From November 1999 through May 2000, Human Rights Watch maintained a continuous presence in Ingushetia, which neighbors Chechnya. Since that time, we have carried out periodic research missions to the region most recently in December 2000. We have exhaustively documented war crimes and other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by both parties to the conflict, but overwhelmingly by Russian forces.

HRW staff met daily with journalists on deadline to provide them the latest information on Russia's conduct of the war. During the

Chechen refugees living in Ingushetia grieve during the funeral of two sisters who were killed in Chechnya. © 2000 Peter Bouckaert/Human Rights Watch

conflict's most intensive six months, Human Rights Watch produced more than sixty bulletins, press releases, and letters that detailed the assault against Chechen citizens. Click here to read HRW researcher Peter Bouckaert's account from the 2001 Annual Report.

Since 1999, Human Rights Watch has lobbied governments and international organizations to urge a strong stand on human rights abuses and war crimes in Chechnya. In December 1999, HRW pressed the World Bank to withhold a $100 million payment under a structural adjustment loan. The International Monetary Fund delayed payment of $640 million to Russia. Officially, the decision was based on economic factors, but was widely believed to be linked to the Chechnya conflict.

HRW's most recent research mission in November and December 2000, produced the field update from January 22, 2001 and the February 12, 2001 memorandum on domestic prosecutions. From the field and in Moscow, Human Rights Watch staff have been referring victims of human rights abuses to lawyers who can represent them in cases against the Russian government at the European Court of Human Rights. Our documentation also supports these cases.

In March 2000, Human Rights Watch also joined with 30 European and international non-governmental organizations to press the 40 member states of the Council of Europe to condemn Russia for its massive violations fo the Europena Convention on Human Rights.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, our staff have regularly attended the quarterly sessions of the Council of Europe to brief parilamentarian and COE staff. The Parliamentary Assembly suspended the voting rights of the Russian delegation and urged member states to take Russia to the European Court of Human Rights over violations we had uncovered largely based on our documentation in April 2000.

Chechen refugees living in Ingushetia. © 2000 Peter Bouckaert/Human Rights Watch

In March 2000, based largely on our information, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution condemning Russia's conduct in Chechnya. The resolution marked the first time the commission had censured one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

Commission members determined that the Russian criminal justice system should be given a chance to hold accountable those responsible for the abuses and thus the resolution called for a national rather than an international commission of inquiry. One year later, there are no effective domestic prosecutions, no national commission of inquiry has been established, and because of this ongoing environment of impunity, many serious abuses continue to be perpetrated on a daily basis.

At this point, we believe that an international commission is the single best way — perhaps the only way — of ensuring accountability for the worst crimes being committed against civilians in Chechnya.

In the weeks leading up to the Commission meeting Human Rights Watch staff have been corresponding with and meeting with U.S. and European government representatives to brief them on our findings in the field and argue for a strong position on Chechnya. Click here to see the letter HRW sent to U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair on February 8, 2001.

Click here to see the letter HRW sent on February 16, 2001 to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, together with seven U.S. based NGO's working on Chechnya.

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