Chechnya In War

Various abuses against military servicemen, including, but not limited to, the practice of "dedovshchina" (the violent, at times fatal, hazing of new junior recruits for the armed services, MVD, and border guards), continued during the year. Press reports cited serving and former armed forces personnel, the Main Military Procurator's Office (MMPO), and NGOs monitoring conditions in the armed forces, which indicated that this mistreatment often included the use of beatings or threats of increased hazing to extort money or material goods. On September 3, the chief military prosecutor announced that approximately 2,000 hazing incidents had been reported in the military in the first half of the year, an increase of 30 percent from the same period in 2002. According to the chief military prosecutor, over 300 criminal cases were opened regarding hazing incidents in the army during the year. He estimated that 1,200 solders had died in non-combat situations in the first half of th ... [Read More]

Russia

Authorities attributed bombing incidents in Dagestan and several cities in southern areas of the country to Chechen rebels.Government forces and Chechen fighters have used landmines extensively in Chechnya and Dagestan since August 1999 (see Section 1.g.); there were many civilian landmine casualties in Chechnya during the year. b. Disappearance There were reports of government involvement in politically motivated disappearances in Chechnya; however, there were fewer reports of kidnapings than in previous years. The NGO Memorial claimed that federal military forces detained thousands of persons from Chechnya. Some of these persons disappeared, but most were released, often after their relatives paid a bribe. Memorial estimated that the number of individuals unaccounted for was somewhere between several hundred and a thousand. Former Presidential Representative for Human Rights in C ... [Read More]

Progress Report on the Global War on Terrorism
[Read More]

2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Russia

Government officials stated publicly that they would not pressure or compel IDPs to return to Chechnya, and Ingush President Zyazikov promised that accommodation would be found for those remaining in Ingushetiya. Federal and local authorities consistently stated their determination to repatriate all IDPs back to Chechnya as soon as possible. Representatives of the Chechen administration visited camps in Ingushetiya to encourage IDPs to return to Chechnya, usually to temporary IDP facilities. In addition, during the year, the authorities closed the last remaining three tent camps in Ingushetiya; they had housed 5,978 persons. Although some of the inhabitants chose to remain in Ingushetiya, the UNHCR estimated that 70 to 75 percent chose to return to Chechnya. Following the June attacks by Chechen fighters in Ingushetiya, security forces conducted raids at several IDP settlements. Human rights NGOs reported that some of these raids resulted in IDPs being beaten or otherwise mistreated (s ... [Read More]

Russia

The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, government pressure on the media persisted and in some respects increased significantly, resulting in numerous infringements of these rights. The Government exerted pressure on journalists, particularly those who reported on corruption or criticized officials, by: selectively denying journalists access to information including, for example, statistics theoretically available to the public and filming opportunities; demanding the right to approve and censoring certain stories prior to publication; prohibiting the tape recording of public trials and hearings; withholding financial support from government media operations that exercised independent editorial judgment; attempting to influence the appointment of senior editors at regional and local newspapers and broadcast media organizations; removing reporters from their jobs; bringing libel suits against journalists; and intimidating and harassing journalists. Fac ... [Read More]

Terrorist Designation Under Executive Order 13224
[Read More]

(E) Eurasia Overview
[Read More]

August
[Read More]