(New York, January 12, 2000) -- Human Rights Watch strongly condemned
today a new Russian order forbidding male Chechen refugees the ages of
ten and sixty from entering or leaving Chechnya. Today border police
began enforcing the order at checkpoints and border crossings.
"Chechen males are now effectively trapped in a dangerous war zone. It is fundamentally unacceptable to deny civilian males, including children as young as ten, the right to
flee from heavy fighting. And it's against international standards."
Holly Cartner
Executive Director of Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch
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The new order gives rise to fears that the Russians may undertake mass
detention in "filtration camps," where many Chechens were systematically
tortured during the 1994-96 Chechen war.
"Chechen males are now effectively trapped in a dangerous war zone," said
Holly Cartner, Executive Director of the Europe and Central Asia
division of Human Rights Watch. "It is fundamentally unacceptable to
deny civilian males, including children as young as ten, the right to
flee from heavy fighting. And it's against international standards."
Following a Chechen counteroffensive and significant Russian military
setbacks in early January, General Viktor Kazantsev, Commander for the
North Caucasus Group of Forces, reportedly blamed the Russian "mistakes"
on "our soft-heartedness." On January 11 he ordered that only children
under ten, men over sixty, and girls and women would henceforth be
considered refugees. Gen. Kazantsev also ordered males between ten and
sixty to be rigorously checked in detention centers for guerilla
affiliation.
In the first Chechen war, Russian forces operated three official
detention centers in Grozny, Mozdok, and Pyatigorsk, although many
smaller camps existed unofficially throughout the region. These centers
were known as "filtration camps" because fighters were supposed to be
"filtered" out from civilians; they became notorious as centers for
systemic torture, beatings and ill-treatment of thousands of Chechen
males.
Soldiers at the main Chechen-Ingush border crossing confirmed to Human
Rights Watch that they had received orders to turn back all men between
the ages of ten and sixty who tried to enter or leave Chechnya, and
Chechen civilians told Human Rights Watch that their male family members
were stranded as a result. Datu Isigova, a refugee from Grozny, told
Human Rights Watch that she was forced to leave her eleven-year-old son,
Arbi, and her husband, Suleman, inside Chechnya today due to the new
restrictions. Zura Mumayedova, a mother of three from Shatoi who
arrived by bus at the Chechen-Ingush border on January 11, told Human
Rights Watch researchers that four men she had been traveling with were
ordered off the bus by Russian border guards, citing the new
restrictions on Chechen males. Held at the border overnight, Mumayedova
said that "the Russian soldiers said that no men aged between ten and
sixty would be allowed through." She stated that the border guards
prevented a fifty-nine-year-old man from crossing the border. She said
that two boys, aged twelve and thirteen, made it past the border guards
into Ingushetia only by concealing themselves on the bus. Other
refugees reported that many other men had been turned back from the
border, and that mothers with young children had often decided not to
cross the border because they did not want to leave their young children
behind.
Chechen men on the Ingushetia side of the border have been separated
from their families, unable to cross back into Chechnya.
Thirty-six-year-old Vayit Zagayev told Human Rights Watch that he
arrived in Ingushetia in late December to get medicine for his
bed-ridden mother and to obtain supplies for his family, currently
living in Katyr-Iurt. Russian border guards today refused to allow him
into Chechnya. Mauli Murtadaliyev, also thirty-six, said that the
border guards would not let him escort the body of a deceased female
relative back to Chechnya for burial.
At the urging of Russian authorities, in recent weeks as many as 70,000
Chechen refugees have left refugee camps and temporary accommodation in
Ingushetia and returned to their homes throughout Chechnya. In early
January, renewed and intensive fighting erupted in Alkhan-Kala,
Yermolovski, Alkhan-Yurt, Argun, Gudermes and Shali, following Chechen
counter attacks. Human Rights Watch has documented several incidents in
which refugees who returned to Russian-declared "safe zones" were caught
under shelling and killed in recent days. This escalation of the
conflict means that large numbers of Chechen civilians may well be
forced to again flee to safety in Ingushetia.
"Russian authorities are obliged under humanitarian law to do everything
possible to avoid civilian casualties and allow civilians to flee to
safety," said Ms. Cartner. "By preventing Chechen men and young boys
from leaving the republic, the Russian authorities are deliberately
violating their international obligations. We call on the Russian
government to rescind the order."
Human Rights Watch called on the Russian authorities to allow an
international monitoring presence at all check points, border crossings,
and detention centers in order to ensure that Chechen civilians do not
suffer abuse at the hands of Russian soldiers. Human Rights Watch has
documented numerous cases in which Chechen civilians, particularly
males, were abused at Russian checkpoints, including cases of severe
beatings, extortion, sexual harassment of women, and verbal taunting.
For more information contact:
In Nazran: Peter Bouckaert, 901 497 9071 (English)
Malcolm Hawkes, 87322 61339 (English, Russian)
In New York: Rachel Denber (1) (212) 216 1266 (English, Russian)
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