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TITLE: PACE's Judd Slams Abuses in Chechnya |
AUTHOR: Musa Sadulayev |
PUB: AP |
DATE: January 17, 2001 |
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In a series of heated meetings with Russian officials in Chechnya, the leader of a fact-finding mission from the Council of Europe on Tuesday criticized federal forces for mistreating civilians. Lord Judd, chief of the political affairs committee in the council's Parliamentary Assembly, expressed concern over "difficulties [faced by] the civilian population, including disappearances, maltreatment, harassment, extortion." "We remain concerned about alleged mass killings," he told reporters. Judd's delegation is to prepare a report for a debate at the Parliamentary Assembly later this month over whether to restore Russia's voting rights. The assembly suspended Russia's vote last winter to protest military abuses in Chechnya, including alleged massacres, bombing of civilian areas, arbitrary arrests and looting. Russia has rejected the criticism, denying widespread abuses and insisting that the war is an internal affair. On Tuesday, Judd traveled to Grozny to meet with Viktor Kalamanov, the Kremlin's top human rights official in the breakaway republic. Women handed Judd appeals to help find their sons, husbands and brothers who had allegedly been detained by federal forces and then disappeared. Judd also met with representatives of the Memorial human rights group, who leveled more accusations against military and police in Chechnya. Kalamanov objected to the meeting, calling it "a vile show prepared with unverified facts and rumors," Itar-Tass reported. Judd complained to Lieutenant General Valery Baranov, commander of the federal troops in Chechnya, about soldiers extorting bribes from civilians at checkpoints, and asked why few cases had been opened against soldiers accused of mistreating civilians. Baranov denied that the military had been lax in prosecuting violations. Thirty-four criminal cases have been opened against soldiers in Chechnya throughout the 16-month war, Interfax reported, citing a regional military prosecutor. Military prosecutors investigated one case of alleged extortion at a checkpoint in December, it said. Judd's final stop was at the Chernokozovo detention center, where suspected rebels and other alleged criminals are held. Former inmates and human rights advocates have complained of frequent human rights abuses at the center, including torture, but the complaints have fallen off in recent months. Judd spoke with prisoners and expressed concern that few could hire lawyers. Some prisoners alleged that federal forces had planted drugs on them to arrest them. Two soldiers were killed over the past 24 hours when rebels fired on their convoy in Mulkoi near Chechnya's border with Georgia, Interfax reported. END |