View source for Second Chechen War crimes and terrorism

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{{Main|Second Chechen War}}
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{{Campaignbox Second Chechen War civilian attacks}}
{{Campaignbox Second Chechen War terrorism}}

[[Human rights violations]] were committed by the warring sides during the [[Second Chechen War|second war]] in [[Chechnya]]. Both Russian officials and Chechen rebels have been regularly and repeatedly accused of committing [[war crimes]] including [[kidnapping]], [[torture]], [[murder]], [[hostage taking]], [[looting]], [[rape]], [[decapitation]], and assorted other breaches of the [[law of war]]. International and [[humanitarian organization]]s, including the [[Council of Europe]] and [[Amnesty International]], have criticized both sides of the conflict for blatant and sustained violations of [[international humanitarian law]].

==Crimes==
===Forced disappearances===
[[Human rights]] campaigners estimate that since September 1999 – the start of the second Chechen conflict – as many as 5,000 people have disappeared and are feared dead.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5219254.stm Russia censured over Chechen man] BBC</ref> According to Amnesty International in 2005, Russian officials give about 2,000 as the official figure for "disappearances" since late 1999.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460112005?open&of=ENG-RUS|title=Russian Federation: Russian police officer found guilty of crimes against the civilian population in the Chechen Republic - Amnesty International|date=May 12, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050512203532/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460112005?open&of=ENG-RUS|archive-date=2005-05-12}}</ref>

* In March 2001 [[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW) issued the report titled [https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/chechnya/ ''The "Dirty War" In Chechnya''], which called the "disappearances" of [[detainee]]s in the custody of [[Russian Federation|Russian federal]] forces in Chechnya a major human rights crisis that the [[international community]] must address.
* On March 31, 2003, [[Akhmad Kadyrov]], the head of the pro-[[Moscow]] administration of the [[Chechen Republic]], has suggested that Russian federal forces are behind breaking into homes at night and [[Kidnapping|abducting]] people. "People continue to go missing in Chechnya. They are taken away in the middle of the night. Their bodies are not found and they are never seen again," Kadyrov said to reporters in [[Grozny]]. "Through their crimes, they maintain tension in the republic, and their hands are stained with the blood of innocent people. The force is made up of [[kidnapping|kidnapper]]s in armoured vehicles. They are a [[death squad]]."  
* On February 25–26, 2006, [[Alvaro Gil-Robles]], resigning Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, visited Chechnya, together with his successor, [[Thomas Hammarberg]] ; they criticized abductions, impunity and lack of security in Chechnya.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} On March 2, 2006, Chechen [[ombudsman]] Nurdi Nukhadzhiyev stated the problem of [[forced disappearances]] of people in Chechnya cannot be solved by local authorities, adding that a special commission has to be created at federal level.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
* On May 12, 2006, Dmitry Grushkin of the [[Memorial (society)|'Memorial']] human rights group told [[Interfax]] that at least 1,893 residents of Chechnya had been kidnapped since 2002; of those, he said, 653 were found alive, 186 were found dead, and 1,023 "disappeared". 'Memorial' monitors kidnappings for only 25-30 percent of Chechen territory.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
* On November 13, 2006, HRW published a [http://hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/chechnya1106/ briefing paper on torture in Chechnya] that it had prepared for the 37th session of the [[United Nations]] [[United Nations Convention against Torture#Committee against Torture|Committee Against Torture]]. The paper covered torture by personnel of the Second Operational Investigative Bureau ([[ORB-2]]), torture by units under the effective command of Ramzan Kadyrov, torture in secret detention and continuing "disappearances." According to HRW, torture "in both official and secret detention facilities is widespread and systematic in Chechnya. Based on extensive research, HRW concluded in 2005 that forced disappearances in Chechnya are so widespread and systematic that they constitute [[crime against humanity]]."

===Mass hostage takings===

====Moscow theater hostage crisis====
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:dubrovkaht.jpg|thumb|200px|Chechen militants in Moscow|]] -->
{{Main|Moscow theater hostage crisis}}

On October 23, 2002, over 40 terrorists took more than 700 [[Moscow theater hostage crisis|hostages prisoner at a Moscow theater]]. The [[hostage]]-takers demanded an end to the Russian presence in Chechnya, and threatened to execute the hostages if their conditions were not met. The siege ended violently on October 26, when Russian troops were forced to storm the building after the detonation of some explosive devices inside. Many casualties resulted from the fact that unconscious victims' airways were blocked and sub-optimal care was given during the rescue. In particular, the failure of Russian authorities to equip their troops with [[opioid]] [[antidote]]s and their efforts to conceal the identity of the gas for days afterward hindered efforts to save the lives of the stricken hostages.

On November 2, [[Shamil Basayev]] assumed responsibility for the attack and apologized to [[Aslan Maskhadov]] for not informing him of the plan.

====Beslan school siege====
{{Main|Beslan hostage crisis}}

On September 1, 2004, a group of 32 heavily armed, masked men seized control of Middle School Number One and more than 1,000 hostages in [[Beslan]], [[North Ossetia]]. Most of the hostages were children aged from six to sixteen years old. Following a tense two-day standoff punctuated by occasional gunfire and explosions, [[Alpha Group]] of the [[FSB (Russia)|FSB]] raided the building. The fighting lasted more than two hours; ultimately 331 [[civilian]]s, 11 commandos and 31 hostage-takers died.

Russian officials publicly linked [[Shamil Basayev|Basayev]] and [[Aslan Maskhadov|Maskhadov]] to the attack. Basayev claimed responsibility in a September 17 website publication; Maskhadov denounced the attacks and denied involvement. The carnage at Beslan and the outcry it caused has had an unexpected effect on the tactics employed by Chechen separatists and their allies.

====Other hostage incidents====
* March 15, 2001 – three Chechens [[Aircraft hijacking|hijacked]] a Russian [[Tu-154]] aircraft with 174 people on board after it left Turkey; they forced it to land in [[Medina]], [[Saudi Arabia]]. On March 16, Saudi commandos freed over 100 hostages, killing three people including a hijacker, a female [[flight attendant]] and a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] passenger. A Russian diplomat in Saudi Arabia said the leader of the hijackers was a "highly-trained military officer who appears to know what he is doing."
* April 22, 2001 – in Turkey pro-Chechen [[gun]]men seized up to 100 hostages at a luxury hotel in [[Istanbul]]. The standoff lasted nearly 12 hours before the hostage-takers, armed with [[automatic rifle]]s, surrendered; police said they had encountered no resistance from the gunmen and there were no reports of anybody being injured.<ref>{{cite news |title=Turkey hotel siege ends peacefully |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/04/23/turkey.hostage.03/index.html |access-date=November 24, 2022 |work=CNN |date=April 23, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031105328/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/04/23/turkey.hostage.03/index.html |archive-date=October 31, 2007 |location=İstanbul}}</ref>

* October 29, 2004 – the [[State Duma]] hosted [[Vladimir Ustinov]], head of the [[Prosecutor]] General's Office, to discuss the Putin administration's [[anti-terrorism]] strategy. As he explained it to the deputies, in future hostage-taking episodes the security agencies would have a formal statutory right to seize and detain the relatives of the suspected hostage-takers. The government would then let the terrorists know that it will do to these "counter-hostages" whatever the terrorists do to their own hostages.

Meanwhile, the practice of taking civilians hostages exists among the officers of Russian and local security agencies in Chechnya. On March 1, 2004, officers of security agencies seized more than 30 relatives of former [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Ichkeria]]n [[defence minister]] [[Magomed Khambiyev]], including women, in the Khambiyev family's native village of [[Benoy]] in Chechnya's [[Nozhay-Yurtovsky District]]. Magomed Khambiyev got an ultimatum to lay down his arms in exchange for the lives of his relatives; he did it, giving himself up to the authorities in a few days.

* June 3, 2006 – Russian diplomats in Iraq were seized when [[Attack on Russian diplomats in Iraq|their convoy was waylaid]] by the [[Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq)|Mujahedeen Shura Council]]. One was shot during the kidnapping; three others were later executed. The group hoped to pressure Russia into allowing Chechnya to secede and become an Islamic [[theocracy]].

===Massacres===

====Indiscriminate attacks====
* On October 5, 1999, a bus filled with [[refugee]]s was reportedly hit by a Russian [[Shell (projectile)|tank shell]], killing as many as 40 civilians and wounding several others.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2004-11-10|title=CNN - Refugee bus reportedly shelled by Russian tank - October 7, 1999|website=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9910/07/chechnya.bus/|access-date=2021-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041110195059/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9910/07/chechnya.bus/|archive-date=2004-11-10}}</ref>
* On October 7, 1999, federal forces carried out [[Elistanzhi cluster bomb attack|a cluster bomb attack on the village of Elistanzhy]] in [[Vedensky District]]. Within several minutes 27 people were killed; among them only eight were men of "fighting age", meaning aged 14 to 60. In the next two weeks, 21 more died of their wounds.
* On October 21, 1999, a series of Russian [[ballistic missile]] strikes on central Grozny [[Grozny ballistic missile attack|killed at least 137 people]], mostly civilians, and injured hundreds. The missiles hit the city's main [[marketplace]], a [[maternity]] hospital and a [[mosque]].
* On October 24, 1999, seven children were killed and 14 maimed by a Russian tank attack in [[Novy Sharoy]]; an adult man was also killed.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-03-09|title=Research Topics|url=http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/3603.html|access-date=2021-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309144119/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/3603.html|archive-date=2012-03-09}}</ref>
* On October 29, 1999, the [[Russian Air Force]] carried out [[Baku-Rostov highway bombing|a rocket attack]] on a large convoy of refugees who were using a "safe exit" route. Casualties were estimated at 50-100, among them several [[Red Cross]] workers, two journalists and many women and children.
* On February 4, 2000, in an attempt to stop the Chechen retreat, Russian forces [[Bombing of Katyr-Yurt|bombed the village of Katyr-Yurt]], then a civilian convoy under [[white flag]]s, killing at least 170 civilians, while many more were injured.
* On February 9, 2000, a Russian tactical missile hit a crowd of people who had come to the local administration building in [[Shali, Chechen Republic|Shali]], a town declared to be one of the "safe areas", to collect their pensions. The missile is estimated to have killed some 150 civilians, and was followed by an attack by combat helicopters causing further casualties. The Russian attack, which happened without any warning, was a response to infiltration of the town by a group of Chechen fighters who suffered few casualties.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-02-22|title=Crimes Of War Project > Expert Analysis|url=http://www.crimesofwar.org/expert/chech-oleg.html|access-date=2021-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222152431/http://www.crimesofwar.org/expert/chech-oleg.html|archive-date=2011-02-22}}</ref>

====Documented mass killings====
*On December 3, 1999, at least 40 people fleeing the besieged Grozny [[Grozny refugee convoy shooting|were shot and killed]] by Russian troops, leaving only seven wounded survivors.
*In early December 1999, Russian troops under the command of General [[Vladimir Shamanov]] killed up to 41 civilians during a [[Alkhan-Yurt massacre|two-week drunken rampage]] in the village of [[Alkhan-Yurt]], near Grozny.
*In several incidents during December 1999 and January 2000 in the Staropromyslovski district of Grozny, Russian troops killed [[Staropromyslovski executions|at least 50 unarmed civilians]], mostly elderly men and women.
*A particularly brutal [[Wiktionary:massacre|massacre]] was carried out on February 5, 2000 in the suburb of Erik Texidor, where suspected members of [[OMON]], a special purpose police unit from [[St Petersburg]] and contract soldiers [[Novye Aldi massacre|summarily executed at least 60 civilians]].
*Following the March 2000 [[Battle of Komsomolskoye]] about 70 Chechen combatants who were taken prisoner were officially [[amnesty|amnestied]], but almost all of them are [[Komsomolskoye massacre|believed to have been murdered in captivity.]]
From 1999 to 2004, the [[Chernokozovo detention center]] operated as a [[Filtration camp system in Chechnya|filtration]] and [[Torture|torture camp]], and [[Human rights|human rights abuses]] were documented in the facility.

===Rebel bombings===
*September 6–14, 1999 – [[Russian apartment bombings|a series of nighttime explosions in apartment buildings]] using [[hexogen]] (RDX) killed 307 and injured 1,700 people. Four buildings in [[Moscow]], Buinaksk and Volgodonsk were destroyed.
*May 9, 2002 – an explosion of a Russian-made [[anti-personnel mine]] in the [[Dagestan]]i town of [[Kaspiysk]] [[2002 Kaspiysk bombing|killed 45 and wounded some 175]] soldiers and civilian bystanders during a military [[parade]]. A Dagestani pro-Chechen group blamed for an attack had previously killed seven Russian soldiers on January 18, 2001, in the Dagestani capital, [[Makhachkala]].
* June 12, 2005 – a bomb planted by Russian [[nationalist]] extremists, said to be [[veterans]] of the Chechen wars belonging to the [[Russian National Unity]] group, derailed the Grozny-Moscow passenger train some 150 kilometers south of the Russian capital. Dozens of people were injured, but only eight hospitalized. On May 30, 2006, suspects Vladimir Vlasov and Mikhail Klevachyov were charged with terrorism and attempting to commit murder motivated by ethnic or religious hatred.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ble-t.org/news/terrorism-suspected-in-russian-train-blast/ |title=Terrorism suspected in Russian train blast - Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen |date=15 August 2007 }}</ref>

====Suicide bombings====
{{Main|Chechen suicide attacks}}
Between June 2000 and September 2004, Chechen insurgents added [[suicide attack]]s to their weaponry. During this period there were 23 Chechen related suicide attacks in and outside Chechnya, targeting both military and civilian targets, the profiles of the [[suicide bomber]]s have varied just as much as the circumstances surrounding the bombings. Although only six of the attacks were directed against civilians, these attacks have drawn the lion's share of the publicity generated by Chechen suicide tactics.

*July 5, 2003 – 19-year-old [[Zulichan Elichadzjijeva]] blew herself up outside a rock festival at the [[Tushino]] [[airfield]] near [[Moscow]]. Her bomb did not detonate as expected. 15 minutes later, only a few meters from the site of the first attack, 26-year-old [[Zinaida Alijeva]] detonated her explosives and killed 11 people instantly. Four more died in hospital. For many observers, the Tushino attacks appeared out of place.
*December 5–10, 2003 – a [[Fragmentation (weaponry)|shrapnel]]-filled bomb which was believed to be strapped to a lone male suicide attacker ripped apart a [[commuter train]] near Chechnya, [[2003 Stavropol train bombing|killing 46 people and wounding nearly 200]]. The explosion occurred during a busy morning [[rush hour]] when the train was packed with many students and workers; it ripped the side of the train open as it approached a station near [[Yessentuki]], 750 miles south of Moscow. Only five days later [[Red Square Bombing|another blast shook Russia]]—this time five people were killed and 44 injured in  [[Red Square]] in the very heart of Moscow. Shamil Basayev later claimed responsibility for organising the December 2003 attacks.
*February 6, 2004 – a bomb ripped through a Moscow [[Rapid transit|metro]] car during the morning rush hour, [[February 2004 Moscow metro bombing|killing 40 people and wounding 134]]. A previously unknown Chechen rebel group claimed responsibility for the bombing; the claim came from a group calling itself ''Gazoton Murdash'', and was signed by Lom-Ali ("Ali the Lion"). According to the statement, the group launched the attack to mark the fourth anniversary of the killing of scores of Chechen civilians by Russian soldiers who took control of the Chechen capital Grozny.
* August 27, 2004 – 123 people were killed by a female suicide bomber in the [[Russian aircraft bombings of August 2004]]. Basayev again claimed responsibility.

== Terrorist raids ==

{{main|Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War|l1=Insurgency since May 2000}}

During the [[Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2007)|Insurgency phase of Second Chechen War]], numerous raids and terrorist attacks were carried out by the jihadists. These include the [[2004 Nalchik raid]], [[2004 Avtury raid]], [[2004 Nazran raid]], [[2004 Grozny raid]], and the [[2005 Nalchik raid]].  These attacks constitute as terrorism because they were attacks and armed incursions on infrastructure, civilian areas, civilians, government buildings, [[Russian government|government officials]], on [[Police of Russia|law enforcement]], and [[Main Directorate for Traffic Safety|unarmed traffic patrol officers]] (ДПС), and also often included hostage taking and the usage of civilians as [[human shield]]s.

==Legal proceedings==

===Trial in Russia===

====Trials of Chechen separatists====
Since the Russian authorities do not treat the war as an [[armed conflict]] and enemies as [[combatants]], the Chechen separatists are invariably described by the Russian government as terrorists or bandits. Captured extremists are routinely tried for such articles of the Russian criminal code as illegal weapons possession, "forming and participating in illegal armed groups," and banditry. This strips detainees of key rights and protection under the [[Geneva Conventions|Geneva Convention]] rules of war, including the right to be released at the end of the conflict and not to be held criminally liable for lawful combat. Participation in combat is treated as murder or [[attempted murder]] and terrorism, making little if any distinction with incidents of actual murders and terrorism.

* One of the earliest war crimes trials to be held was that of [[Salman Raduyev]], a notorious ex-field commander for the rebel Chechen forces. Raduyev was convicted in December 2001 of terrorism and murder charges and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in a Russian [[prison colony]] a year later.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460702002?open&of=ENG-380 |title=Russian Federation: Amnesty International calls for an independent investigation into Chechen fighter's death - Amnesty International |access-date=2006-09-29 |archive-date=2006-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930081413/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460702002?open&of=ENG-380 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* On February 21, 2001, a Chechen field commander [[Salautdin Temirbulatov]] was sentenced to life in prison for murdering four Russian contract soldiers whose execution in 1996 was filmed on [[video tape]]. When Russia invaded Chechnya for the second time in September 1999, the video became a powerful weapon in the Kremlin's [[propaganda]] war, as it was shown to soldiers preparing for active service in the war-torn republic.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://premium.europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/02/15/russia.chechnya/ |title=CNN.com - Chechen convicted of video murders - February 15, 2001 |access-date=2006-09-29 |archive-date=2007-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130033112/http://premium.europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/02/15/russia.chechnya/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Temirbulatov was also accused of terrorism and abducting Russian special unit servicemen taken prisoner during their raid into Chechnya in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iwpr.net/node/46|title=Home - IWPR|website=Institute for War & Peace Reporting}}</ref>
* On May 26, 2006, [[Nur-Pashi Kulayev]] was jailed for life for his part in the [[Beslan school siege]].

====Trials of Russian servicemen====
The cases of a Russian servicemen being tried for war crimes are few and far between, no one has been charged with mistreatment or the murder of captured enemy fighters. Nevertheless, several servicemen have been accused and convicted of crimes against civilians.

* On July 25, 2003, after a series of trials and retrials, Russian tank unit commander [[Colonel|Col.]] [[Yuri Budanov]] was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the March 2000 [[Kidnapping|abduction]] and murder of a Chechen woman, [[Elza Kungaeva]]. According to the newspaper ''[[Novye Izvestia]]'' Budanov mysteriously disappeared: he had left the [[prison colony]] in [[Dimitrovgrad, Russia|Dmitrovgrad]] but he did not arrive at his destination, a prison colony in [[Ulyanovsk Oblast]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newizv.ru/news/2007-04-13/67868/|title=Мы формируем картину дня &#124; Новые Известия newizv.ru|access-date=2007-04-15|archive-date=2007-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430230423/http://www.newizv.ru/news/2007-04-13/67868/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* On April 29, 2004, a [[Russian court]] in [[Rostov-on-Don]] acquitted four [[GRU (Russian Federation)|GRU]] [[special forces]] unit officers of the fatal shooting of six Chechen civilians, including a disabled woman. In the incident in January 2000, [[Captain (land and air)|Captain]] [[Eduard Ulman]]'s unit killed a civilian and subsequently extrajudicially executed five more with [[Suppressor|silenced weapon]]s; the commandos then burned the bodies in the victims' vehicle. They were found not guilty in a retrial on May 19, 2005. Although the four admitted the killings, the court ruled that their actions were not punishable as they had been following orders. The [[acquittal]]s of Cpt. Ulman and his three subordinates sparked a public outrage in Chechnya, where rights advocates and many Chechens say Russian forces act with impunity. During the third court hearing Ulman and the two officers mysteriously disappeared. In 2007, they officers were all found guilty and received prison sentences ranging from 9 to 14 years. Aleksei Perelevsky, the only officer present for the trial, received a 9-year sentence.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gazeta.ru/2007/04/12/oa_236492.shtml|title=Из дела Ульмана пропал Ульман|website=Газета.Ru}}</ref>
* On March 29, 2005, a court in Grozny found [[Lieutenant]] [[Sergey Lapin (police officer)|Sergey Lapin]] (a police officer) "Kadet" and a member of the [[Khanty–Mansi]] OMON, guilty of torturing the "disappeared" Chechen civilian [[Zelimkhan Murdalov]] in January 2001, and sentenced him to 11 years imprisonment, which was reduced to 10.5 years on appeal.
* On October 27, 2005, Mukhadi Aziyev, a company commander of the Vostok (East) [[Spetsnaz]] GRU unit, was convicted of "exceeding official authority", and given a three-year [[suspended sentence]] regarding the June 2005 [[Borozdinovskaya operation]] resulting in the death or disappearance of 12 ethnic [[Caucasian Avars|Avar]] civilians on Chechnya's border with [[Dagestan]].
* On April 5, 2006, Alexey Krivoshonok, a Russian serviceman, accused of killing three Chechen civilians at a [[roadblock]] in November 2005, admitted his guilt in his final plea. Next day, Krivoshonok, a contract soldier since 1995 whose rank was not disclosed, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for violent murder while under a state of [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]]ic and [[narcotic]] [[Substance intoxication|intoxication]].
* On May 15, 2006, the Grozny Garrison Military Circuit Court completed the trial of contract soldier, [[Private (rank)|Private]] Pavel Zinchuk. He was sentenced to seven years in a general penal colony for shooting and wounding from "[[hooliganism|hooligan]] motives" three civilian persons in the village of Staraya Sunzha near Grozny.
* On December 27, 2007, Lt. Sergei Arakcheyev and Lt. Yevgeny Khudyakov were convicted by a Rostov-on-Don military court of the January 2003 of the killing of three local construction workers at a checkpoint in Chechnya and sentenced to 15 and 17 years in prison, respectively. According to court papers, Khudyakov and Arakcheyev forced the victims out of their truck, ordered them to lie on the ground and shot them dead; the bodies were doused in fuel and set on fire. Khudyakov failed to appear for the verdict and the court said police would search nationwide for him. He was arrested in 2017. In 2022, Khudyakov was released from prison early after volunteering for service in the [[Wagner Group]] in the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]]. He was killed in action on 10 September 2022.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Russia-Chechnya-Trial.html Russia Chechnya Trial] ''[[The New York Times]]''. [[Associated Press]] {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=After evading police for a decade, a former Russian officer convicted of murdering three Chechen civilians in finally behind bars |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2017/10/10/after-evading-police-for-a-decade-a-former-russian-officer-convicted-of-murdering-three-chechen-civilians-in-finally-behind-bars |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Meduza |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-23 |title=Кремль решил утилизировать в Украине убийц ''в погонах'': кто повелся на обещания ''вагнеровцев'' |url=https://incident.obozrevatel.com/crime/vojna-protiv-rossii/kreml-reshil-utilizirovat-v-ukraine-ubijts-v-pogonah-kto-povelsya-na-obeschaniya-vagnerovtsev.htm |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Oboz-Incident |language=ru}}</ref>

===European Court of Human Rights===
In October 2004, the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR) agreed to try cases brought by Chechen civilians against the [[Russian government]].

As of November 2007, 23 cases were decided<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.srji.org/en/legal/cases/|title=ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus|website=www.srji.org}}</ref> by the Court. The cases include:

* The first [[trial]] concluded in February 2005. The Court ruled that the Russian government violated several articles of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], including a [[clause]] on the protection of [[property]], a guarantee of the right to life, and a ban on [[torture]] and inhumane or degrading treatment, and ordered the Russian government to pay [[Damages|compensation]] to the six [[plaintiff]]s in the case.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4295249.stm|title=Russia 'committed Chechnya abuse'|date=February 24, 2005|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> The cases concerned the Russian federal forces' [[Indiscriminate attack|indiscriminate]] [[strategic bombing|aerial bombing]] of a civilian convoy of refugees fleeing [[Grozny]] in October 1999; the "disappearance" and subsequent extrajudicial execution of five individuals in Grozny in January 2000; and the indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombardment of the village of [[Katyr-Yurt]] in February 2000. The compensation has not been paid and [[NGO]]s claim that the applicants to the court have experienced persecution, including murders and disappearance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/10/russia10298.htm|title=Russian Federation/Chechnya: Human Rights Concerns for the 61st Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights|date=10 March 2005}}</ref>
* In summer 2006 the ECHR decided the first cases concerning forced disappearances from Chechnya; more than 100 disappearance cases related to Chechnya were pending in the court.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/07/28/002.html |title=European Court Sides With Chechen Mother |website=www.themoscowtimes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311031607/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/07/28/002.html |archive-date=2007-03-11}}</ref> The cases included one where the court ordered Russia to pay 35,000 euros to the mother of [[Khadzhi-Murat Yandiyev]] for violating her son's "right to life" as well as failing "to conduct an effective investigation" into his February 2000 disappearance. Key evidence in the case, according to court documents, was video footage filmed by a reporter for [[NTV Russia|NTV]] and [[CNN]] television<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZW1uwMma5w|title=Russian War Criminal, General Baranov, Hero of Russia|date=25 July 2006 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> showing an army officer, later identified by CNN reporters as Colonel-General [[Alexander Baranov (general)|Alexander Baranov]], ordering soldiers to "finish off" and "shoot" Yandiyev. Baranov has since been promoted and awarded a [[Hero of Russia]] medal and is now responsible for all [[Defense Ministry]] forces in the North Caucasus.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5219254.stm|title=Russia censured over Chechen man|date=July 27, 2006|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
* On October 12, 2006, the Court held the [[Russian Federation|Russian state]] responsible for the [[summary execution]] of the Estamirov family during the February 5, 2000 [[Novye Aldi massacre]] by OMON forces. "Russian and Chechen security forces should take this decision as a warning that the abuse and murder of innocent civilians cannot be met by impunity," said Europe and Central Asia director at [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2006/10/12/russia-condemned-chechnya-killings|title=Russia Condemned for Chechnya Killings|date=October 12, 2006}}</ref> At least 11 other incidents of summary executions committed on the same day in the same region of Chechnya were pending before the Court.
* On November 9, 2006, the Court ruled the Russian government complicit in the murder and abduction of three Chechen civilians, including a case on the disappearance and presumed death of two Chechens from the same family. The court sided with Marzet Imakayeva, a Chechen woman who fled Russia two years ago to seek [[Right of asylum|asylum]] in the United States. It also said that the way Imakayeva's complaints were dealt with by Russian authorities constituted "inhuman treatment." The bodies of Imakayeva family members have never been found. In the other case the abductee, the body of [[Nura Luluyeva]] turned up in a [[mass grave]] eight months later.
* On January 8, 2007, the Court condemned Russia in the first torture case from Chechnya to be heard by the ECHR. In its [[Judgment (law)|judgment]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-79109|title=Final Judgement: CHITAYEV AND CHITAYEV v. RUSSIA |work=[[European Court of Human Rights]] |date=2007-04-18}}</ref> the Court stated that the applicants Adam and Arbi Chitayev had been held in unacknowledged detention, that they had been subjected to torture, and that the Russian authorities had not properly investigated their allegations.

==See also==
*[[Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush]]
*[[International response to the Second Chechen War]]
*[[Russian war crimes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc03/EDOC9732.htm Human rights violations attributed to Russian forces] [[Council of Europe]]
*[http://terrorism.9f.com/eng.russia.attacks.htm List of terror attacks 2001-2004]
*[http://www.srji.org/en/legal/cases Cases from Chechnya pending before the European Court of Human Rights]
*[http://www.besttopnews.com/social/19-03-2005/286-0/ "As I was raped by the Chechens." Confession of a victim]

{{Chechen wars}}{{War crimes}}
[[Category:War crimes of the Second Chechen War| ]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents of the Second Chechen War| ]]
[[Category:Massacres in Russia]]
[[Category:Terrorism in Russia]]
[[Category:War crimes in Russia]]
[[Category:Ethnic cleansing]]
[[Category:Politicides]]