DATE=2/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA RIGHTS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258915
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The group Human Rights Watch says it has
documented a pattern of atrocities by Russian troops
in the Chechen capital, Grozny, during the past
several weeks. V-O-A Moscow Correspondent Peter
Heinlein reports the group says witnesses are telling
of rampaging soldiers killing and looting as they
drive rebels from the city.
TEXT: In a report being issued this week, the U-S -
based group Human Rights Watch accuses Russian
soldiers of summarily executing civilians and looting
homes as they advance through newly-captured
neighborhoods of the ruined Chechen capital.
Human Rights Watch researcher Peter Bouckaert told
V-O-A in a telephone interview his inquiry is focusing
on events in the Staropromyslovsky district of
northwest Grozny.
/// 1st BOUCKAERT ACT ///
We've interviewed more than a dozen people, and
documented 22 deaths in eight incidents in that
district. All are incidents in which Russian
soldiers shot mostly women and elderly men at
point-blank range.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Bouckaert said in one case, witnesses told how
several women found hiding in a cellar were
blindfolded, lined up against a wall and shot. He
says some of the killings appear to have been
motivated by revenge, others by profit.
/// 2nd BOUCKAERT ACT ///
In many cases, it seems the local Russian
soldiers have a quite hostile relationship with
the population. It appears there was heavy
fighting in this area of Grozny, and Russian
soldiers took quite heavy losses. Looting might
have been another reason for these killings.
Many people found shot to death, their houses
were looted and personal possessions taken off
their bodies.
/// END ACT ///
The Human Rights Watch official says he is disturbed
by reports of a lack of discipline among Russian
soldiers as they conduct house-to-house searches in
newly-captured neighborhoods. He says commanders
appear to be making no effort to control their troops.
/// 3rd BOUCKAERT ACT ///
We consider this to be an on-going pattern of
abuse. We continue to hear new reports about
killings in the area, and we're continuing to
investigate, in addition to the 22 killings we
have confirmed, another 14 deaths in the same
district. We don't see any kind of reaction
from the Russian military and no attempt to
control their forces in Grozny.
/// END ACT ///
Russia's chief spokesman on Chechnya, Sergei
Yastrzhembsky, said Monday he was not aware of the
Human Rights Watch allegations. But he called the
information suspicious.
/// YASTRZHEMBSKY ACT IN RUSSIAN-IN AND FADE UNDER ///
He says, "I think this information should be double-
checked before it is published. I have serious doubts
about it."
Human Rights Watch's Peter Bouckaert admits it is
difficult to get a clear picture of events in
Chechnya, because Russian authorities have placed
strict limits on travel in the region.
He calls it a frustrating experience because, in his
words, the war is taking place behind a smokescreen.
(Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/WTW
07-Feb-2000 13:45 PM EDT (07-Feb-2000 1845 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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