Persons in Chechnya continue to "disappear" in the custody of

	 Russian forces, Human Rights Watch charged today. Days after

	 the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva introduced a

	 resolution on the situation in Chechnya, Human Rights Watch

	 released a new 49-page report, Last Seen…: Continued

	 "Disappearances" in Chechnya, detailing 87 cases of

	 "disappearances" carried out between September 2000 and

	 January 2002. The actual total of "disappearances" is believed

	 to be far higher.  "Ordering the military to behave will never

	 be enough to change things on the ground. The only effective way

	 to end 'disappearances' is to investigate and prosecute those

	 responsible for carrying them out." Elizabeth AndersenExecutive

	 Director, Europe and Central Asia divisionHuman Rights Watch

	 Related MaterialPhoto GalleryProfiles of the "disappeared"Video

	 clipInterviews with relatives of the "disappeared" Last Seen…: Continued

	 "Disappearances" in Chechnya view the report onlineDownload the report

	 (PDF) U.N. Commission Urged to Act on Chechnya HRW Press Release,

	 March 14, 2002 More on Human Rights in Russia and Chechnya 
	"There is no real accountability on 'disappearances' in Chechnya,"

	 said Elizabeth Andersen, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's

	 Europe and Central Asia division. "The U.N. Commission on Human Rights must

	 acknowledge this, and press Russia to invite U.N. monitors to investigate." 
	 Human Rights Watch was strongly critical of the efforts of Russian authorities

	 to curb abuses by its security forces. Russian authorities have introduced

	 some improvements, including better access to complaint mechanisms, the

	 formal opening of investigations in most cases, and the introduction of

	 two decrees requiring the presence of civilian investigators and other

	 nonmilitary personnel during all large-scale military operations and targeted

	 search and seizure operations. These welcome changes notwithstanding, most

	 abuses remain uninvestigated and unpunished. Civilian prosecutors lack

	 authority to investigate crimes by the military and military prosecutors

	 make little effort to look into allegations of abuse. There is also

	 credible evidence that the military obstructs investigations, notably by

	 transferring accused security and law enforcement personnel to avoid having

	 them questioned.
	"Ordering the military to behave will never be enough

	 to change things on the ground," said Andersen. "The only effective way to

	 end 'disappearances' is to investigate and prosecute those responsible for

	 carrying them out.
	"While large-scale fighting in Chechnya nominally ended

	in 2000, Russian forces continue to detain hundreds of people without

	charges in the ongoing operations against Chechen rebel forces. Most are

	subsequently released, but dozens remain unaccounted for - "disappeared" -

	and are not seen by their families again. Relatives' inquiries to Russian

	authorities as to whereabouts are met with denials that the "disappeared"

	persons were ever in custody. 
	In March 2001, Human Rights Watch published

	a report documenting 52 cases of forced disappearances that occurred from

	September 1999 through February 2001. The new report documents 80 cases

	of "disappearances" that took place in 2001 alone. 
	"The scale of the

	ongoing 'disappearances' belies any notion that forced disappearances

	of civilians in Chechnya is a problem of the past," said Andersen. 
	The rise in the number of disappearances in targeted raids on private

	residences is a particularly disturbing new development. The case of

	Adam Sagaev is typical. Masked men burst into Sagaev's home in the village

	of Gekhi at 2:00 a.m. on December 14, 2001 and took him away. According

	to a witness, the men identified themselves as part of the Urus-Martan

	military commander's office and claimed they had proof that Sagaev was a

	rebel fighter, an allegation his family has denied. Sagaev's relatives

	were unable to locate him, as the military commander's office refused to

	speak to them, and Ministry of Internal Affairs officials denied he was

	in custody in Urus-Martan. His whereabouts remain unknown.