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Human Rights Watch Alleges War Crimes, Abuses In Chechnya
STRASBOURG, April 5 (AFP)-Human Rights Watch said Wednesday it had documented more than 120 summary executions of civilians and numerous cases of arbitrary detention, torture and rape by Russian forces in Chechnya.
The human rights monitor cited reports that Russian forces had blockaded more than 4,000 civilians in the Chechen village of Tangi Chu, cutting off water supplies and reducing villagers to eating raw wheat boiled in water.
In a statement released ahead of a Council of Europe debate today on whether to suspend Russia over allegations of human rights abuses, the report said Russian soldiers had repeatedly detained and beaten young men and demanded bribes for their release.
Human Rights Watch called on Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin "immediately and unequivocally to put an end to any and all human rights abuses being perpetrated against civilians in Chechnya.”
It also urged the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly to "take a strong stand against war crimes and human rights abuses in Chechnya" and to take Russia to the European Court of Human Rights.
The assembly was to vote Thursday on a draft recommendation giving Russia until May 31 to conform to European demands on human rights in Chechnya or face suspension, according to a text adopted Tuesday.
Walter Schwimmer, general secretary of the Council of Europe, said Wednesday he opposed sanctions against Russia, although he acknowledged that progress on human rights had been inadequate.
Human Rights Watch welcomed reports that a Russian colonel responsible for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old woman in the Chechen village of Tangi Chu would be prosecuted, but noted that her case "was not an isolated incident of severe ill-treatment."
The report highlighted the "severe humanitarian crisis" in Tangi Chu, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Grozny, which had been cut off since mid-January, noting that Russian forces had destroyed a pipeline that provided mountain spring water.
"The forces allegedly shelled the pipeline just past the Russian positions, so that the Russian troops can obtain fresh water from the pipeline, but the villagers cannot," it said.
The Russians also polluted the river running through the village by driving their armored vehicles and trucks through it, the report added.
"For food, villagers have been eating raw wheat boiled in water, and they are forced to cut down fruit trees for wood.” Witnesses report severe cases of malnutrition, dehydration, tuberculosis, dysentery, digestive diseases, lung diseases, several kinds of serious skin diseases and lice infestations," the group said.
The village's only doctor was arbitrarily transferred elsewhere, meaning medical care was no longer available, it added.
Schwimmer meanwhile announced plans Wednesday for a three-man mission to Chechnya to assist the Russian government's human rights office in the Muslim republic.
The six-month mission would have a consultative role but would be able to travel freely in the Russian republic and would have access to the Chechens, "except for reasons of security," Schwimmer quoted Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov as saying in a letter.
Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov on Tuesday called for peace talks with Moscow based on a 1997 agreement that ended Moscow's first, unsuccessful military attempt to bring Chechnya to heel – under which, he said, Chechnya's independence had been recognized.
He ruled out concessions, saying in a statement sent to the Council of Europe: "The fight will continue until we are victorious. No other outcome is possible."
The draft to be submitted to a vote Thursday recommends suspension of Russia unless substantial and demonstrable progress is made by May 31, especially on dialogue between Russia and the elected Chechen authorities and a ceasefire in the military offensive.
The draft also urges member states to take Russia to the European Court of Human Rights for any violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
A similar motion to suspend Russia over its campaign in Chechnya was quashed when it was put to a vote at the Council's January session, and the Russian delegation has remained in place.
The Council is a Europe-wide consultative body concerned with human rights and democracy issues.
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