When the current conflict in Chechnya began the Russian authorities issued a singularly horrific video cassette to the international media. Chechen bandits were shown performing acts of the utmost barbarity. In a particularly vile section one Chechen pinned a hostage to the ground while another carved the man's head off with a butcher's knife; in another section the beheading was done more traditionally, with an axe.
The message was clear. The Russian Federation reserved the right to surround, attack and eliminate people who behaved with such barbarity. Eleven days ago the same authorities handed over Andrei Babitsky, a reporter with Radio Liberty, to those selfsame bandits and murderers they had portrayed in the video recordings. His apparent crimes were that he was in Chechnya without permission and that his reports showed the Russian authorities in a poor light.
At least that is what the Russian authorities said they did. This was backed up by a video recording which showed Mr Babitsky being handed over to two men in balaclavas. The men may have been Chechen rebels as the authorities claimed. They may also have been members of pro-Russian Chechen militia led by Mr Beslan Gantamirov, the criminal released from prison to fight on Russia's side.
Russia, through its interior minister Mr Vladmir Rushailo, claims that Mr Babitsky wanted to be handed over to the Chechen rebels. We have only Mr Rushailo's word for this. Mr Babitsky was last heard from six days ago in a video shown on Russian television. While giving no indication as to his whereabouts he clearly said he wanted to go home to Moscow
What has happened in the Babitsky case runs contrary to the norms of civilised society. It also breaches the Geneva Convention. A non-combatant was first of all held as a hostage and then handed over to forces regarded by the state as bandits and terrorists who torture, maim and execute their victims in the most barbarous manner imaginable.
Reports are now emerging of torture and rape in the Chernokozovo "filtration camp" in which Mr Babitsky was held for almost three weeks before the alleged hand-over to Chechen rebels. Human Rights Watch has reported summary executions of civilians in Grozny. Requests for information on and investigation of these allegations and on the Babitsky case from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the European Commission, the Glasnost Foundation, the United States Congress and other organisations have been met with a blithe silence from acting president Putin.
Instead he has decreed that military training will be introduced in schools. Boys will be taught how to dismantle and re-assemble Kalashnikov assault rifles and girls will be given basic medical training. More money will be spent on the armed forces and the security services. Arms exports will be a major factor in boosting the economy. It is becoming clearer by the day that Mr Putin sets little store by human rights and democracy. He has made repeated statements to visiting western leaders committing Russia to the democratic path. His actions are leading the country in the opposite direction.