Human rights defenders ask Bush to influence Putin

Russia's forces are committing abuses against displaced Chechens in Ingushetia, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on September 23. HRW called on President George Bush to raise human rights concerns about the Chechnya conflict at his summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin at Camp David on September 26-27.

HRW released a 27-page report documenting arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment, and looting by Russian forces in Ingushetia this summer. The report charges that these abuses are among the tactics Russian authorities are using to pressure displaced persons living in Ingushetia to return to Chechnya.

The report details seven security operations federal and local forces conducted in June 2003 in settlements for displaced persons, as well as in Ingush villages. The operations followed the standard pattern of sweep operations or targeted raids seen in Chechnya: large groups of armed personnel, often arriving on armored personnel carriers, would surround a settlement and conduct sweeps or random checks at peoples' homes. In those security operations, at least 18 people were arbitrarily detained; most of whom were not released until several days or weeks later, without ever receiving an explanation of the grounds for their detention. In other operations, federal forces appear to be responsible for killing one civilian and seriously injuring two others.

HRW questions the Bush administration's "hands-off stance" on Russian rights abuses in Chechnya since the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

HRW asks President Bush to send a strong message to his Russian counterpart "to end the violations and protect displaced persons from abuses, and ensure that no one is coerced into returning to Chechnya."