Terror in Chechnya: Russia and the Tragedy of Civilians in War

List of Illustrations ix Ac know ledg ments xi Introduction 1 PART ONE: THE CRIMES CHAPTER 1: THE BOMBING, 1999? 2000 23 The Prelude to War 23 The Assault on Chechnya 32 CHAPTER 2: THE ZACHISTKA, 2000? 2002 50 The Massacre at Novye Aldy 54 Torture at Chernokozovo 58 Temporary Filtration Points 62 CHAPTER 3: THE DISAPPEARANCES, 2002? 5 77 Th e Early Cases 78 Chechenization 83 Summary Executions and Mass Graves 91 CHAPTER 4: FINDING REFUGE 98 Evacuation Routes 99 The Humanitarian Response and Forced Migrant Status 103 Forced Evictions and the Politics of Normalization 110 Asylum in Eu rope 118 PART TWO: THE RESPONSE CHAPTER 5: CHECHEN RETALIATION 123 Budennovsk and Kizliar 127 Dubrovka and Operation Boomerang 130 Beslan 138 CHAPTER 6: CIVIL SOCIETY REACTS 144 The Journalists: Babitskii, Politkovskaia, Abdulaeva, and Aliev 146 The Moscow Human Rights Community 157 Local Chechen Re sis tance 161 CHAPTER 7: INTERNATIONAL FAILURE 165 The UN Commission on Human Rights 166 The Council of Europe 168 The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) 174 The United States and the War on Terror 177 A War Crimes Tribunal for Chechnya 179 CHAPTER 8: SEEKING JUSTICE IN EU ROPE: CHECHENS AT THE EUROPE AN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS 183 NGO Justice 186 Human Rights Case I: Isaeva, Iusupova and Bazaeva v. Russia 188 Human Rights Cases II and III: Bazorkina v. Russia and Luluev v. Russia 192 Human Rights Case IV: Chitaev and Chitaev v. Rus sia 197 Public Hearings 199 CONCLUSION 204 Notes 213 Bibliography 241 Index 265

Emma Gilligan is assistant professor of Russian history and human rights at the University of Connecticut. She is the author of "Defending Human Rights in Russia: Sergei Kovalyov, Dissident and Human Rights Commissioner, 1969-2003".

Emma Gilligan's book chronicles Moscow's brutal response to the republic's demand for freedom, an onslaught that has shattered Chechen society, fuelled armed resistance across the Caucasus and bred a new generation of violent extremists. She focuses on the second Chechen war, started by Boris Yeltsin in autumn 1999 and pursued by Vladimir Putin when he stepped up from the prime minister's post to the Kremlin in 2000... Her thorough research is enlivened by testimony from Chechen victims of Russian troops and their local henchmen. Irish Times Gilligan provides the definitive history of Russian policies toward Chechnya in the period from 1999 to the present. Utilizing first-person interviews and documents from Russian, US, and international nongovernmental organizations, she narrates the events of the First and Second Chechen wars, the rise of Chechen terrorism, and the events at Beslan within a larger context of human rights, making comparisons to other 20th-century situations including those in Bosnia... She has created a history remarkably free of technical jargon and specialist vocabulary that should serve as a good introduction to the subject and region for students and scholars of history, political science, and international law. Choice Terror in Chechnya is perhaps the most important book about the Chechen war available in English today. -- Anna Brodsky Russian Review [Gilligan's] book is an important contribution to the literature. Her multilayered approach, her ability to highlight competing perspectives, and her insights into the way future investigations of human rights abuses could be conducted make her work a valuable contribution to the study of human rights. -- Maria Raquel Freire Perspectives on Politics [T]he Chechen conflict, as a research subject, should be more frequently addressed to from the various perspectives. Gilligan's book is a solid pioneering piece of work in this direction. -- Kiryl Kascian Central European Journal of International and