visit to the Russian Federation. In July the Committee issued a second public statement highlighting the continued resort to torture and other forms of ill-treatment by members of law enforcement agencies and federal forces and the largely unproductive action taken to bring to justice those responsible. The Committee identified measures which the Russian Federation authorities should take, including a formal statement from the highest political level denouncing ill-treatment by members of the federal forces and law enforcement agencies in the Chechen Republic. The measures had not been implemented by the end of the year.

On 7 November, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its deep concern about "continuing substantiated reports of human rights violations in the Chechen Republic, including extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture, including rape".

Akhmed Zakayev

On 13 November, a British court declined the request of the Russian authorities for the extradition of Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev on the grounds that his ethnicity and political beliefs made it likely that he would be tortured if returned to the Russian Federation. During the court hearings, experts and witnesses for the defence gave evidence of widespread torture of inmates in Russian pre-trial detention centres and prisons.

Human rights abuses by Chechen fighters

Chechen fighters continued to commit serious human rights abuses. They reportedly targeted civilian members of the pro-Moscow administration, and were allegedly responsible for a number of bombings that caused indiscriminate harm to civilians.

On 14 May, a woman blew herself up in the middle of a crowd of several thousand people attending a Muslim religious celebration in the village of Ilishkan-Yurt, east of Grozny. At least 18 people were killed and 145 wounded. The attack was apparently aimed at the leader of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov. The following week, the leader of a Chechen armed group, Shamil Basaev, claimed responsibility on a website for this and other bombings and warned that more attacks would follow.


Source: Amnesty International