Chechen rebels accused of killing POWs and of using civilians as `human shields'

Chechen rebels have been accused of executing prisoners of war and using civilians as "human shields" in a report issued by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organisation.

HRW has in the past even-handedly documented allegations of atrocities by Russian forces in Chechnya and by Serb forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Kosovo.

Interviews carried out by HRW workers in the northern Caucasus indicate that entire villages which do not want to be involved in the current hostilities have been used by rebels as cover for their attacks on Russian soldiers and aircraft. There have also been accounts of captured Russian soldiers having their throats cut.

"Chechen fighters are endangering civilians by trying to hide in their midst, but they are bound by the laws of war as much as any combatants. We call upon the fighters to take all necessary precautions to minimise civilian casualties," Ms Holly Cartner of HRW said.

HRW also pointed out that the execution of prisoners of war runs contrary to the Geneva Convention and constitutes a war crime.

According to the organisation, rebel fighters in Dyshne-Vedeno in southern Chechnya subjected the head of the village elders and his 16-year-old son to severe beatings after they had tried to engage in peace talks with Federal Russian forces.

According to a village resident, the two men were detained by the rebels on December 17th, 1999. The elder's son was found badly beaten near the village cemetery the following morning. The elder was released a week later.

The same village resident told HRW that earlier this month he had found the body of a Russian soldier whose throat had been slit. He questioned rebels about this and was told that it was their standard practice to slit the throats of Russian soldiers they had captured.

Although this account was not independently confirmed by other witnesses, HRW described it as "consistent with accounts received about similar abuses committed by Chechen fighters elsewhere".

HRW accused Chechen insurgents of refusing to leave the village of Alkhan-Yurt before it was seized by Russian forces. It has been alleged that Russian troops then went on a rampage, summarily executing at least 19 and perhaps up to 40 civilians in the village.

Mr Waha Muradov, a respected elder and the Mullah of Alkhan-Yurt, told HRW that during the last two weeks of November he repeatedly tried to persuade the rebels to leave the village. "I begged them on behalf of the village: `Please leave, this is no place for you to fight.' "

The rebel commander replied that he would not retreat, and when the mullah insisted, the insurgents started firing into the air, threatening to shoot him and the other village elders if they did not leave immediately.

Human Rights Watch stressed that the abuses by Chechen fighters could not justify Russia's "widespread indiscriminate shelling and bombing campaign". According to Ms Cartner civilians often found themselves caught between Chechen fighters who refused to leave their towns and Russian forces who were bombing and shelling their homes. "Both sides need to take the necessary steps to limit the impact of their fighting on the civilian population, as required by the laws of war," she said.

Seamus Martin can be contacted by e-mail at: seamus.martin@russia.com