Chechnya Conflict In

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]

USIA, U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, December 1996 - JohnKronblum, "The OSCE: A Leader in Conflict Prevention

KORNBLUM: The OSCE began as the most basic effort to avoidconflict. That was to define principles of behavior between twoopposing sides -- East and West -- and to agree to begin adialogue on how these principles were to be fulfilled. And forits first 10 years, from 1975 to 1985, the OSCE functioned verymuch as a floating conference: a series of meetings whererepresentatives from East and West debated a vision of society. And in debating this vision of society, they illuminated whereconflicts could arise and illuminated in a very slow, almostimperceptible fashion the underlying reason for possible conflictin Europe, which was the denial of human rights. ... [Read More]

U.S. Policy and the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe
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Department of State Washington File: Text: Abide by International Humanitarian Law in Conflicts, U.S. Urges

In the 1990 Copenhagen Document, OSCE participating States "express[ed] their conviction that the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms is one of the basic purposes of government, and reaffirm[ed] that the recognition of these rights and freedoms constitutes the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace." The 1992 Helsinki Document gave force to our shared conviction on the need to ensure humanitarian protection during periods of armed conflict in providing that participating States "will in all circumstances respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law including the protection of the civilian population." In the 1994 Code of Conduct, each OSCE participating State resolved to ensure that its armed forces would be "commanded, manned, trained and equipped" in a manner consistent with international law, including, as applicable, the Hague Conventions of 1907 and 1954, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and the 1980 Convention on the Use of Certain ... [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]

Department of State Washington File: Transcript: U.S. Ambassador to Moscow on Terrorist Attacks

AMB. VERSHBOW: Well, we've always recognized that part of the crisis that the Russians face in Chechnya is one that's related to international terrorism. The extremist forces in Chechnya do have external sources of support, including from groups in the Middle East and South Asia, and so there is a terrorist dimension to the Chechnya conflict, but I think we have to say that the Russian approach to solving that conflict in our view is leading them down the wrong path. A military approach is only making a bad situation worse and we continue to emphasize our view that their interests lie in finding a political solution to the Chechnya crisis, even as we both stand [sic] the terrorist groups that might be fueling that conflict. One more question? ... [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]

Guidelines for Submission of Proposals for Activities in the North Caucasus
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(E) Eurasia Overview
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