Russian Federation: Normalization in Chechnya must bring accountability
by Amnesty International, April 16, 2009
Normalization in Chechnya is not possible without full accountability for the grievous human rights violations that have taken place in the country ravaged by two wars in the last 15 years, Amnesty International said today in response to the Russian authorities’ declaration of ending its “counter-terrorism operation” there.
“The true benchmark of a return to normality is to give people what they have been wanting for over a decade – they want the truth, and they want justice. They want to know the fate and whereabouts of relatives and friends who are among the disappeared, and they want those responsible brought to account” said Irene Khan, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“Only thorough and independent investigations into past and continuing human rights violations can bring normalization and security in Chechnya. Such investigations will be a deterrent to future violations.”
“Opening the region to independent observers and journalists would be a signal that the authorities there are ready for transparency, but a change of status is absolutely meaningless without the political will to change reality.”
Over the years Amnesty International has consistently investigated cases of human rights abuses, including war crimes, committed by both the Russian federal forces, forces under the present government of President Ramzan Kadyrov and Chechen armed groups. They include indiscriminate killings, excessive use of force, deaths in custody, torture and ill-treatment in custody, alleged unlawful killings, arbitrary detentions, secret detention, abductions, enforced disappearances, threats to human rights activists, the targeting of relatives of suspected fighters, and the forced evictions of internally displaced people.