'No justification for targeting civilians'

We call your attention to the statement issued by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) on September 2, 2004:

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) condemn in the strongest terms the recent outbreak of attacks against civilians in Russia. In three separate incidents, six days apart, individuals suspected of being linked to Chechens fighters deliberately targeted and killed over 100 civilians and wounded dozens more in acts that may only be described as "terrorism".

These incidents were:

? On 26 August, two civilian aircraft were destroyed mid-air in separate explosions timed just minutes apart, killing eighty-nine passengers and crew. The aircraft had taken off for Volgograd and Sochi respectively from Moscow's Domodedovo airport. Forensic specialists later determined that traces of explosives had been found among the aircrafts' wreckage. Initial enquiries focused on the suspicion that two ethnic Chechen women, one aboard each plane, had detonated explosives they were carrying. At time of writing, a second theory had emerged; that the bombs had been planted on the aircraft at the airport before takeoff.

? On 31 August, an explosion outside Ryzhskaia metro station in Moscow killed at least ten persons and injured fifty-one more. Initial reports stated that a lone female bomber intended to enter the metro station but detonated the explosives on the street after sighting police standing by the metro entrance.

? On 1 September, a group of approximately thirty armed men and women, believed to be Chechen fighters, burst into a school in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia and took over 300 pupils, parents and teachers hostage. Some of the children were reportedly as young as six years old; news reports state that among the hostages were mothers with breast-feeding infants. The fighters have reportedly herded the hostages into the school sports hall and claimed to have planted explosives about the school, threatening to detonate the explosives if the authorities launch a rescue attempt. According to initial reports, the fighters are demanding to hold talks with the Ingush president, Murat Ziazikov, the president of North Ossetia, Aleksandr Dzasokhov and a paediatrician, Dr. Leonid Roshal. Dr. Roshal rose to prominence during the Nord Ost theatre siege in October 2002 when he conducted negotiations between the fighters and the authorities.

According to preliminary information, the fighters are calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya and are seeking the release of detainees arrested following the 21 June fighter assault on Ingushetia. Local human rights groups had reported complaints by these detainees that they were being subjected to torture and ill-treatment. The detainees from the June assault are reportedly being held in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia.

"This rash of attacks on innocent civilians is abhorrent and senseless", stated Ludmilla Alexeyeva, chair of the MHG and president of the IHF. "There can be no justification whatsoever for targeting civilians, especially young schoolchildren, in this cowardly manner", she added.

The IHF and MHG urge the hostage-takers in Beslan to release the civilians in their custody immediately and unharmed. The IHF and MHG also urge the Russian authorities to address the climate of impunity in Chechnya, where very few serious human rights violations against civilians committed by Russian security forces are ever punished. The IHF and the MHG consider that this impunity is linked to the rise in violence in the North Caucasus and elsewhere in the Russian Federation.

"The climate of impunity enjoyed by Russian security forces in Chechnya is nurtured by the gross inaction of the Russian investigative and judicial authorities", stated Aaron Rhodes. "Addressing this impunity, through the prosecution of the perpetrators of these violations in fair trials, is the first step towards establishing peace and security in the region", he added.