II. Recommendations

To the Government of the Russian Federation

Immediately stop collective punishment practices in Chechnya, including house-burning and other forms of persecution against families of alleged insurgents. Ensure access to the region for international monitors, including UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, on adequate housing, and on violence against women, in full agreement with the requirements for conducting visits that these procedures' terms of reference set forth. Ensure meaningful accountability mechanisms for such violations as house-burnings, cruel and degrading treatment, abduction-style detentions, and other violations perpetrated in particular by security services, military, and law enforcement agencies. Bring perpetrators of serious abuses to justice and ensure transparency regarding investigations and/or prosecutions undertaken, including their outcome. Provide effective security guarantees to victims and witnesses to house-burnings and other human rights violations. Ensure effective implementation of rulings on Chechnya cases by the European Court of Human Rights, including by bringing perpetrators of violations to justice and taking concrete steps to prevent similar violations from reoccurring. Foster a favorable climate for journalists and human rights defenders to do their work in the region.

To Russia's International Partners

Governments, in particular those of European Union member states and the United States, should advance the recommendations contained in this report in multilateral forums and in their bilateral dialogues with the Russian government.

Call on the Russian government to stop collective punishment practices, including house-burnings, and overall to put an end to impunity for human rights violations in Chechnya. Call on the Russian government to allow unhindered access to the North Caucasus region for international monitors, including the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. Urge the Russian government to ensure timely and unhindered access to the North Caucasus region for Senator Dick Marty, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly rapporteur on legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, so as to ensure that the Assembly can resume its important function as a forum for public discussion and scrutiny of the situation in the region. Urge Russia to fully implement rulings handed down by the European Court of Human Rights regarding violations in Chechnya, an instrumental step for preventing such violations from being perpetrated more widely in the North Caucasus as well as for reinforcing the authority of the Court. Call upon Russia to ensure unhindered work of Russian and foreign journalists and human rights defenders in Chechnya and broader in the North Caucasus.

To the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly should include the use of collective punishment practices in the agenda of its ongoing monitoring and reporting on the North Caucasus, with a view to holding, as soon as possible, a public debate on the situation. The Secretary General should urge the Russian prosecutor's office to end impunity in Chechnya by means of fully investigating recent and past human rights abuses. The Secretary General should insist that these investigations fully comply with the standards for investigations into alleged human rights violations developed in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The Committee of Ministers should closely monitor Russia's implementation of the European Court's rulings on Chechnya cases and ensure a sustained, vigorous dialogue with the Russian government on the necessity of full and effective implementation of those rulings. The Commissioner for Human Rights and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture should continue to carry out regular visits to the region and make specific recommendations for steps necessary to end abuses and the accompanying impunity.

Map of Chechnya

Note on Chechnya

Chechnya is located in the Northern Caucasus region of Russia covers an area of roughly 16,100 square kilometers (6,200 square miles). It borders the Stavrapol Krai of Russia to the north, Dagestan to the north and west, Ingushetia to the west, and shares a small border to the northwest with North Ossetia. The capital of Chechnya is Grozny; there are also four large towns: Gudermes, Argun, Shali, and Urus Martan). According to the Chechen government's website, the population of the country is 1,209,400.[1]Today, Chechnya's inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Chechens.[2] Sufi Muslims make up a significant portion of the population (around 90 percent).[3]The Chechen language is a distinct language, related to Ingush in the Northeast Caucasus; fluency in Russian is also widespread in Chechnya. In addition to linguistic ties, Chechnya share religious and cultural ties with neighboring Ingushetia. The Ingush and Chechen converted to Islam in the 17th to early 19th centuries; both follow one of the two traditional Sufi orders: the Qadiri and the Naqshbandi.[4] Ancient mountain traditions still play a significant role in Chechnya, as well as Ingushetia, with traditional laws – the Adats – remaining a significant determinant of social relationships and conduct.[5]

[1]See the website of the Chechen president and government, "Geographical information", http://chechnya.gov.ru/page.php?r=181.

[2]See "The Republic of Chechnya," http://www.russiaprofile.org/resources/territory/districts/chechnya/.

[3] From http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=30330.

[4] Yavus Akhmadov et al., "Islam in the North Caucasus: A People Divided, Religion in the North Caucasus," WRNI, 1999-2001, http://www.jmu.edu/orgs/wrni/islam6.htm (accessed September 3, 2003).

[5]Johanna Nichols, "The Ingush (with notes on the Chechen): Background information," University of California, Berkeley, February 1997, http://ingush.berkeley.edu:7012/ingush_people.html (accessed September 3, 2003).

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"What Your Children Do Will Touch Upon You"