|
| |
End Impunity for Crimes In Chechnya
HRW Letter to Members of the Russian Duma
|
|
March 28, 2002
PACE Joint Working Group
Russian Duma
Dear Member of the Duma:
In the coming week, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights will again review violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Chechnya. Human Rights Watch hopes that the Russian Federation will take this opportunity to end impunity for crimes committed by federal forces in the region, including crimes committed against women. As a first step, Human Rights Watch urges the members of the State Duma-Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Joint Working Group to press for Russia to meet its international obligations by implementing the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Resolution of 2001. That resolution called for Russia, among other things, to establish a national commission of inquiry to investigate such crimes and to invite all relevant U.N. thematic mechanisms to conduct investigations in the region.
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has now added its concerns about abuses in Chechnya to the public record. In January 2002, CEDAW reviewed Russia's fifth periodic report on the protection of women's human rights. In paragraph 38 of the final report, the Committee notes that it is disturbed that the Russian Federation has failed to conduct proper investigations or hold perpetrators accountable in the vast majority of cases despite strong evidence that members of the Russian forces have committed acts of rape and other sexual violence against women in the armed conflict in Chechnya. In paragraph 39, the Committee urges the Russian Federation to investigate and punish acts of sexual violence against women and girls in custody, adopt human rights education programs for the armed forces, and implement swift disciplinary measures for military and law enforcement personnel.
Human Rights Watch closely monitored the CEDAW reporting sessions in January 2002 and submitted a memorandum on accountability and violence against women in Chechnya for the Committee's consideration. We have attached the memorandum below. Human Rights Watch joins the Committee in raising serious concerns about the lack of accountability for crimes committed by federal forces in Chechnya, including rape and sexual violence. Our researchers documented sexual violence committed by Russian federal forces in detention centers, at checkpoints, and in villages in Chechnya in 2000.* Human Rights Watch recognizes that many Chechen women have not reported these crimes to officials. The Procuracy must ensure that women are aware that they can report crimes of sexual violence to the authorities; that their names will be kept confidential; that they will be offered appropriate medical and counseling services; and that they will be eligible for witness protection. To date, the Russian Federation has not adequately investigated or prosecuted even those crimes of sexual violence that women and their families did report.
We respectfully request that the Russian Federation abide by international humanitarian and human rights law; investigate and, if the evidence warrants, prosecute soldiers and officers found to have committed atrocities; provide training on international humanitarian law for all soldiers and forces serving in Chechnya; and provide victim and witness protection to those women and other civilians who agree to testify against their perpetrators.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call upon us.
Sincerely,
/s/
Elizabeth Andersen
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division |
/s/
LaShawn R. Jefferson
Executive Director
Women's Rights Division |
|
|
