Since the start of the second Chechnya war, the Russian government has sought to curtail outside monitoring in the region. Late last year it refused to agree to renew the mandate for the OSCE Assistance Group to Chechnya that would include human rights monitoring. In December, the government effectively closed the group's operations, citing the expiration of its mandate. The authorities have also routinely impeded access to Chechnya for journalists. A few weeks ago, it deported Gunther Wallraff, a German journalist on his way to Chechnya, just after he arrived at the Moscow airport. Furthermore, the Russian government has for years stopped key United Nations human rights monitors from visiting the region.
"The OSCE Assistance Group staff were the international community's eyes and ears in Chechnya, said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "With them gone, there are no international monitors with an independent mandate left to report on the serious abuses that are a daily routine in Chechnya. That is unacceptable. "
Chechnya is the only active armed conflict in Europe today, and humanitarain law violations, including torture, forced disappearances, and killings of noncombattants, are common. The Russian government has done little to curb these and other abuses or to bring those responsible to justice. At the same time, the government has actively sought to return people displaced by the conflict into the war zone. In a report published on January 29, 2003, Human Rights Watch documented recent humanitarian law violations by Russian and Chechen forces. The report also details attempts by the Russian government to force displaced people to return to Chechnya. The report, entitled "Into Harm's Way," can be found at http://hrw.org/reports/2003/russia0103/
