Impunity in Chechnya

Vienna, 19 May 2005. Despite claims by Chechen and Russian Federation officials including President Vladimir Putin, virtually no one has been brought to justice for thousands of severe human rights violations in Chechnya, a situation that perpetuates the violent conflict there, according to the report titled Impunity: A Leading Force behind Continued Massive Violations in Chechnya published today by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF).

Information from officials has been rare, devoid of salient details, and ridden with contradictions that suggest a pattern of deliberate obfuscation.

For example, an August 2004 account indicated that 84 servicemen had been convicted in military court hearings. But of these, only twenty two were sentenced to a deprivation of liberty. Twenty-nine received suspended sentences, three had their military service restricted, seven were fined, and twenty three cases were closed following an amnesty act.

International and Russian human rights organizations have documented thousands of disappearances and acts of torture since the beginning of the second Chechen war. But only one military serviceman, Colonel Budanov, has been convicted for abduction, and only one police officer, Sergei Lapin -- for "intentional infliction of serious harm to health". The Lapin case is thoroughly detailed in the IHF report.

The other trial described in detail in this report is the case of Captain Ulman, whose unit killed one civilian and subsequently extra-judicially executed five more civilians in January 2002. In April 2004, they were acquitted in a jury trial in Rostov-on-Don, although they did not deny having killed the civilians, but cited the defence that they had been following orders. Presently, this case is on a re-trial with a verdict expected this month.

According to IHF sources in Chechnya, the situation today is "worse than war," characterized by arbitrariness, non-enforcement of laws, intimidation, and vulnerability on the part of civilians who continue to be victimized by security forces.