Chechen Rebels Must Stop Targeting Civilians

(New York, December 27, 2002) - Today's bombing of the headquarters of the pro-Moscow government of Chechnya in Grozny is an egregious violation of basic principles of humanitarian law, Human Rights Watch said today.

According to press reports, at around 2:30 p.m. (local time) today, two powerful explosions ripped through the government building, killing at least forty-six people and wounding another seventy-six, completely destroying its upper floors and bringing down its roof. No final number of casualties is known at this time. On a regular day, between 150 and 200 people work in the building. Media reports cited the Chechen minister of internal affairs as saying that suicide bombers detonated two explosives-packed vehicles after driving through security cordons surrounding the building.

"The vast majority of the casualties of this despicable bombing were civilians," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "They enjoy special protection under the laws of war. Chechen rebel forces must stop targeting them."

In recent months, Chechen rebel forces have increasingly targeted civilians in their guerilla war against Russian troops. In October, armed rebels took about 800 people hostage at a theater in Moscow and threatened to kill them all. Rebels have also pursued a vicious assassination campaign against Chechen civil servants, policemen and religious clergymen cooperating with the Russian authorities, killing dozens each year.

These attacks on civilians are violations of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, which applies during internal armed conflicts.

To read Human Rights Watch's recent reports and releases on Chechnya, please see: http://www.hrw.org/europe/russia.php.