Action on Abuses in Chechnya Pledged
The nation’s top human rights envoy for Chechnya pledged to European monitors Monday that Moscow will prosecute more troops charged with committing abuses in the breakaway republic.
During a visit by a parliamentary delegation of the Council of Europe, Vladimir A. Kalamanov vowed to narrow the gap between the high number of complaints and the small number of cases that make it to the court system.
Kalamanov said the disparity had been caused by a breakdown in the judicial system linked to the 16-month conflict: “Now a system has been created, so the gap will get smaller and smaller.”
Rights groups have savaged Moscow’s record during the military operation in Chechnya, but most Western states have offered only muted criticism of the crackdown launched in October 1999.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch issued a 99-page report in October documenting widespread abuse by Russian troops in Chechnya, including mass killing of civilians, indiscriminate bombings and shelling, and widespread pillaging.
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