Russia/Chechnya: Justice Flouted in Military Murder Case

(New York, December 31, 2002) - Today's acquittal of Colonel Yuri Budanov for the murder of a young Chechen woman shows Russia's resolve to shield its military from accountability for atrocities in Chechnya, Human Rights Watch said today. Citing "temporary insanity," a military court today relieved Budanov of criminal responsibility for the murder and sent him to a psychiatric institution for treatment.

"With this trial, Russia hoped to showcase a commitment to accountability," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. "But even in this clear-cut case, justice was flouted. Russia's commitment was obviously shallow."

Budanov, a former regiment commander, was the first high-ranking officer to stand trial for a crime in Chechnya that was also a gross violation of international humanitarian and human rights law. While most crimes against civilians in Chechnya receive only a superficial investigation, if any at all, Russian authorities devoted unprecedented resources to the Budanov case, and launched a diligent investigation.

On the night of March 26, 2000, 18-year old Elza Kungaeva was abducted, beaten, raped and murdered. Russian authorities promptly started an investigation and arrested Budanov, who confessed that he strangled the young woman in a fit of rage, claiming she was a rebel sniper. The investigation found that Budanov and three of his subordinates kidnapped Kungaeva at gunpoint from her home in Tangi-Chu and took her to Budanov's quarters. After he was alone with Kungaeva for about two hours, Budanov ordered his subordinates, who stood guard outside, to bury her naked corpse.

Initially the military promised that justice would be severe and swift. But as the case unfolded, the prosecution began undermining a potential conviction. The forensic examination found that Kungaeva had endured anal and vaginal penetration just before her death, but the prosecution dropped rape charges against Budanov before trial. The indictment cites the forensic medical report to describe injuries to Kungaeva's face, neck, and hips, but does not cite the report's description of injuries to her genitals. One of Budanov's subordinates was charged with "desecration of a corpse," but the investigation was closed under the 2000 amnesty.

Two psychiatric examinations done in 2000 found Budanov was sane and in control of his actions. However, the court ordered a third examination, carried out by the Serbskii Institute for Forensic Psychiatry, notorious for its role in persecuting dissidents during the Soviet era. The institute's experts concluded in May 2002 that Budanov was "temporarily insane" when he killed Kungaeva, noting his war-inflicted trauma. However, after independent experts criticized the psychiatric examination conclusions as "lacking medical substantiation" and Russia's prosecutor general said the conclusions failed to answer important questions, the military court ordered a fourth examination. In September 2002, this examination once more found Budanov was "temporarily insane" at the time of the murder.

Vissa Kungaev, Elza's father, told Human Rights Watch today that his family is disappointed by the verdict and that they plan to appeal the case.

Over the last three years, Human Rights Watch has continually monitored Russia's efforts to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by its troops in Chechnya. Our research has found that officials have sought to shield Russian servicemen from justice as they routinely failed to take basic investigative steps. In most cases, investigators never identified any suspects and only a handful of cases have made it to the courts.

"The Budanov acquittal is simply a travesty of justice," said Andersen. "If Russian authorities continue to shield servicemen from accountability and deny justice to their victims, the conflict in Chechnya may never be resolved. The vicious cycle of abuse and impunity must be broken."